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The transportation and logistics business operates in a fragile and rapidly changing business environment. Today, logistics is all about ensuring accuracy, transparency and timely service. Despite the growing complexity of the industry, the Covid-19 crisis has required logistics companies to gain overall visibility, flexibility and agility, while Brexit has added a new set of challenges.
It’s no secret that customers expect more, and as customer demands increase, fleet companies need to be flexible and innovative. Digital solutions such as telematics can help them meet these needs, go beyond traditional methods, and prepare for the deployment of future concepts.
Related: How Telematics Is Revolutionizing Fleet Vehicle Management
Telematics combines telecommunications and informatics to unlock critical insights that help logistics and fleet companies make strategic decisions, address multiple fleet management challenges and improve fleet efficiency. As a result, logistics companies around the world are investing in telematics solutions and connecting their fleets to each other like never before.McKinsey reckons data shared via telematics will be worthwhile $750 trillion by 2030.
However, telematics has advanced over the years and has shifted from collecting data about the vehicle to analyzing data about the driver. Emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and advanced analytics are enabling telematics to unleash previously impossible applications and take advantage of real-time data transmission.
So, what is the future? There is no doubt that telematics is here to stay, making the future of logistics and telematics digitally driven. Indeed, connectivity and convenience will dominate the coming years, facilitating on-demand and flexible logistics. Here, technology will be the biggest driver.
IoT and Blockchain
Thanks to the Internet of Things (IoT), everything is connected. IoT sensors and connected solutions are already helping logistics companies intelligently combine the physical and digital worlds, simplifying the indomitable world of logistics, increasing visibility and efficiency. A smart logistics network looms, enabling fleet companies to track and ensure reliable operations.
IoT will enable smarter connectivity and sharing of information about product condition, whereabouts and cargo management. When fleet managers can remotely know the exact temperature in a trailer, they can ensure safer and more efficient deliveries, reducing the risks and costs associated with slow-moving inventory. Timely decision-making insights go a long way in maintaining broad profit margins.
IoT combined with blockchain will provide greater transparency. Distributed ledger technology will allow every party in the supply chain to track goods and rely entirely on the accuracy of the data. Blockchain’s peer-to-peer technology will automatically coordinate deliveries to vehicles directly and without any human intervention. Everyone can see and analyze every movement and activity, identify improvements and act on them immediately (and quickly). We can also expect IoT devices to become smaller and more accessible over time.
Related: Why IoT is Taking Over the Market
5G
Offering a connection strength of 1 million connections/km2, 5G will revolutionize the world with ultra-fast internet speeds. Ten times faster than 4G, 5G will enhance vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) applications. Vehicles will share information, understand infrastructure signals and incorporate knowledge of cyclists and pedestrians without going through the network. With sub-millisecond response times, we’ll see vehicles constantly talking to each other like face-to-face human conversations.
Fleet and logistics companies can increase safety, operate on transparent data and improve fleet management with this powerful network capability. Additionally, 5G could be a wave-maker for groundbreaking innovations such as augmented reality fleet applications.
digital twin
The fact that 5G promises lower latency, impeccable bandwidth, and faster communications means we need powerful telematics systems to handle such an explosion of data, analyze it quickly in real time, and make the most of valuable data sources . “Real-time digital twins”—a new software technology—provide a necessary evolution of existing telematics software for streaming analytics.
Rather than processing incoming telemetry data through delayed batch analysis, digital twins process the data as it rolls in. It simply creates a twin for each physical data source and studies the inbound insights from that specific data source. Here, the data source is a vehicle, driver or container. As such, each digital twin holds key details about its corresponding data source, helping to evaluate incoming information and efficiently update knowledge of a specific data source. With this type of on-site information from the digital twin, fleet managers can make the most rational decisions about anything that requires immediate attention.
Typically, delayed batch analytics can take hours to aggregate and analyze incoming data, but real-time digital twins reduce the entire process to seconds and enhance better situational awareness. In addition, the digital twin can use the 5G network to send signals back to the vehicle and enhance dual communication capabilities. For example, using machine learning algorithms, a digital twin can spot impending vehicle equipment failures and alert drivers immediately.
Because these digital twins run on in-memory, scalable computing systems, logistics companies can easily manage increasing data sources as fleet sizes continue to grow by infusing more digital twins. Due to the complexities of logistics, digital twins will help with telematics to meet the challenges faced by fleets.
Related: Why Blockchain and Digital Twins Are Good Partners
Mobility as a Service (MaaS)
A fair and responsible logistics system will play an important role in the fleet management strategy and work towards a safer and cleaner future for all. With the introduction of Clean Air Zones (CAZs) and Ultra Low Emissions Zones (ULEZs), transportation and logistics need to shift to supply chains that do not harm the environment and evolve to greener, more sustainable modes of transportation. At that point, the fleet business will have to follow a market-responsive, demand-driven supply chain model, and MaaS will dominate.
MaaS, which integrates various transportation service modes into a single on-demand mobility service, will enable logistics to move from one point to another in a timely and cost-effective manner. But when integrated with telematics, MaaS can unify a range of operations from mobility planning to asset management. Instead of dealing with a few physical assets within a company, a fleet owner can manage the liquidity of all assets across numerous companies.
MaaS enables the natural and efficient scaling of fleet operations and the economics of sharing vehicles with other companies using existing facilities and workforce. In effect, logistics will focus on vehicle usage rather than vehicle ownership. Environmental impact will be directly linked to a company’s success or failure, making reverse logistics critical and transforming linear supply chains into circular supply chains.
The future will depend on how logistics focus on deploying technology onto their existing systems. The evolution will move from siled reactive operations to deliberate thinking to meet the growing need to deliver goods in a personalized and purposeful manner. An increasing number of connected solutions will enable logistics companies to work across ecosystems, making cross-border collaboration the new normal. As a result, telematics and logistics will no longer be cheaper and more efficient, but smarter and more personal.
