Technologies contribute to automation and a greener way of doing business

One of the most serious pitfalls that companies can fall into is low-cost solutions. “Building IT ecosystems is a demanding and unfortunately expensive process, both in terms of financial and time investment – but only a realistically assessed project can be successful,” says Janez A. Korun, CEO of i-Rose, who is working on information solutions in the field of logistics for over twenty years.

Today, we are working on digitalization and automation in all areas, especially where the processes are based on manual and paper work. “We are digitizing data, information and knowledge. But digital transformation is a much broader concept than digitalization,” says dr. Borut Jereb from the Faculty of Logistics at the University of Maribor. It represents a change in products, processes, as well as companies or organizations themselves. “It gives companies the advantage of doing things faster, better and cheaper. This can offer better chances of survival, greater profits and opportunities for new investment in today’s competition. It is forcing companies to constantly refresh their business models at an ever-increasing rate. Strategic technological trends are a key component in managing a continuous innovation process as part of a continuous next strategy,” says Jereb.

And if logistics is mainly concerned with physical distribution, warehousing, material management, packaging and the like, supply chains are additionally engaged in business between organizations in the field of logistics, ensuring the delivery of products and services to the customer. “Thus, logistics management is part of supply chain management,” explains the interlocutor.

Many technological trends are intertwined
As he says, they are facing different technological trends in logistics and supply chains. Artificial intelligence e.g. opens up new frontiers for digital business, as almost every application, service, and everything on the Internet (Internet of Things or loT) incorporates an intelligent aspect of automation. Compared to a few years ago, the way we perceive and communicate with technology has been radically reshaped: “Conversational platforms, augmented reality, virtual reality and mixed reality in the digital world offer a more natural and in-depth experience of the environment,” says Jereb. Digital monitoring of things and organizational processes – digital twins – is increasingly being used to monitor, analyze and control the real world environment. “These, combined with artificial intelligence, lay the foundation for open, connected and coordinated smart spaces,” explains a professor at the Faculty of Logistics.

Investment in information security will need to be intensified
“If the business is also based on blockchain technology, which is based on a decentralized network, we also have many open issues of information security resolved, he said. “Technology ensures that no long-standing transactions (such as a document in a documentation package) can be retrospectively changed. If change were to occur, the whole chain of blocks would be broken and everyone involved would know about it. It is because of this feature that this type of technology is ideal for record keeping, financial transfers or supply chain management. In the expert council, we say that with this technology we ensure the complete integrity of information, and if the integrity is violated, we certainly know this and it cannot be hidden,” he explains. It is therefore an approach reminiscent of open source communities in the IT world. “Therefore, it is no coincidence that larger companies also use open source solutions for chain chaining in their solutions,” Jereb is convinced.

According to him, it is necessary to invest more and more intensively in information security. He estimates that this is primarily a burning issue of privacy and digital ethics in general. “Legislation and its practice do not follow the use of technological solutions. Supply chains are basically systems that connect different stakeholders, who can come from different parts of the world, and neither in the EU nor elsewhere in the world do we have a legal framework that can follow all the possibilities for unethical behavior offered by digital transformation. Losses due to unethical or criminal activities in e-commerce are growing exponentially, amounting to tens of billions of euros a year. This type of behavior became even more widespread during the pandemic, as people began to digitize their daily work and mutual contacts,” Jereb added.

What does the transport management system bring? “The results in the field of information solutions in transport logistics are exceptional,” says Janez A. Korun, CEO of i-Rose. What does the Transport Management System (TMS) bring?

• Integration with back-end ERP and WH environment.
• Client portals digitize and automate all communication between contractors and the logistics customer. Order entry, execution negotiations, information on completed transactions with prepared documentation are automated.
• Appropriate communication interface provides automated communications between customers and service providers – orders and transport documentation are transferred without the human factor.
• The carrier portal digitizes the communication between the operator and the actual service provider. Subcontracting is entirely digital. Basic support is also provided to the sub-carrier, which also assigns to its drivers through the portal and monitors implementation. The upgrade of the portal for subcontractors is an internal transport exchange, which ensures competitive dialogue and full transparency of subcontracting.
• Automated route planning and optimization tools reduce transport plan preparation time from a few hours to just a few seconds, while increasing execution efficiency by 30 percent. Implementation paths are plans up to a meter accurate. However, the environment is able to monitor the implementation both in terms of time and location, and to trigger appropriate responses in the event of detected deviations.
• The driver’s work is also fully digitized. Field support on mobile devices provides the driver with complete information about his work tasks. This means implementing the transport plan, navigation, information on delivery points, capturing images, signatures, transferring business-related documents (including CMR), alerting when changes to the plan, checking the condition of vehicles.
• Further integration of these solutions with telematics equipment installed in vehicles, automated preparation of transport routes and provides automatic detection of deviations from the expected implementation of the process (delays, prediction of delays, fraud).

Investments in digitization and automation are not always successful
The company i-Rose, which has been dealing with information solutions for the field of logistics for more than twenty years, is convinced that investing in digitalization and, above all, business process automation is an investment that brings many benefits. According to director Janez A. Korun, these are, in their experience, much larger than the client anticipates at the beginning of the process. “On the other hand, these investments are successful only where the company’s management and employees are aware of the need and are willing to invest their time and experience in the project,” he said. However, as he says, information solutions in transport logistics or supply chain logistics in Slovenia are mostly basic. “Companies mainly implemented ERP and WH (Warehouse) environments. There are many implementations of WH solutions as specialized modules, and there are a large number of domestic and foreign providers on the market, offering everything from simple to complex warehousing and information systems, ”he says.

Information support does not follow business performance
According to him, the situation in the field of transport logistics is somewhat different. “This is dominated by road transport providers, who mostly started their business as founders of the company and grew from one truck to companies with 50 to 60 vehicles and up to 500 vehicles (compositions),” notes Korun. “Despite the exceptional business success of transport companies, information support did not follow. The average Slovenian transport company uses low-cost information solutions and rarely sees the opportunity to grow in the digitalization of business processes. The delay in the introduction of modern information tools stems from a combination of doubts about the reality of the promised effects and fear of the implementation of organizational solutions, “he said. As he adds, unfortunately, companies are not aware that they will be able to continue their more or less successful business path only if they catch the flow of digitalization.

Three main trends in transport and logistics
Aleš Habič from the company Špica points out among the main trends that are being introduced in transport and logistics:

• voice picking as a natural way of communication, ready to work with the device, which means significantly faster and more accurate work, especially when picking goods, easier work due to free hands and greater safety due to free eyes;
• Autonomous mobile robots (AMR) for the transport of goods in production between workplaces or in a warehouse – controlled by a production control system (MES) or storage (WMS), working twenty-four hours a day, avoiding obstacles, finding an alternative route if is originally occupied … At the same time, there may also be assistants in the commissioning of goods in the warehouse;
• Electronic Proof of Delivery (ePOD) – the recipient’s signature on the screen of the mobile device.

The investment pays off on average in less than 18 months
Korun is convinced that the first step towards digitalisation is the awareness that this is no longer an issue, but a necessity, as this is the only way to maintain competitiveness. The introduction of a complex transport management system (TMS) in a transport logistics company takes at least a year. How is it going? It is first necessary to prepare an overview of the current situation, prepare a proposal, then identify risks, prepare an implementation plan, change the organization of the company, only then comes the introduction of individual selected sets of new TMS environment and integration with major external partners. “All equipment steps must be accompanied by constant communication between the contractor and employees, clear support from the company’s management and training of employees to work with software and to move from mechanical to more demanding and creative tasks,” explains the interlocutor. He points out that one of the more serious pitfalls that companies can fall into is low-cost solutions. “Building IT ecosystems is a demanding and unfortunately expensive process, both in terms of financial and time input – but only a realistically assessed project can be successful. Despite the relatively high amounts needed to build effective TMS support, the investment pays off in less than 18 months on average.”