Don’t underestimate the power of automated shipment tracking in transforming your freight forwarding operations. Staying updated on the exact whereabouts of your shipment at any point in time allows you to make quick decisions that affect your business. You build trust with your customers and other industry players, presenting your business as a progressive contributor with logistics technology. Customers care about the environment and automation is a major driving force in reducing carbon emissions. Logistics technology enables you to increase efficiency, save time, lower operational costs, support your team, satisfy your customers, and protect the environment at the same time.
Manual operations vs. logistics technology
Businesses that strive for progress invest in technology, reaping the benefits of modern tools while making their customers happier than before with improved services. Automation isn’t just a trend, it’s the future of freight forwarding. Invest in automated tools and take on new challenges while expanding your reach and exploring your potential.
Expected delays
A good number of shipments are delayed at ports across the world and things like the weather can’t be controlled by humans. But you can plan routes in a smarter way through automated shipment tracking. It also helps to monitor the reliability of a carrier to determine whether delays were caused by their negligence.
Overworked staff
You don’t want your staff to be burned out by performing tedious tasks manually 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. Thanks to logistics technology, you need fewer employees to handle a single task and training times are shorter than those required for manual operations. Watch your productivity rise with automated cargo tracking tools.
Handling paperwork
Besides the risk of human error in manually completed paperwork, there’s also the guilt of using paper products that are directly causing deforestation all over the world. You can save time, energy, human resources, and trees by investing in automated shipment tracking that is powered by renewable energy at your facilities.
Poor organization
Errors, delays, and accidents can be a direct result of improper organization of data and unreliable management. Empower your team with logistics technology, which assists them in building a centralized system for freight operations. You can expect efficient management of time, data, resources, and schedules through automation.
Benefits of automated shipment tracking
The rising demands of customers in freight forwarding indicate that you need to step up your game and keep up with your competitors. The fast-growing freight industry is going through rapid digital transformation and you risk the future of your company if you don’t shift from manual to digital soon. Fortunately, you can take digitalization step by step instead of investing in a freight forwarding system. Shipment tracking through a centralized dashboard is popular logistics technology that might be a good start for your business. You have a lot riding on timely, accurate tracking of active shipments and automation simplifies the whole process while helping you save costs.
Greater efficiency
Sustainability and efficiency go hand-in-hand, driving your company towards higher revenue with lower investment. Cutting costs wherever possible is important, but you can’t compromise on quality or safety for the sake of spending less money on running your business. Automated shipment tracking affects several areas of your operations, including reporting and customer support. Arranging a system that gathers and delivers secure data on the location and status of your cargo swiftly helps streamline your freight operations. Real-time shipment tracking empowers you by giving you the information you require to make the right decisions at the right time.
Customer reporting
The modern customer has high expectations from service providers and information is among the top demands they have from the business they’ve selected. When a customer is shopping for a product, they collect information about it and compare it to their specifications. Once they’ve ordered a product, customers wish to stay updated on its journey from dispatch to delivery. Logistics technology allows you to deliver satisfactory customer service by providing real-time updates to your customers about their packages. You can only offer the information that you have recorded in your system, which makes automation in shipment tracking important to your operations.
Saving money
Every business owner wishes to earn the highest revenue at the lowest operational costs. While it may seem like a distant fantasy, tools for automated shipment tracking go a long way to minimizing your expenditure. When you’re running processes manually, you need to hire experienced people and more of them to get things done. Automation cuts down on the time taken to complete different tasks and requires fewer professionals to handle them. Simplifying data collection, organization, and reporting also saves on operational costs. You can also compare the performances of various carriers and choose the most reliable and efficient one for future shipments.
Higher security
Besides reassuring your customers that their valuable cargo is being taken care of during every part of its journey, you require logistics technology for personal satisfaction. As a business owner trying to grow into an industry leader, your reputation is on the line every time you send out a shipment. Considering the number of security threats in recent years, you’re right to take every precaution to secure the assets of your customers. While under your supervision, the assets of your customers should be cared for as if they belong to your company. The precision and speed of shipment tracking enables you to increase the security of your cargo.
Environment-friendly
The freight industry is under pressure to reduce carbon emissions, which can be difficult considering the fuel consumption that comes with the transport of cargo across all modes like air, sea, road, and rail mode. Greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide released due to fuel combustion in trains, trucks, airplanes, and ocean carriers lead to global warming. You can minimize your carbon footprint by adopting freight forwarding systems that have integrations for automated shipment tracking tools. Besides eliminating paper waste and saving the planet from deforestation, you’ll make your tracking process quicker, meaning less energy expended in this department.
Route management
Industry outsiders may be surprised to learn how often shipments can get delayed, especially in sea mode, which disrupts the entire shipping process. The increasing demands on the freight industry call for quick adaptation to emerging logistics technology. All industry players need to commit to greater cooperation and streamline operations to improve efficiency. The route that your cargo will take is decided beforehand, but there can be unexpected situations that force you to make decisions on the spot. Automated cargo tracking gives you real-time data on your shipment to reorganize the route for the fastest, safest delivery possible.
Centralized control
Different departments work together to gather data, organize files, and generate reports about your active shipments. Invest in freight forwarding software that provides a centralized dashboard from where you can access automated shipment tracking tools. Arrange access to real-time shipment tracking data depending on the various administration levels within your team. All relevant department heads should be able to access cargo tracking data and use it for their specific tasks. Thanks to automation, no one has to interrupt the other and rush to collect data or send reports with incomplete information.
Time management
Logistics technology for automated cargo tracking does more than just pinpoint the location of your shipment on a map. You can view all of your active shipments at the same time on the map and click on any of them to see more details. Depending on the kind of hardware you’re relying on, you can obtain the status of your shipment too. You get notifications about different milestones attained by your shipment, moving from point A to B. Automated alerts let you know when your cargo has received clearance, started a new part of its journey, and reached its destination. Getting real-time shipment data helps in planning and creating schedules for all your shipments.
Automated shipment tracking is a necessity in modern freight forwarding and your customers are used to instant gratification. Your customers will be satisfied with your upgraded services while you’ll be able to streamline your operations for higher efficiency and productivity. Save your time and energy as your help conserve the planet’s resources through automation.
