Transportation Companies Transform Themselves With the Digital A Team
The Three A’s of Transformation
To meet the challenges of digital-first disruptive competitors and changing customer expectations, transportation and logistics companies are turning to the digital A team – analytics, artificial intelligence and automation –to reduce operating costs and grow their business. The application of these technologies transforms carriers, 3PLs and 4PLs by improving customer experience and adding efficiencies through digitizing operations.
Analytics
The transportation industry now has an abundance of data due to the implementation of ELDs, social media, web and internet based searches, and e-commerce bookings. Additionally, information from sensors, telematics and GPS data across the supply chain is now available in real time. Effectively collecting and utilizing this information takes three things:
- An Enterprise Data Management (EDM) plan that ensures the integrity of the data gathered and used by applications and staff. Without an EDM strategy, companies will be using bad data to make bad decisions.
- A secure, but accessible, cloud-based means of hosting the data so it can be easily accessed by the appropriate parties across the enterprise.
- Agile analytics tools to transform the data into insights.
With this structure in place, companies can use their data to increase efficiency, improve performance and enhance customer satisfaction.
Artificial Intelligence
Most media representations of AI like HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey or Precog from Minority Report will be more science fiction than science fact for the foreseeable future.
Artificial Specialized Intelligence is what most companies are currently using, with practical use cases implemented for techniques such as natural language processing and machine learning.
Machine learning uses advanced algorithms on large volumes of data to infer results just like a human would. Consider a company with a large customer that requires its shipments be handled in a specific, predetermined way. Traditionally, a human separates and processes this shipper’s bills of lading according to their specific business rules.
By applying machine learning, this process can be mostly handled by a machine. In cases where the machine cannot accurately process the bill, it would be routed to the human.
Automation
Transportation and logistics companies are exploring ways to automate business processes to reduce overhead and make better use of their human capital.
For example, many companies’ accounts payable processes involve manual functions, like matching invoices with purchase orders and receipt of goods, then submitting these for payment. A typical operation involves staff going to multiple systems, clicking through different pages, and obtaining the appropriate approvals.
Robotics Process Automation (RPA) software enables companies to automate these previously manual, mundane tasks. This approach enables humans to focus on higher-end, intellectually based functions. There are hundreds of tasks that can be automated using RPA. This is a game of inches, where little improvements in employee effectiveness create massive improvements in overall efficiency and cost reduction.
Conclusion
Today, transportation and logistics companies must adapt to the changing world around them. By using the Digital A team, these companies can create a competitive edge that helps them grow and survive.
Read Travel, Transportation & Logistics: Navigating Uncertain Waters with Digital
Contact Pradeep Vachani Pradeep.Vachani@exlservice.com to start your digital journey.
EXL (NASDAQ:EXLS) is a leading operations management and analytics company that designs and enables agile, customer-centric operating models to help clients improve their revenue growth and profitability. Our delivery model provides market-leading business outcomes using EXL’s proprietary Business EXLerator Framework®, cutting-edge analytics, digital transformation and domain expertise. At EXL, we look deeper to help companies improve global operations, enhance data-driven insights, increase customer satisfaction, and manage risk and compliance. EXL serves the insurance, healthcare, banking and financial services, utilities, travel, transportation and logistics industries. Headquartered in New York, New York, EXL has more than 28,000 professionals in locations throughout the United States, Europe, Asia (primarily India and Philippines), Colombia, Australia and South Africa. For more information, visit www.exlservice.com.
