| | APRIL 2023192. Elaborate on the areas where digital tools are adding value at each stage of the logistics journey and what are the results received by the industry so far?The biggest tool which has added immense value is electronic data interchange (EDI). By enabling real-time exchange of documentation, including customs, Whether that is customs, transactions, invoices or any paperwork, EDI has streamlined the process. Additionally, this has led to increased velocity of the logistics industry. Imagine the paperwork involved in receiving a package from a different country. While lot of authorities are involved and there are multiple steps to this process, EDI has got many applications and it is making the world of shipping and freight go online. There is a format of EDI wherein the customer can interact with the service provider in an electronic or digital form directly. A variety of tools have been built in and it takes care of the data. These tools also work on eliminating quite a large chunk of errors. Besides EDI, there is a mix of IoT and AI technology. Artificial intelligence and IoT training huge requirements. Dealing with large workforce and supply chains. You need to train the trainers properly to become well-versed in these new programmes. Companies have gone ahead and deployed AI and are even coming up with training programs that have been designed at a self-paced level. For us at ProConnect, AI plays a major in our deliveries and IoT monitors the entire shipment unit machines and equipment. Devices available within the logistics industry talk to each other, not in the literal sense but in way of sending signals and indications. Here, with IoT, the flow of this information has become seamless and we are deriving huge value out of this tech. Last but not least, is the Transport Management System (TMS). This complements EDI and with all the meetings we have had, including with that of leading consultancy firms, we came across companies who had 10-15 stack of various technologies and these companies were from the transportation and logistics vertical. Digital tools in the logistics industry are complex and it comes as no surprise that companies in our vertical have the most forward-looking new tech packs to tackle a humongous amount of data flow and operations. 3. How do you perceive the latest budget in contributing to the Indian logistics industry to be on a competitive edge on the global market?NLP, national justice policy and PM Gathi Shakti, all of these programs got a boost this budget. Take a closer look and you will see that close to about 100 critical transport infrastructure projects, which were either ports, coal, steel, fertilizer related ones, were approved. This is an investment of Rs 75,000 crores. There was a time when logistics not recognized as an industry. Right now, we have the governing body taking efforts to ensure investment and work in the sector. If we take a slight detour, we can see that the government has allocated close to 2.7 lakh crores to the Ministry of Road and Transport. Every day, we keep seeing developmental work happening on those infrastructures, especially on the roads and the highways, such as the Delhi-Mumbai corridor, where half portion has been opened up from Mumbai till Nagpur. With roads improving, travel time is set to reduce. Another great move by the government in this Budget was the Digilocker service. I personally use this Digilocker. IT is super convenient. From storing your car documents, driving licence, PAN Id, Aadhaar card and many more, this is very convenient. This enhances secures online storage and safe sharing of documents. This comes handy in the logistics field as there is a ton of paperwork involved and sometimes physical documents are lost. The mention of 5G piqued my curiosity too. In the Budget, they declared that labs are LOGISTICS INDUSTRY REINVENTS THE OLD TRENDS WITH NEW INNOVATIONS
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