Importance of Technology on India’s Supply Chain Management

Around 14 percent of GDP spent on logistics sector annually in India as compared to only around 5 percent of GDP in the developed countries logistics sector. According to an ASSOCHAM (Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India) study, the logistics sector in India is poised to grow at 16 percent YoY CAGR. Also, India’s ranking has reached the 44th position in 2018 as compared to 54th ranking in 2014. (Source: World Bank Logistics Performance Index 2018).

According to PwC, out of top 20 bilateral trade routes in the world, 16 will have APAC countries and 80 % of the world trade market will be in APAC countries routes by the year 2030. A PwC study shows that
> 67% of business entities recognize digital supply chain as important and disruptive
> 40% of business entities in the APAC region have engaged with collaboration technologies and supply chain analytics

At present, many industries in India like retail, manufacturing, automotive, etc have started using digital supply chain processes. New technologies like RFID already starts helping in efficiency improvement and better safety in the supply chain processes. New technologies like automated vehicles, blockchain, IoT, etc. are also coming to India.

With respect to electronic invoicing, tracking, inventory management, and supply chain visibility, technology is playing an important role by simplifying the processes. Technology is also helping in on time production, better monitoring, automatic real-time notifications, reducing mistakes, and more. All these leading to good service levels, more efficiency and reduction in costs. In India, there are less technology-enabled logistics service providers like 20Cube Logistics who can provide superior services.

A 3PL service provider who can provide reliable data and engaged in data analysis can bring a change at the current logistics scenario in India and can meet customer expectations. There are data at all points of a supply chain and a massive amount of data created every time. Relevant data can help in proper decision making, efficient inventory tracking, better forecasting, more efficiency and more.

Visibility and connectivity are the backbones for a dynamic supply chain. And dynamic supply chains are need of the hour due to market volatility and regular changes in business scenario & consumer expectations. Dynamic supply chains can also help to cater to the untapped potential presence in the market and can also provide more value to the customers.

Getting quick access to the reliable data and proper analysis of data can be the game-changer in the supply chain and digitization seems to help in getting authentic data at real time. And it will be lead to high growth, reduction in costs and increase in efficiency which will meet the ever-increasing customer expectations.

Technologies which can have a big impact on the supply chain in India:

> Artificial Intelligence (AI): It can help in detecting supply chain errors, issues related to compliance, reduce frauds and very useful during crisis management. It will reduce human touch points and increase efficiency.

>Internet of Things (IoT): It helps to connect internet with objects and there is no need for human intervention. IoT can help in achieving high safety standards, better resource optimization, high visibility with connected equipment, better inventory management with effective tracking, effective warehouse management with M2M processes.

>Blockchain: Under blockchain, data transfer happens through blocks and it is very secure. Each transaction has an own digital fingerprint which is linked to the owner of it. It can help in achieving high supply chain security, high data quality, streamline processes and more.

To transform the supply chain in India, the technology-enabled supply chains are required which can provide real-time data regarding inventory levels, consumer behavior, costs fluctuations and more. We can also measure the effectiveness of digitization by keeping a track of resources utilization, TAT, real-time visibility, on-time delivery, etc.

Use of the right kind of technology and implementation of technology in a correct way is very important. Lack of infrastructure, technology expenses, and implementation issues in logistics are few of the factors in India hindering the growth of technology in logistics. Fears of data security, connectivity issues, longer time of results delivery, lots of existing manual processes, and more are the factors behind slow growth of technology-enabled logistics service providers in India.

20Cube Logistics is a new age technology-enabled logistics service provider and we love to keep pace with recent technologies and adhere to technology advancements in logistics. With our online platform “MyHub”, we provide end to end visibility, live inventory monitoring, vendor management, online documents, exceptions management and more.

Technologies like GPS, RFID & sensors already helped organizations in getting more agility, transparency and collaboration in their supply chain. However, to get more benefits from the digital supply chain, companies require a more serious attitude about it and include digitization in their processes. Digitization can help in taking India’s Supply Chain into a new level which can also have a positive impact on India’s economy.