How can IoT help in Smarter Supply Chain Management and Logistics?

In today’s globalised economy, creating resilient supply chain involves many challenges. Logistics schemes have crossed borders, relying on thousands of people, machines, and data that accompany goods as they move along the route. Considering the complexities in managing moving goods and fleet, these systems can be very fragile calling for optimization of supply workflows.

Here, we will focus on the changes IoT brings to managing supply chains. We shall share some insights that are based on our experience in building IoT products and solutions.

What is a smart supply chain?

Traditional supply chains are increasingly becoming intelligent with objects sensor embedded and better communication, intelligent decision making and automation capabilities. A smart supply chain is built upon emerging technologies including big data, IoT, blockchain, and RPA To maintain the flow in supply chain operations and keep them cost-effective, logistics organisations are adopting IoT technology.

IoT in supply chain management

IoT technology uses sensor-based devices, that are small, easy to install and maintain, and offer a robust alternative to human oversight when collecting and exchanging data. IoT delivers real-time data that is crucial for tracking and monitoring cargo, lowering the time and cost of delivery, shorten delivery times, reduce negative environmental impact, automate processes and cutting losses along the way.

In the supply chain context, IoT facilitates remote identification of equipment failures and provides granular data on the devices’ functioning with predictive maintenance alerts. By using IoT sensors on a freight vehicle, you can accumulate lots of data for analytics. You can receive maintenance alerts, vehicle’s GPS location, speed of vehicle, best route for the vehicle, and assess its performance too. Similarly, IoT-based devices used on cargo with environment-sensitive goods like drugs or food can notify managers when the temperature, humidity, or light intensity exceeds permissible thresholds. It helps in reducing wastage and ensuring product quality.

With properly configured software and IoT sensors placed at retail stores, which are the endpoints of any supply chain, you can gather valuable insights about the sales and popularity of different products. This data can be used to efficiently forecast demand and drive profits. On the other side of the chain, we have the supply vendors. A smart supply chain solution can instantly detect delays in the shipment of products and alert procurement to increase orders. This way, you can pre-emptively react to stock shortages.

Benefits of IoT in Logistics and Supply Chain

IoT products and solutions are transforming supply chain management for the better. Whether your company goes the full cycle from production to sales or specializes in logistics services, employing emerging technologies, like IoT, can be beneficial. Your IoT devices will generate heaps of information, for predictive maintenance, proactive actions, and analytical insights. IoT can streamline and automate the decision-making process for business gains.

Inventory tracking systems – Inventory tracking systems assist logistics managers in planning re-stocking and distributions.
Predictive analytics systems – Predictive analytics solutions help business managers make informed decisions regarding warehouse management and supply chain planning.
Location management tools – With IoT in transportation and logistics, managers can keep track of the real-time location of each vehicle, delivery status, and the estimated time of delivery.
Automated vehicles – Using automated vehicles helps business managers have more control over the delivery process, reduce the impact of human error, and benefit from machine intelligence.
Monitoring conditions in real-time – Ensuring proper conditions is a decisive factor when it comes to moving perishable goods in cold chains. Smart devices with temperature, humidity, and other IoT sensors can help you monitor your goods in real time
Connected fleet management – Ensuring your vehicles perform as intended is another essential function of supply chain management. Vehicle connectivity makes fleet management smarter, enabling data-driven decision-making, cost savings, and better control over the delivery process.
Asset tracking solutions – Better control over inventory is another advantage of using IoT in logistics. In addition to barcodes, warehouses can now use active and passive RFID (radio-frequency identification) tags for internal logistics.
Improved security and theft detection – Connected applications increase the control over who enters the warehouse at any given time, help track all items, and send alerts in case something goes wrong.
Higher employee safety – By tracking equipment conditions in real-time and predicting wear and possible damage, connected systems help reduce risks associated with employee safety.
Supply Chain automation – Automation of data-related processes can not only increase the efficiency of your supply chain and reduce costs but help your business scale as well.

The EnergyBots IoT advantage

EnergyBots harnesses the immense potential of IoT by combining sensors, meters, and applications to offer the most secure, remotely accessible, and accurate smart IoT products and solutions. We offer a large portfolio of specialty IoT based smart devices and sensors to enable real time monitoring, improve productivity, predict future trends, and cut costs across the organization.

We have collaborated with customers across multiple industry verticals to deliver IoT based management solutions that are sustainable. EnergyBots optimizes your existing assets, identifies the problem areas, and delivers the most innovative and sustainable IoT solutions for your deployment. With our IoT-based smart sensor solutions, you can connect your assets and integrate them into your existing infrastructure to enhance efficiency and streamline operations. Should you need more reasons to consider our services… connect with us!