IoT and Sensors
The Internet of Things (IoT) a phenomenon which allows sensors to monitor a variety of shipment attributes—has been touted as a boon to logistics and is another leading-edge technology that offers benefits to perishables shippers and carriers. Agility Global Integrated Logistics (GIL) has applied the technology to monitoring shipment temperatures and stability, as well as to the geo-fencing of shipments.
For temperature-sensitive shipments, especially, “customers want to know if they have gone outside of tolerance parameters,” said Biju Kewalram, chief digital officer at Agility GIL. “IoT can also tell whether a shipment has been shaken up and whether a truck may have gone off route,” the last item being relevant to whether a shipment may have been exposed to adverse environmental conditions.
This data also helps with logistics because it helps shippers more accurately forecast their transportation needs and costs. Data analyses are used to understand delivery lead times and to diagnose problems of on-time performance and inventories. Visualization technology applied to that data can provide a birds-eye view of supply chains to understand product flows, density problems, and areas that need to be addressed.
The global pharmaceuticals market has more than doubled in the past ten years. Like the demand for fresh foods, global pharmaceutical sales are expected to show healthy growth into the future. Given those facts, it is also likely that carriers and logistics providers will continue to deploy innovative technologies to facilitate these critical shipments.
