Leveraging location intelligence, organisations can optimise fleet efficiency, help reduce operational costs and deliver superior value to their customers, opines Abhijit Sengupta, Director and Head of Business (Southeast Asia and India), HERE Technologies
Over the last few years the trend of rapid technology adoption has clearly stood out, reflecting not only the way we live but also the way business is conducted. A recent survey by HERE Technologies, in collaboration with industry analyst firm Frost and Sullivan, helps identify disruptive technologies and megatrends that impact stakeholders across industries, in particular, the transport and logistics sector. The trend is that logistics companies will pave the way for electric mobility and India will be a key market.
Our research reveals that approximately a third of logistics companies in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region are considering IoT (37%), warehouse automation (33%) and electric vehicles (32%) as key investment priorities in the next two years. Out of these, electric vehicle (EV) technology has already made a mark for itself throughout India’s last-mile cargo segment. In short, companies that are early drivers of EV adoption are shaping the market. We are watching leading supply chain companies in India readying to convert a quarter of their two-wheeler fleet to electric by the end of 2021 and completely by 2023.
Similarly, India’s e-commerce and logistics industries are driving rapid EV use in last-mile delivery. All this makes the Indian logistics’ sector a strong champion of EV adoption in the region and the transition to electric freight mobility for a green and robust supply chain future. This is where location technology and data can empower companies hesitant to shift to EV and EV OEMs by adapting to climate-friendly technology, digitising operations to future-proof the business and reducing transport-related carbon emissions. For transport and logistics companies, it can even be a make or break proposition.
While the businesses largely depend on the transport of goods and services to the end customer, they are also about ensuring a quality customer experience. If the customer experiences a delay in receiving his purchased goods or services, he may look elsewhere in the future. Accurate location data can thus benefit both parties. Let us now discuss the ways in which the integration of location informed data and electric mobility can not only drive long-term benefits such as business sustainability but also enable end-to-end insight into their fleet and real-time supply chain enhancing the last-mile delivery process.
Charging Infrastructure
Of all the operational challenges that deter businesses from adopting electric mobility, a major one is the availability of EV charging infrastructure. What if one runs out of charge while on the road? Location-enriched APIs can provide fleet managers and drivers with a list of charging stations within a location or facility along a planned route or destination. At HERE Technologies, we offer EV charging stations’ API, a REST (which stands for representational state transfer and was created by computer scientist Roy Fielding) API that provides lists of charging stations within a specified area, including data on connector types, opening hours and their location. EV charging stations’ API also provides dynamic data about connector availability at charging stations for electric vehicles, including full detailed and dynamic data for specific individual stations.
Monitoring and Tracking Assets
Every asset has a location component that must be tracked and accounted for. Organisations can leverage the power of location intelligence by integrating them with machine learning algorithms that can recognise objects and sort them location-wise. Fleet managers can use this data-driven approach to business to better understand their markets and determine emerging trends. Using advanced in-vehicle telematics embedded with machine-to-machine technologies, satellite imagery and drones, enterprises can gather, assess and share spatial data with internal teams to power decisions across the supply chain, including raw material resourcing, production, inventory management and transportation from the first mile to last mile delivery.
Workforce Safety
Driver safety and driver satisfaction is a major factor when it comes to managing risk. As the industry continues to face the existing driver shortage, amplified by pandemic-imposed lockdowns and physical distancing, it is important, more than ever, to retain safe and experienced drivers. Alternatively, having the ability to monitor driver behaviour and measure compliance with road-use regulations is vital to limiting potential liability and cost of operations. This is where transitioning to electric vehicles could turn out to be a major business breakthrough. One of the first things that drivers notice when switching to an electric car is the quietness of the vehicle, which creates a comfortable and relaxing driving experience.
Electric vehicles integrated with sensor technologies, in-vehicle safety systems and cameras are also more effective in saving lives on roads. The amount of location-aware data these technologies together generate can help fleet managers with the information needed to efficiently coach drivers. It can also power dynamic applications that show real-time data such as split-lane traffic information, traffic safety alerts and weather information, ultimately allowing drivers to make better and safer decisions throughout their drive. This rich data can make all the difference between driver behaviour that results in a costly accident and a careful, successful driver.
Fleet Management Last but not the least, electric vehicles integrated with computer systems and sensors can give fleet owners all the information about the performance of their fleets, temperature, charging breaks taken by drivers, etc. Simultaneously, location intelligence, combined with real-time traffic information, can give a comprehensive picture of current road conditions that can impact truck-specific directions, arrival times, etc. Knowing this information accurately can enable predicting highly accurate delivery times to be communicated to the end customers. In short, by leveraging location intelligence, organisations can optimise fleet efficiency, help reduce operational costs and deliver superior value to their customers. Lots of exciting times ahead as the journey has just begun!