Transport & Logistics

Technology

Digital transformations will require a wide range of technologies:

Business Applications

Digital transformation will drive needs for Business Applications to help connect the different players in the ecosystem and help improve utilisation, capacity, visibility and efficiency. 

Data, Analytics, AI & Automation

Transformation of transportation towards connected vehicles, IoT connected infrastructure, assets and goods and digital customer engagement will generate a huge amount of data. This includes:

Forecasting - Rated top by 30.8% of retailers and manufacturers, as well as 27.5% of Logistics Service Providers

Supply Chain visibility – A global shipment can involve 30 firms and 200 interactions.

Supply Chain Optimisation – More than 85m global packages are delivered every day, all need tracking.

Capacity Optimisation –30% of goods vehicles are running empty, and the rest carry an average of 60% capacity.

Route Optimisation – real-time data could decrease routes by 5-18%.

Predictive Maintenance – Can reduce fleet maintenance costs by up to 8%

Automation – Only 3% of container terminals are currently automated.

Compute & Cloud

Cloud adoption is growing fast across the industry as the businesses transform their operations, shift to digital engagement and exploit Internet of Things, connected vehicles and automation.

Networking & Communications

Mobile networking and increasingly 5G networks will be used to connect to every element in the transportation ecosystem.

Remote working requires a consistent and reliable experience across the mobile and broadband worlds as well as across the different device ecosystems (Mac/ iOS, Google/Android, Microsoft).

Digital Workplace

Sixty-one percent of supply chain leaders believe that the acceleration of remote work due to the pandemic will create a permanent hybrid work model, even at the frontline.

Transport businesses must embed digital tools into the workplace to support employees to operate efficiency and collaboratively. As well as access to critical application the employees also need access to HR applications and business applications such as e-mail, instant messaging and virtual meeting tools.

 

Internet of Things & Industry 4.0

This will be required in several area:

1) Connected & Autonomous Vehicles – Vehicles are increasingly equipped with hundreds of sensors which can be used to monitor, track and increasingly control the vehicle.

2) Transportation infrastructure – Sensors are used to track flow through transportation systems to improve throughput and maintain safety. Increasingly the connected vehicle with be able to interact with the infrastructure (V2I).

3) Supply Chain assets – these include containers, trailers, trolleys, pallets etc. helping to manage the flow of goods and manage utilisation of assets.

Security, Compliance & Data Privacy

Transportation companies will need  security right across the lifecycle,  as its transforms to sustainable connected vehicles, automation and Internet of Things, digital engagement with customers and suppliers, and ultimately shifting business models with Mobility as a Service. This creates a huge number of new attack surfaces including:

Connected vehicles – these could contain up to 300 million lines of code and many points of attack

Mobility Services –  personal & payment information as well as routes to attack the connected vehicle.

Customer websites and online services – these will contain personal, commercially sensitive & payment information and services

Connected infrastructure, assets & goods – IoT sensors, AI and robotics used in automation come under attack

Remote & mobile workers.

In June 2020, Maersk was hit by the WannaCry ransomware cyberattack that cost the company $200-300 million. The shipping industry continues to be a frequent target of cyberattacks. In March 2021, Japan’s K Line reported a large-scale ransomware attack that took its system offline. The phased recovery took more than a month to complete and then less than three months’ later K Line was again apologizing for a second data breach. HMM also reported a breach of its email system in June 2021.

IT Governance & Management

In a period of intense digital transformation the effective management of Dev/Ops is crucial in delivering the desired change and ensuring operational resilience.

Effective management of IT assets and licences over their lifecycle is essential to good cost management. With the high level of mergers & acquisitions in the transport and logistics industry good IT governance & management is particularly critical.