Info Image

IoT/M2M Technology Trends in the Logistics Industry

IoT/M2M Technology Trends in the Logistics Industry Image Credit: Parceldelivery.com

The logistics industry is used by almost any business, as their transportation services are perfect for businesses needing to relocate their staff, or alternatively trade items and send them overseas. In order to streamline UK parcel delivery, the logistics industry have begun incorporating advanced, innovative technology into their methods, including the likes of the Internet of Things (IoT) and machine to machine (M2M) learning. But how is this really improving parcel delivery services across the nation and, more importantly, the world? We have the answers to your questions here.

Understanding Where Fuel Goes

M2M has a lot of potential in the logistics industry, and one key area where it can be used effectively is for businesses to understand where fuel goes. While of course, the obvious answer is the fuel is put into lorries, vans and cars, but when large parcel delivery corporations are spending millions of pounds on fuel each year, they want to understand where each penny actually goes. M2M allows organisations to obtain data from various places, understand it, and report on it in order to ensure cost savings are efficient at all times. Tank level telemetry devices will be used, data would come back from flow metres within the vehicles, and routing and scheduling services would be developed as a result of the data. M2M allows logistics industries to streamline their entire service while ensuring ultimate efficiency at all times.

Warehouse Management

The logistics industry isn’t just about delivery though, as many people tend to forget that there is a lot of work that is also done behind the scenes. A large part of the logistics process is spent an in expansive warehouse, full of packages and items that need to be delivered. RFID tags are able to provide data on specific items to make warehouse management considerably easier for workers. Additionally, internet-connected trackers are able to track specific items at any moment during their delivery journey, and satellite trackers can provide location data on specific items, regardless of where they are.

Data Security

When dealing with vast amounts of commercial data, it’s essential that logistics organisations have strong security software in place to protect confidential information. As a result, M2M is able to build a more secure infrastructure within the logistics industry, with big data proving to be highly effective. This is particularly useful within the supply chain industry as big data is able to provide useful strategies when dealing with large volumes of data. Currently, this isn’t regularly used within the logistics industry, however it definitely has a large amount of potential moving forward.

Fleet Management

In order to boost the efficiency of delivery, many organisations are now incorporating IoT technology into processes, such as fleet management. Similar to warehouse management, these solutions all utilise GPS and other tracking technologies in order to retrieve useful data in real time on the current delivery and the destinations of the items. M2M-based fleet management can help to reduce the number errors made, record the vehicle’s location at all times, and ensure that drivers are coordinate more efficiently. It’s expected that connected fleet management solutions will reach 180million commercial vehicles in North America by 2020, showing how useful this is proving to be in the logistics industry.

This technology has only started to emerge in recent years, however its sheer potential amongst several industries, within the logistics industry in particular, is outstanding. All working together to improve the efficiency of our parcel delivery services, we can soon expect every delivery to be seamless.

Sponsored Content  

Author

Ray is a news editor at The Fast Mode, bringing with him more than 10 years of experience in the wireless industry.

For tips and feedback, email Ray at ray.sharma(at)thefastmode.com, or reach him on LinkedIn @raysharma10, Facebook @1RaySharma

PREVIOUS POST

Digital Innovations & Disruption in Business

NEXT POST

How Transparent Is Blockchain Technology?