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It is expected that next year will be a watershed year for many sectors in terms of innovation and employing technologies like blockchain, AI and many others for growth, productivity and added value. Terrago Logistics CIO, Ranendra Datta exclusively with ETCIO.com describes how the blockchain can interfere and become an enabling factor and how the role of the CIO will evolve in the face of so much change.
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Which aspects of the logistics industry will change completely with the advent of emerging technologies?
The logistics industry is still a very disorganized sector in terms of commitment, operational levels, trust and payments. The entire industry works on the premise of truck drivers or fleet owners knowing that brokers and brokers know key people in the supply of the business to deliver loads. Therefore, there are smaller groups of people across India who channel their contacts to get hauliers / fleets owners to get loads Most of the road transport industry is a B2B industry. Fleet owners and transport companies are in huge numbers, but the penetration of technology among transporters / fleet owners is low. .
The biggest challenge for anyone entering this sector as an aggregator of transporters or as a technology-enabled transporter will be challenged to deal with customers who have a long payment cycle of between 30 days and up to 130 days. If this cycle is not reduced, the transport industry will not grow to a large extent and new players who can introduce the technology to aggregate it may not find it profitable.
However, leaving aside the challenges and if we talk about the emerging technologies that could change the logistics industry by itself, it will be through blockchain technology. The intelligent generation of contracts between a transporter / owner of a fleet / service provider, the customer, the bank and the technology service provider in relation to service levels and payment will be a turning point. It will become much more organized and will channel new ways of operating in the sector. This would be the biggest disruptive and enabling reality that will bring transparency and efficiency along the whole value chain.
The other emerging technologies that will change the logistics sector will be the advent of smart trucks. Smart carts mean connecting various sensors installed on the truck to weight (empty and loaded), tire sensors, engine and oil sensors, driving behavior including night driving etc. And these analyzes are broken into a dashboard with automatic / immediate alerts to the driver and the owner will change the way the trucks drive on Indian roads. Overloaded trucks, etc. Etc. They will never be seen on the roads if we had built an all-in-one intelligent truck technology.
We will see a built-in technology that includes everything that a truck can drive down the road with a driver and provide real-time analysis of how the truck moves, will bring many efficiencies to the truck owner, businesses, safe driving behavior and including the longevity of trucks. Driving behavior analysis can be linked to license renewal, as new age trucks will be more driven by sensors and technology. Although it does not provide driverless trucks in India, as our country is not oriented in this sense, unless there is a dedicated lane.
I also see some trends with respect to the future: electric vehicles / trucks, which are load factors of less than two tons to facilitate intra-city movement, thus reducing the carbon footprint of the city and moving goods efficiently with low transport costs.
How do the digitalisation of warehouses and the automation of deliveries expand in the logistics sector?
Warehousing operations will become an important part of the whole industry distribution mechanism. The government vision of the Bharat Mala and Sagar Mala project, which will deal with transport between models, will lead to efficiency through the logistics value chain. According to the Govt of India plan for 2025, 26 intermodal transhipment parks have been planned. These parks will be connected via waterways, railway ports and roads. these freight parks will see the exchange of goods and materials. These are places that will see a huge amount of technology and automation. I predict drones and robots that manage the warehouse. You would have warehouses without mane in the future. When the shipments enter the park, the technology will determine and identify a particular compartment for the shipment to be downloaded automatically and this information will be transferred to the smart truck. The robots will then remove your assets and put them in their respective bay. If a customer needs a warehouse space for five days, the drone will identify a space and give you a direct feed. The use of drones must be done extensively at the warehouse level to bring transparency and efficiency. The use of robots and drones will be implemented in department stores to be effective, as empty spaces can be identified and can be given on a platform where customers can reserve empty space in advance or instantly. And all these technological interventions will undergo a massive revolution in the next decade and I can see the impact that occurs in the small and large warehouses and in the exchange parks between models
With so many changes coming, how do you think it will change the role of the CIO and how will organizations perceive the role?
I have seen both ends of the spectrum in terms of both the enterprise level in the multinational organization and now in the start-up phase. If the organization does not recognize the fact that technology will be the central hub tomorrow, then it will not be able to identify an IOC that will guide them. In today's world, technology is driving the growth plan for an organization, but there are also challenges where a CIO does not get due recognition in the organization.
CIOs need a broader change of mind using technology for the business growth plan. They have always been at the end of getting the demand from the business rather than defining what technology can do for business growth and delivery. They have never been in the forefront of business and recommend technology to grow the business. The CIO must wear a work hat to suggest technological interventions for growth.
The problem with CIOs is that they put a technology and do not measure it. CIOs must define metrics for the growth of the Top Line or Bottom Line business and be at the forefront of providing it during management meetings. CIOs are traditionally inclined to provide technology rather than wondering if this will boost business
