Mitigating risk in the supply chain through technology  

The disruption caused by the pandemic brought the world to a halt, especially for the Transportation & Logistics (T&L) sector as the pressure to not only maintain but accelerate operations only increased. It’s highly important that T&L organizations consider how they can and will continue operations efficiently in the context of major global disruptions and mitigate risk in the supply chain. It will be key for T&L companies to use technology solutions that provide the advanced diagnostics needed to make informed decisions and reduce device downtime with monitoring, diagnosis, repair capabilities and more.  

Challenging Times Require a Fresh Approach 

The demands on the T&L sector are more acute than ever, with greater challenges to match. From staffing issues relating to a lack of drivers for transport trucks to rising shipping costs for companies to a steady, if not increasing, demand from consumers for timely deliveries, the pressure for the T&L industry is on. Almost every industry globally has been impacted by shortages in the supply chain, with many consumers changing their buying habits to adapt to the lack of goods readily available to them.  

But how can T&L organizations adapt to these changing and challenging times when their technology solutions are often outdated?  

According to SOTI’s global research, 98% of T&L organizations deal with device downtime that delays shipments in a normal week, and 32% of those in the sector state that IT’s inability to address device downtime is a leading cause of shipping delays. It is clear that technology deployed in the T&L sector is not advanced enough to keep up with the challenges of yesterday, let alone today and the future.  

T&L leaders and professionals are recognizing that their tech is not equipped with the right tools, giving them minimal insight and data needed to address the most pressing IT issues. With 68% stating they want better business intelligence to help navigate future unseen issues and 67% identifying that they need better tools to diagnose issues before they become a problem, it’s evident that the T&L sector knows they have a tech problem at hand.  

Operational Intelligence 

A lack of visibility into operations needs to be addressed if the T&L sector wants to keep up with the constantly evolving world. It is imperative that technology solutions that empower the T&L sector to keep up with demand be implemented across the industry. Technology, such as SOTI XSight, enables organizations to leverage data to reap benefits such as battery health to determine the right time to purchase replacement batteries or optimize device performance through monitoring app usage, data usage and signal strength analytics. With this out-of-the-box information, T&L leaders can be equipped to maximize device efficiency, lifespan and ROI.  

Optimizing device performance is only one part of the operations puzzle. The right technology solution unlocks visibility into operations and across the entire supply chain. Such data, which can be provided in real-time or through a consolidated bird’s-eye-view in a platform, gives leaders the actionable insights they need to react to rapidly changing conditions or predict possible bottlenecks in the future and more.  

Advanced Diagnostics 

T&L organizations need to be the eyes and ears on the ground of operations. To keep fleet drivers waiting for issues to be resolved also keeps customers waiting for their delivery. Advanced diagnostics, such as the ones found in SOTI XSight, keep fleet operators in the loop when it comes to what is happening in their fleet at any time, and allows them to leverage that data to predict any upcoming issues or to quickly address them as they arise. This access to real-time asset visibility on everything from drivers to vehicles and their cargo fosters cost savings as well.  

Beyond this, integrating an effective advanced diagnostics strategy across all devices and backend systems improves operational efficiency, accuracy and timeliness across the delivery process. This occurs as the data being collected provides insight from confirmation scans of material being received at the hub or arriving at the depot, through to the state of mobile devices out in the field and in turn the current location and activities of mobile workers. T&L leaders can know what’s happening with any device in the fleet at any time. Waiting to pull diagnostic data doesn’t help the end users, customers or businesses. Device data and having advanced diagnostics of fleets on hand can conveniently resolve issues to keep workers working and customers happy. 

The Ability to Look Ahead 

The world has changed, and no one knows this better than the T&L sector. Yet what hasn’t changed is that the sector is heavily relied upon to keep the world moving. T&L leaders must have visibility into operations while also receiving continual and real-time advanced diagnostics information if they are to remain competitive and deliver the experience and timeliness that customers demand. SOTI XSight is the key to achieving all this and more.  

To learn more about SOTI XSight, please visit soti.net/products/soti-xsight/