5 Ways Tech Supercharges Supply Chain Management (3/11/2024)

The supply chain management of tomorrow will have technology at its heart. Discover how the sector is evolving and what it means for your operations.

Keeping your supply chain moving is essential to the survival of your business. Technology is now the most powerful ally of every supply chain manager — multi-faceted back-office addition that can streamline everything from data collection and communications to payroll and cybersecurity.

America and the world are on the starting blocks, ready to return to logistics as usual while trying to recover from COVID-19. The fastest and most productive supply chains will have the right tech in place to get ahead.

In this blog, you will learn:

• How artificial intelligence is rethinking logistics

• Why a transportation management system is essential

• A powerful way to approach accounting

• How your supply chain security gets stronger

• The ways RLG puts tech at your fingertips

1. How artificial intelligence is rethinking logistics

Imagine an employee who never slept. Instead, they worked 24/7, answering customer queries while studying and predicting meteorological conditions in real-time to keep your on-road agents fully appraised of all possible hold-ups and alternate routes.

This same employee also scans documents, analyzing them for relevant data, preventing human error, and increasing the quality of communications. The old logistics chore of matching the right driver to the right load used to require a time-consuming review. Not with this superhuman hire — they recall every metric for every driver and instantaneously match them with the most suitable job.

This employee is ready to start, and its name is Artificial Intelligence. The benefits above are just a few of its game-changing capabilities, which range from supply planning and autonomous vehicle control to warehouse automation and boosting back-office performance.

A glance at this bubble chart reveals where AI will have a trillion-dollar impact in the coming decades, with the supply chain dominating most other fields.

2. Why a transportation management system is essential

Transparency is the bedrock of optimized logistics, and a transportation management system (TMS) provides it on an internal and global scale. TMS technology allows supply chain managers deeper insight into the metrics of their own operations and those of potential logistics partners, allowing their effectiveness to be gauged based on factors like service record, route and load specialties, and competitiveness of rates.

A TMS gathers all the disparate data in your supply chain into a centralized location, streamlining communication between all parties. This enables managers to make faster, more informed, and more cost-effective logistics decisions while giving both back-office and customer-facing staff instant access to the information they need to answer incoming queries. 

Effective TMS implementation can take up to 3 months depending on the size and demands of your supply chain. This makes it important for businesses to get started ASAP in making a TMS part of their logistics spend. It is also vital to partner with an experienced logistics group who can help you choose the right TMS for your unique cost and service structure.

3. A powerful way to approach accounting

Keeping track of logistics numbers is now a cloud-centric process. The best modern accounting options are directly linked to the cloud, which keeps them up to date and at peak performance. There is a crossroads here of two other modern supply chain benefits: the TMS and improved security.

A TMS is a big help in making tasks like payroll, invoices, and auditing more accurate and less labor-intensive than ever. Cloud-based accounting packages are also on the cutting edge of cybersecurity; a very big plus when your supply chain’s accounting departments are a prime target for hackers.

4. How your supply chain security gets stronger

The sheer volume of sensitive personal, commercial, and financial information required to change hands in the logistics sector means cybercriminals have the industry in their crosshairs. The increasing interconnectedness of national and global supply networks means a single weak link in security could disable the entire chain, yet the logistics industry as a whole is notoriously slow to adapt.

Being one of the casualties is no longer a necessity; it is a choice. Take a moment to review some of the worst strikes on the logistics industry in 2020, then consider the value of implementing one of the powerful cybersecurity measures available today to shield your supply chain. A TMS can do a lot to tighten up logistics security, but hybrid security is also leading the way through a combination of cloud-based connections and tech-savvy onsite personnel.

The cloud allows supply chain systems to stay current at all times with security updates across the OS. Cloud connectivity also allows supply chains to rapidly scale security measures in the face of a crisis while keeping every aspect of their logistics data remotely backed up.

The human element helps supply chains buffer the fact that no software means 100% security. Tech staff can train colleagues in best practices and formulate recovery plans to help prevent the worst.

5. The ways RLG puts tech at your fingertips

Some of the most powerful advantages of modern technology can quickly become part of your business when you partner with Resource Logistics Group. Our data-driven approach helps you reduce costs at every link of your supply chain by providing clear and comprehensive analysis delivered in actionable monthly reports.

Our TMS empowers you with worldwide insight into your operations, so you can manage goods, personnel, and processes with confidence from a centralized location. We combine deep analysis of current transportation and contract pricing with our practical expertise to help clients land the most secure, productive, and cost-effective partner contracts possible.

Let RLG ease your back-office burden by handling time-consuming and stressful tasks, like freight claims processing and establishing plans for the insourcing and outsourcing of freight audit payment functions. We can even use our state-of-the-art technology to help you vet potential partners during the mission-critical RFQ/bid management process.

Do not let your competitors get the technological jump on you. Speak to RLG and supercharge your supply chain today.

Resource Logistics Group provides transportation and logistics advice combined with professional services and state-of-the-art technology. From contract negotiations to easing back-office burdens, we are your ally in excellence. Connect with us on our contact page for a free benchmarking analysis.