Business Intelligence in Transport and Logistics

In today’s complex global economy, transport and logistics are playing an ever-increasing role, and optimising this process is the key to success for business. In this blog we will highlight the importance of business intelligence in the logistics industry.

Improved technology has increased productivity in the supply chain and minimised costs and errors. Thanks to business intelligence tools, companies are no longer swamped with large amounts of data they don’t know what to do with. Instead, logistics managers are using BI technologies to find real meaning in their ocean of numbers—and take actions that boost supply chain efficiency and effectiveness. These advances benefit all areas of the logistics industry: trucking transportation, international transportation (ocean and air), supply chain management, and shipment tracking.

Interpreting data as an essential part in logistics processes

Transportation logistics is not any more limited only to the movement of goods across space and reducing time and costs along the supply chain. Its scope has expanded and now it is influencing decisions on what to produce, where to produce/store, in what quantities, who to choose for as the logistics provider, etc., which are parts of strategic management.

The complex and dynamic nature of logistics, along with the reliance on many moving parts that can create bottlenecks at any point in the supply chain, make logistics a perfect use case for big data and business intelligence applications. Establishing data analysis in logistics so it produces actionable insights regularly is essential in the logistics industry.

To make valuable decisions managers and supervisor need timely and accurate information and reporting environments. Vast amount of business data from disparate operating systems and applications, rapidly changing customer needs and market conditions, but also the hidden information like emails or excel spreadsheets hinder logistical efficiency. Therefore, we need integration of the core business information through an intelligent information systems and modern analytical tools to discover relevant knowledge from all of these sources, to manage uncertainty, and to create and reach our business intelligence as our main competitive advantage

A bright future…

Logistics companies are increasingly adopting business intelligence applications to manage their operations more quickly and efficiently, to further improve processes and stay ahead of the increasingly demanding market conditions.

In a survey conducted by fleetowner third party logistics companies and shipping companies both agree. 98% of 3PLs said that improved data-driven decision making is “essential to the future success of supply chain activities and processes”. Additionally, 81% of shippers and 86% of 3PLs surveyed said that using big data effectively will become “a core competency of their supply chain organisations”.

As for many other industries, data gathering and data management is becoming bigger and bigger, and professionals may need help in that matter. In any case, it looks like the future is bright for logistics companies that are willing to take advantage of better utilising their data and advanced information technology.