By now, everyone knows what artificial intelligence (AI) is and have some idea about its potential. However, most believe that AI will simply automate certain tasks and make certain jobs redundant.
But that’s not true. Not right now, and definitely not right away. In the real world, AI has a long way to go.
However, it’s true that AI is making a big impact on businesses at the moment, and those that are experimenting with the technology will get far ahead of the competition than anyone else in the marketplace.
In the logistics industry per se, there are a few key areas where AI will make a significant impact on the industry (and by extension, on the jobs). Bear in mind, many of these will take a few years to fully develop — but they’re solutions that technology companies such as IBM and logistics providers such as DHL are actively looking into.
AI use cases in logistics
# 1 | Ironing out kinks in the back office
In the logistics industry, operations involve more than just picking up and transporting something from one place to another.
It involves tedious documentation, complex route mapping, and several optimizations in order to make sure the right parcels are picked up from the right locations and delivered to the right people while complying with relevant laws in all of the relevant jurisdictions involved.
Using cognitive technologies (such as machine vision) and simple automation of repetitive tasks, executives can be made more efficient and re-focused on more important tasks.
# 2 | Helping create predictive logistics solutions
These days, logistics companies collect tonnes of data about their business, their customers, their cargo, and everything in between.
As a result, it’s quite easy for logistics companies today to forecast demand, supply, and delivery schedules with ease and accuracy.
All companies need to do is make sure they have the right model mapped out for an AI framework to put data into and run efficiently.
# 3 | Creating real-world logistics assets
It’s important for businesses to realize that although AI might be just “software”, it can power all the hardware in the world. In fact, it’s the very technology that’s helping companies like Uber, Tesla, and Ford create the autonomous vehicles of tomorrow.
In the logistics sector, AI can power several of the tools that help pack items, label them, load and unload items from a warehouse onto a truck, and so much more.
The potential of AI is unlimited when it comes to deploying the technology to create real-world logistics assets — it’s all up to the imagination of the companies and their teams.