Importance of a Real-Time Visibility Platform for the Supply Chain?

If you want operational Real-Time visibility for an organization, then access to important operational data should be present.

In this way, decision-making can be supported with analytics and thus operational capabilities & customer service can be improved.

So, with Real-Time shipment visibility, all of this information needs to be updated using a very high frequency.

These are done through a network of IoT devices using which location data can be tracked.

It is transmitted further to powerful software platforms in real-time.

‍It’s made possible by a network of IoT devices, able to track location data, as well as other types of data, and transmit it in real-time to powerful software platforms.

Further, if Real-Time Transportation visibility is applied across the supply chain, then several organizational benefits can be unlocked.

So, if you are looking out for Real-Time logistics visibility, then you can trust OpenTrack.

So, in this blog, we would talk about the Importance of a Real-Time visibility platform in the supply chain. Let us have a look:-

Team Productivity gets increased

There are many ways through which efficiency can be improved & cost can be reduced for an organization. All of these are done through an increase in operation visibility via outbound & inbound processes.

Likewise, several organizations tend to experience a visibility gap concerning transportation.

They are aware of when a shipment needs to be picked up or dropped,

but there is no information regarding status updates or estimated times during the transit.

For a long period, transport teams have come up with workers who tend to follow up on the deliveries happening in transit which can be a very inefficient & time-consuming process.

One of the major benefits of real-time visibility platforms is that the requirement of manual follow-ups is eliminated and they can also guide you for any kind of shipment delays.

Thus, transport managers get a lot more time for sorting out the issues while mitigating the risks that are associated with them.

Reducing the Carbon Emissions & Transportation Costs

By an estimate, it is known that transportation alone accounts for about 60% of all the logistics costs. The driving time & distance can impact the cost as driver hours & fuel tends to increase.

So, in the case of Real-Time Visibility, information is collected regarding the route that is taken as well as dwell & speed time on the sites.

On the other hand, gain share models can be implemented with carriers.

Thus, if average dwell time is reduced for both unloading & loading sites, then significant savings can be achieved.

You can reduce the dwell time by pushing accurate ETAs to the unloading & loading sites as well as allowing dynamic slot booking.

This also helps out in optimizing the routes and ensuring that the carrier costs are justified. In this way, transportation costs are minimized.

Additionally, the data which is collected on the distance & time traveled can be used to accurately measure the carbon emissions per kilometer.

This plays a very important role in supporting sustainability efforts as it helps in monitoring the reducing emissions.

Improving & Measuring the Delivery Performance

Companies when they subcontract carriers face a lack of tools in order to measure the delivery service levels.

So, if you want to improve the delivery performance, then it is important that you accurately & reliably measure it.

Also, there are a number of retailers & manufacturers who don’t have solution in order to get real-time information regarding their deliveries.

Thus, transportation performance cannot be reliably measured.

Much of a surprise, there are a number of organizations that tend to use traditional methods.

Such as fax, telephone, and email in order to exchange delivery information with the carriers.

But all of these can lead to a lack of information and hence the carrier has to enter the information manually after each delivery process.

These can create a lot of work for the carriers which can take about 3-5 hours per week to fill the data.

The problem is that all of this data lacks accuracy as it’s collected several hours once the delivery has happened. Hence, it gets difficult to measure the delivery performance.

On the other hand, real-time visibility platforms collect the transport operations data which includes uploading departure & arrival times, and journey & dwell times. Hence, track carrier performance can be measured accurately.

The best part is that it can help in reducing litigation cost.

‍Increasing the Productivity with Streamlined Communication & Efficiency Gains

The Supply chain ecosystem partners can make use of the singular portal in order to automate the processes as well as prescribe collaborative workflows.

This would potentially guide the users such that they can take correct actions that are aligned with the best practices.

Automation very well helps out to decrease inefficiencies as well as reduce administrative & human errors.

The platform can also be used to communicate the status & updates with the stakeholders in real-time to ensure that everyone is probably on the same page.

Other than this, a dedicated web portal is available for the carriers & shippers such that coordination & management can be simplified.

The best part is that it allows you to take proactive measures swiftly while reducing any kind of transportation risks as well as the costs associated with it.

Security & Quality of Inventory is Ensured

If real-time tracking of individual handling units is done, then security & quality of inventory is ensured.

Further, network-based smart sensors tend to receive objective data on indicators,

such as humidity or temperature inside a shipping truck or container at any given time.

Open Track platform can very well connect with such sensors given from various providers when & wherever needed. Likewise, it tends to provide added layer of security as well.

With this technology, a driver network can be safely created.

Such that they can be stopped in a safe environment in other driver’s presence such that they can be safeguarded from criminals.

Lastly, you can get reduced lead time & better transparency which can have a huge impact on the storage & capital costs which are associated with safety stock.

More operational visibility can be achieved

There are a number of retailers & manufacturers who tend to face new demands from their customers.

All these demands need to be handled carefully such that the quality of service is improved.

Currently, all the problems that tend to happen during transportation are known many hours after the delivery is done.

This can result in significant cost for instance the cost that is incurred to mobilize the teams to load & unload goods.

Further, due to a lack of real-time delivery information, customer service teams tend to remember a number of complaints & calls. Hence, due to this, the relationship between the recipient & shipper can very well be eroded.

So, it’s time that you opt for a real-time visibility platform.

It can lead to a lot more operational visibility.