How Intel Is Redefining Logistics Transparency In The Global Market

You must remember the last time you got a damaged product via some online retail giant. At least you might have doubted the delivery guy for the torn packaging and for getting lemons instead of apple — the iPhone. Long distance delivery is usually very efficient and has a robust feedback system. If we exclude the manual mischief from the middle players, there still will be some kind of hassle in the packaging process. Road transport in India carries about 60% of all the cargo in the country. With total road network of more than 100,00 km, India needs enhanced logistics program as much as any other developed country in the world. Now, Intel has come up with a solution or one can say a tweaking to the already available solution in the form of its Connected Logistics Platform. Intel’s CLP provides services in the logistics and transportation industry to operate at low margins to boost efficiency. Intel’s Connected Logistics Platform allows the customer to automate shipment tracking and increase shipment visibility (e.g. location, temperature, humidity, mishandling) of high-value goods as they move through the supply chain and to their final destination. Early product damage detection helps to return the product in real time, which eliminates the cost of completing the whole trip of delivery, only to be asked for a new one. End customers benefit from getting a jump start on implementing a recovery plan and gain a better understanding of the conditions that cause damage, making it possible to mitigate future damage and avoid costly claims for the shipping companies as well. “The Intel Connected Logistics Platform provides our clients with a powerful solution across a range of different industry sectors for unprecedented real-time transparency of shipment progress and conditions. Some evaluations include findings of temperature excursions for more than 60 percent of the shipment duration, with route and duration improvement opportunities of up to eight hours on a 36-hour shipment. They are also finding significant deviations in shock measurements, up to a doubling in g-forces experienced by sensitive products, depending on the truck and road quality,” said JJ Van der Meer who is a  partner at PA Consulting.

Platform Features

• Based on the Intel Atom processor
• Provides thorough and continuous updates about package condition
• Alerts when a package’s location or condition changes unexpectedly
• Delivers near real-time data analytics and insights
• Protects confidential asset information with data encryption

Why It Matters

Trust is the most crucial for packaging industries and, higher the sophistication of the product, higher are the levels of trust demanded. So, there is a strong need for transparency and integrity throughout the supply chain. Individual consumers and large businesses ask for integrity control, especially for sensitive and high-value goods; and logistics companies need transparency for ongoing optimization of networks and assets. With access to real-time data through state-of-the-art IoT devices, all these requests can be answered and trust can be established. Risk mitigation in real time with actionable insights and predictive analytics is helping the companies to optimize across all options and significantly improve their efficiency and reduce supply chain costs. The flexibility of the solution allows for quick integration while solving a wide range of asset-tracking industry challenges.

How Well Does Intel Fair In This Space:

• For Driscoll’s, a California-based seller of fresh berries, quality and temperature control of the produce is critical for longer shelf-life. By using Intel CLP, Driscoll’s was able to see temperature variations across different vendor trucks and track temperature fluctuations, humidity effects, shelf-life and third-party logistics performance. Intel CLP can also help reduce customer shipment rejections due to temperature excursions and deteriorated quality.
• For International Flavors & Fragrances, Inc. (IFF), product traceability is a key challenge when products are shipped through land, air or sea. Using Intel CLP, IFF tracked shipments in near real-time and provided first-hand visibility into cold chain performance for shipping sensitive temperature-controlled products. IFF was also able to track product exposure to environmental elements and handling during cross dock situations, and quickly relay customs delays or rejections.

[caption id="attachment_32420" align="alignnone" width="1224"] Source: Intel CLP[/caption] Intel is scaling via multiple ecosystem channels, including cloud service providers, system integrators, OEMs and vertical solution integrators.

How Can India Benefit

According to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Logistics Services in India is a prominent sector in terms of contribution to national and state incomes, trade flows, FDI as well as employment. Considering the huge contribution of logistics and transportation in economic growth, approx. 14% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is spent on transport and Logistics sector in India in comparison to 8 to 10% in other developed countries. Indian Logistics and Transportation sector comprises of Rail, Road, Water and Air Transport and providing transparency in the way goods are delivered, not only enforces trust with the foreign players but also within the country; enabling a healthy relationship between the shipper and the consumer.