Logisticians, to meet your customers' demands, adopt IoT

According to the July 2017 Talan Consulting study, 77% of large B2B players have launched experiments on the Internet of Things.

By allowing the analysis of large amounts of data, the massive deployment of this technology offers many opportunities.

TheInternet of Things (IoT) can be defined quite simply: connecting all assets around the world to the internet.

IoT is a new technology that can be complicated to approach. In addition to the contributions of technologies such as RFID/QR Code, IoT, GSM on your Supply Chain, it is essential to bear in mind that the processing of the collected data is as important as the data itself.

The IoT: buzzword or asset for your clients?

In 1984, Gartner estimated that only 1,000 objects were connected, compared with 17 billion in 2012. Logistics has its place in this widespread phenomenon, and like many sectors, it is placing customer satisfaction at the heart of its concerns. Indeed, customers are increasingly demanding and are asking for more visibility and fluidity in their exchanges.

Good news! Communication technologies such as the IoT offer the beginnings of an answer to these demands. All sensors and connected objects deliver a large amount of data in real time, such as identity, location, movements, handling activities or temperature. The IoT thus makes logistics extremely transparent: at any time, decision-makers have a large amount of usable data at their disposal.

The data collected at every moment via the IoT ensures that your daily decisions are made easier. The implementation of sensors makes predictive maintenance possible. You can then reduce your maintenance costs and improve the quality of your service. By having real time knowledge of your stocks, their management is consequently simplified. The tracking of your goods and products gives you a global view of your supply chain. Finally, by closely monitoring the use of your equipment, it is possible to control their utilization rate (productivity, reduction of rental time, etc.), regardless of their location.

How to choose the right technology for your needs?

To achieve this tracking, there are now 3 main groups of technologies. Each of these technologies is likely to meet your needs: RFID, GSM and IoT. Understanding how they work and how they are used will enable you to choose the one that is best suited to your business and, above all, to your needs. These technologies are to be considered as complementary and not competing.

RFID: a passive technology more suited to logistics warehouses

Operating passively thanks to radio frequency, RFID technology is suitable for monitoring indoor production processes, but not for monitoring non-motorized mobile assets. It therefore offers no security in case of theft or loss of the asset. RFID also does not allow for the automation of data collection. Because human intervention is required at every stage of the process, the reliability of the information cannot be guaranteed.

GSM: a proven but expensive technology

GSM technology (Orange, Bouygues, SFR telecom networks, etc.) is active and allows a large amount of data to be sent. But its connection cost is high (4 times more than the IoT). It is also very energy consuming (10 times more than the IoT). This technology therefore requires a power source on tracked assets. The problem? Most industrial mobile assets are not powered.

IoT: an ideal technology for industrial applications

Between these two technologies, the IoT is a good medium for industrial applications. It is an active technology. It therefore leaves no room for human error. Its connection cost and energy consumption are low. The sensor thus has a large autonomy (from 3 to 5 years), essential for monitoring non-motorized assets.

The IoT immediately becomes relevant for the real time tracking The IoT can be used to monitor different types of goods such as wagons, construction tippers, etc. with high autonomy and low cost. This technology provides you with quality information that meets your quality and customer satisfaction requirements.

Exploiting this data to satisfy the end customer nevertheless requires high-performance, business-oriented analysis tools. The challenge of the coming years will be to exploit this data to prove the adage "Rich in data but poor in information".

‍

Want to learn more? Schedule a meeting with our team.