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TAPA EMEA PREMIER PARTNER VIEWPOINT


A UNIFIED VISION FOR THE TRANSPORT & LOGISTICS INDUSTRY


We are more interconnected today than ever before, and this is changing how every industry does business. For the transport and logistics industry, recent technological advancements have improved operational workflows immensely, but three key areas can benefit from further improvements.


It starts with unified yard management, parcel tracking, and fleet monitoring. The concept of unification adopted across many sectors is driving change primarily through new information technologies. Embracing this concept is a step towards a vision that includes an all-encompassing solution for the future of transport and logistics.


Yard management


Recent adoptions of new technology have brought some limited automation to yards. However, the current approach to yard management remains fragmented. This piecemeal approach lacks efficiency and does not provide operators with the complete picture they could get through a unified process. Furthermore, the industry’s heavy reliance on human resources maintains operating costs high while profit margins


are already low. Bringing in automation for many manual processes executed by paid guards would improve operations while reducing costs over time. A holistic approach to yard management is the vision needed for members of the transport and logistics industry to gain a competitive edge. This means unifying infrastructure and tools to fully automate delivery carrier entry and exit processes within warehouse yards.


What does a truly unified yard look like?


Implementing a unified approach to yard management will empower the industry to optimize workflows in the yard like never before. The vision is one where authentication, guidance, and access control are automated. A unified yard would validate driver credentials automatically, guide trucks to their assigned loading gate, disarm alarms at the loading gate, and unlock it. A truck’s exit would leave the gate automatically locked, the alarms armed, and the logs updated with a time of entry and exit. All of these steps would also be captured on video, with bookmarks to highlight arrival, docking, undocking, and exit times. A unified yard would make it simpler for drivers to pick up or deliver merchandise while giving yard managers a complete view of all events happening at the yard in real-time or during investigations.


Fleet management


Another area of operations that remains fragmented and disconnected is fleet monitoring. The tracking of carrier fleets is limited and usually remains part of a separate system, disconnected from facility operations. Individual vehicle monitoring is also limited. Once a delivery truck has the green light to exit a yard, visibility of the truck’s locations and its cargo is limited. For high-value cargo, this is a security gap that a unified approach can remedy. Connecting onboard data from vehicles to a unified platform that also manages facilities’ operations empowers carriers with knowledge of their fleet status. Having all fleet information centralized with facility resources also allows for faster reaction times when incidents happen.


What does a monitored fleet look like?


The vision of unified fleet management is a platform through which a transport carrier can remotely tap into any of their fleets’ live data feeds to ensure vehicles follow their itineraries and that the goods onboard have not been tampered with. Real-time GPS tracking and automated itinerary validation can alert control center operators if a vehicle deviates from planned routes. Onboard video would serve as an additional validation tool to prove parcels were not tampered with en route.


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