GOOD QUESTION | How will the Internet of Things affect the supply chain?

Like the air we breathe, IoT in logistics is becoming omnipresent. Go without it…and you’ll notice!

J.P. Wiggins
Vice President of Logistics
3Gtms

The concept of IoT has been in the supply chain for years through the use of intelligent sensors. Current IoT technology extends the concept to a wider variety of devices that give greater visibility throughout the supply chain.  

Ross Elliott
Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer
HighJump

As the IoT expands, you’ll see the source of internet traffic shift dramatically. Within the next five years, more than half of traffic will be generated by smart devices, enabling us to think about productivity in a radically different way.

Jeffrey Shorts
CIO
Neovia Logistics

IoT will provide supply chains with increased demand visibility resulting in agile supply chains that respond to changes in consumer trends in real time. The retail and CPG industries are already experimenting with IoT, and as the cost per unit price continues to drop, we will see the expansion of the use of IoT throughout all industries.

Paris Gogos
Vice President of Product
NeoGrid North America


IoT devices are already in the field collecting valuable data. We’ll see advancements to where data collected can be used in machine learning to predict impacts from disruptions, make decisions, and automate processes that ensure products reach customers regardless of weather, traffic, or geopolitical issues.

Chad Lindbloom
Chief Information Officer
C.H. Robinson

Connected transportation, which equips vehicles with internet connectivity during travel, provides greater supply chain visibility, transforming supply chain management from a reactive activity to a proactive one.

Mike Skinner
Vice President
CLX Technologies

IoT means we have more data to improve service. Shippers are investing money in devices to implement IoT. That means they want to see a quick ROI, and in turn they expect their 3PL partners to improve in the areas of lower costs and on-time performance. I expect this will start to affect me by 2020.

Mike Dieter
Chief Technology Officer
Transplace

An estimated 5.5 million devices are joining the IoT every day, creating the opportunity to slash supply chain waste by $2.7 trillion in the next 10 years. Even sooner, 96 percent of all companies are expected to be IoT users within three years.

Kristi Montgomery
Vice President of Innovation
Research & Development, Kenco Logistics

IoT-enabled Control Towers of Things (CToT)—extending today’s supply chain visibility and control tower services to the level of things—are just around the corner. Traditional control tower experts such as 3PLs are strongly positioned to be CToT first movers.

David Frentzel
Partner
New Harbor Consultants

 

IoT is still in its nescient phase of evolution. While I do not doubt the bold growth predictions of connected devices, I do feel that it will be a couple of years before we see and feel the effects of this technology wave in our operations. Today, many businesses are beginning to witness the gains in efficiency that allow people to forego repetitive manual operations, eventually the nature of work will evolve, and then at that point we will see more significant impacts on the labor force.

John W. Sammon III
Senior Vice President and General Manager
ParTech

The Internet of Things is already affecting mine and countless other jobs in the industry. One way in particular is its influence on how we configure our logistics technology to leverage any and all connected devices on the supply chain to bring better efficiency, visibility, and communication to the market.

Brendan Isaacson
Director of Operations
HaulHound

The rapid expansion of the IoT has already realized amazing results and innovation. Between voice recognition, vehicle automation, and augmented reality, we will perform vastly more efficiently as an industry, and be better connected as a society. How long will it be before we can say “Alexa, ship my freight to my client”? Probably sooner than we all realize.

Tom Poduch
Director of Logistics Design
Transervice Logistics

Penske’s connected fleet solution is our IoT solution for truck fleets. And, it’s enhancing the truck leasing and maintenance services we provide to companies operating truck fleets. We started with truck fleet maintenance because it’s such a value add for the many logistics customers we serve who are running large fleets. By having real-time insight into their vehicles using IoT, we are able to increase fleet uptime and triage issues faster. The ultimate goal is to get ahead of breakdowns and to the point where we are predicting breakdowns across makes and models.

Bill Combs
Director of Connected Fleet
Penske Truck Leasing

IoT offers an opportunity to digitally enable supply chain and create ‘phygital’ solutions, i.e. the right mix and combined benefits of digital and physical product and services. Logistics customers are more focused on IoT analytics and may grow by 60 percent by 2020.

Kirti Acharya
General Manager, Digital Transformation and Enterprise Solutions
Happiest Minds Technologies


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