AI in Logistics: How to streamline your business with smart technology
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionising industries worldwide, and logistics is no exception.
As the road freight sector faces increasing demands for efficiency, transparency, and cost reduction, many companies are turning to AI to stay competitive. But how is AI adoption in transport and logistics today? And what are the challenges when adopting AI in logistics?
Studies vary, with one citing only 25% of transport and logistics firms across the US, UK, and Germany appear to be using AI technologies, but another states 62% of people who work in the logistics industry and regularly handle information use AI. Whatever the real statistic is, AI in freight forwarding is here to stay and will increasingly be used in logistics. And there are many benefits for the logistics sector with studies showing that AI-driven approaches can create significant cost savings, reduce waste, and improve competitiveness.
We discuss how AI in logistics and the supply chain could reduce your costs by up to 20% along with other benefits. TIMOCOM’s AI-driven freight entry can help you reduce costs by uploading 30 freight offers in under 20 seconds at the same time.
What is AI in logistics?
AI in logistics is simply a way of using technology to enhance your business through optimizing processes.
In logistics, this can also be referred to as Logistics 4.0. This means using the latest technology to create a more efficient and transparent logistics network. This includes AI along with other technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT). Logistics 5.0 is emerging as the next stage in the evolution of the logistics industry, which aims to create a more responsive, resilient, and environmentally conscious approach to logistics.
How logistics companies use AI to optimise workflows
There are many benefits to using AI in freight services, all of which can help optimise your processes for a more profitable business. These include:
Route optimisation
AI can analyse lots of data in real-time, which studies show can substantially improve delivery performance, reduce total travel distance, fuel consumption, co2 emissions, and improve route efficiency.Improve logistics forecasting with AI
AI can run lots of different scenarios and analyse which is the most likely and most advantageous according to your needs. It can more accurately forecast demand to reduce overstocking or understocking, which means less money is wasted on redundant inventory.
Inventory management
With AI, inventory management can be continually controlled and analysed. This can help with better order accuracy (as it reduces human error), overstock optimisation, and fulfilment efficiency.
By implementing automated handling processes, it can also reduce loading and unloading times by 30%, streamline delivery operations, and increase overall productivity.
Supply chain automation
You can integrate TIMOCOM into your system, your customers can use it without leaving their TMS/ERP system, which saves time, avoids duplicate entries and reduces costs. TIMOCOM offers in total 5 APIs. For example, with the Freight Exchange Offer API, you can create freight offers in your logistics software and send them from there to the TIMOCOM Freight Exchange.
Real-time tracking
With real-time tracking, you can react quickly to situations and offer customers better transparency. TIMOCOM Live Shipment Tracking calculates the ETA and gives automatic notifications to reduce the time spent communicating with business partners. You can get a live demo of this product for free.
Risk management and planning
Plan your time and costs better with AI. Whether you have one vehicle or a fleet, you can predict when they will need maintenance and ensure you have scheduled this without losing money.
Dynamic pricing
In a turbulent market, it’s important to react quickly and ensure your prices reflect what’s going on externally. Investing in AI or tech can help you price based on real-time conditions and demand.
Better service for logistics customers
With automated processes it gives staff more time to deal with customers. There are many ways AI can help improve customer service, such as transparency with real-time tracking and chatbots to provide answers immediately. You can also ensure returns are handled quickly and completed automatically, and you can let customers know when their products will arrive for enhanced customer service.
Customers also responded positively to AI, with customers of last-mile logistics services, positively evaluating AI, reporting they liked the efficiency, helpfulness, empathy, speed of action, and service quality. With AI-optimised processes, studies found it improved delivery time reliability, which also helps customer satisfaction as consumers are increasingly demanding.
Staff management
Staff management can be handled better when you can reduce the amount of manual or repetitive work that needs to be undertaken. With AI automating processes, staff can focus on areas that need their skills and attention most.
When advanced analytics provided actions to improve retention and talent development for employees, it helped reduce costs by up to 20%.
And since there are continued staff shortages, this is a great help in overcoming that obstacle.
Sustainability
AI can help meet your sustainability goals by helping with route planning to reduce emissions, optimizing processes, and reducing waste through more efficient practices.
Route optimization with AI, alone, showed a 25-30% gain in environmental sustainability and operational precision.
With sustainability an important issue for consumers and investors, businesses need to show they are embedding sustainability into their business model.
Challenges to AI adoption in logistics
While there are many benefits to using AI or new technologies, there are considerations before implementing any new process in your business.
Cost to implement AI in logistics
AI or new technologies can be expensive, and often, cash flow is a problem for logistics businesses. However, there are options to help with this, such as grants or cloud-based services that are subscription-based.
Training staff on AI in logistics
People can be resistant to change initially, and AI is no exception. There are those who will embrace it, but there will be those who think it may lead to job losses. Training staff in how AI can be used to enhance their work and how to use it properly is important to get them on board.
AI or other tools are only as good as the people using them, so the more your staff are confident and knowledgeable using AI, the more likely it will help to optimize processes.
Integration of AI in logistics systems
You probably have many different systems, and another one is going to make things more complicated. However, AI can usually integrate with whatever system you are using.
Privacy and security
As a business, you need to ensure you are compliant with GDPR and any other legislation, which can change relatively quickly and across various locations. Ensuring you have privacy and security processes in place can reduce the risk of any problems.
TIMOCOM vets all companies using their platform, so you don’t have to worry about dealing with companies that are not reliable.
Should you adopt AI in your logistics business?
The future is AI. If you don’t get on board now, you will be behind competitors. AI can enhance your processes and make your business more efficient and more profitable.
How TIMOCOM can help streamline your operations
TIMOCOM AI helps you automatically upload transport requests to the freight exchange and create freight offers with all your specifications in less than 20 seconds. And with TIMOCOM’s Golden Deal, when you assign at least three complete freight orders via the TIMOCOM Marketplace, you will automatically be entered into a prize draw. Just for doing your usual daily work!
The TIMOCOM Road Freight Marketplace also offers route planning, real-time tracking, and lots of other services to help you optimize your processes. With over 55,000 potential business partners across mainland Europe and the UK, it’s easy to streamline your business with TIMOCOM. We recommend you to speak to one of our experts to explore more opportunities for your business.
Tram Trinh Thanh
TIMOCOM Marketing Northern Europe, Benelux and UK
