T he technology world time traveled into the future in 2020, going years ahead of the original upgradation schedules. No one would have imagined that the services, from healthcare to education, would be delivered in a complete virtual fashion at least before the year 2030. However, it still doesn’t mean that food, healthcare supplies, clothing, raw material, hardware supplies, and others, can be experienced remotely. Things need to be moved. This is precisely why the supply chains across the world were overstretched and often broken during the COVID-19 pandemic. But the tech-savvy logistics entities magically survived!

Delivering deeper into the heart of those mainstream companies, they had a well defined business strategy in place. They centered their services around end-to-end automation systems, including CRM and ERP systems hosted on cloud and smart warehousing systems. Looking closer, it is also important to note that when roads were locked and flights were grounded, most of them oiled other modes of transport like Railway & Seaway and ensured seamless movement of their goods. In other words, it’s not just the technology that helped them survive the pandemic, but proper planning as well.

From now on, every logistics company will have pandemic like situations in the back of their minds. Technology will continue to play a pivotal role in the coming years. AI, Big Data Analytics, and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) are expected to redefine procurement & planning phases of supply chains, helping organizations to fathom improved demand forecasts & real time route optimization and predict supply chain risks such as delays, non compliance, and lack of transparency. A step further, Blockchain can also be a breakthrough in terms of supply chain data centralization and ensuring more seamless, transparent relationships between suppliers, customers, exchanges, and carriers. Do let us know your thoughts.