Go with The Flow - or Fail

Everyone in the logistics business is familiar with the concept of ‘The Flow’ as it relates to goods and materials. Less obvious to some, however, may be the additional vital integration of the flow of information to allow that to happen in the first place. Again, everyone knows about the need to deliver goods ‘on-time, in-full', but to achieve that effectively in today's environment you also need information to be delivered on-time and in-full. It should be stating the obvious to say that you simply cannot have the efficient flow of goods and materials without a concomitant flow of information (encompassing orders, inventory levels, shipping details, financial data, etc.).

When it comes to freight transport operators, their customers rightly expect as much advance notice of shipment progress as possible, with operators providing proactive interventions as necessary in order to deliver on their service promises. It’s our contention that the only way this can be achieved is by ensuring that the relevant correct information is provided in a timely manner. For instance, interventions should already be predetermined if key milestones are not achieved - and this should apply to all aspects of the logistics information and data involved. 

It bears repeating: achieving The Flow in logistics means optimising the physical flow of products (minimising transportation time and costs, streamlining storage and handling, ensuring timely delivery, etc.) via integration of the info flow (the seamless exchange of data and information necessary to facilitate efficient delivery of the physical product). Integrating both these flows is crucial for maximum efficiency, cost reduction and customer satisfaction in logistics operations.

Augmenting all of the above is the advent of AI and its integration within logistics systems (such as our own CarrierNet) - which gives transport operators the opportunity to deliver a much better service to their customers by achieving levels of The Flow hitherto undreamed of. If you would like to know more about how this could benefit your freight transport business, contact CarrierNet’s Bashir Khan right here.