Using the IoT to Find and Fix Breaks in Your Supply Chain
Frequently lost shipments, slow-downs in deliveries, or other delays in a supply chain can often indicate that there is a chronic problem that needs to be addressed. Intelyt’s mission is to provide hyper-granular data and actionable insight into what the problems are, where they arise, and why they happen. This arms logistics and transportation managers with the information they need to quickly identify and fix their issues, and proactively streamline their supply chain to avoid chronic supply chain problems.
Problems arise when the unexpected happens
Complications with shipments are inevitable, so a seasoned logistics professional knows to expect the unexpected. The latest developments in Internet of Things (IoT) infrastructure helps them to quickly identify, understand, fix, and prevent unexpected shipment problems. Supply chain disruptions, which an Accenture study has shown can reduce shareholder value by 7 percent, are preventable with the proper technology in place.
In most supply chains, there’s a production or purchase order. The expectation is that a product is going to be shipped within a specific window of time, and arrive within another specific window. Whenever those expectations aren’t met, there’s a problem, and it’s the responsibility of the logistics or transportation manager to fix it. The sooner they can get information, the better they’re able to deal with the problem. The more detailed the alert, the better the logistics manager can trace the problem to a specific point in the supply chain.
Without Intelyt’s visibility and data, problems can be daunting
Without Intelyt’s Internet of Things technology looking out for the shipment, and providing insight on how to improve shipments, logistics managers are in the dark. There is no amount of painstaking preparation that can prevent unexpected problems and breaks in the supply chain. When a shipment doesn’t show up when it is scheduled to, managers have to scramble to pinpoint exactly what went wrong, in what stage of the process.
Before a logistics manager can prescribe changes and solutions for a broken supply chain, the most basic intel into a shipment problem can be hazy without Intelyt’s insight and data. Simple diagnostic questions like the ones below should be the first to get to the bottom of, but they can be difficult to answer without robust supply chain visibility.
Where is the product?
Was the product lost?
Was the product stolen?
Was there counterfeit insertion?
Was the product damaged?
Was there a problem with transportation that caused a delay?
Was there a mix up in scheduling or routing?
Once a logistics manager is able to determine what type of problem even occurred, the next stage of investigation dives deeper:
At what leg of the journey did the problem occur?
Who was responsible? Who was at fault?
Why did it happen?
Were expectations and windows unrealistic, miscommunicated?
And eventually comes the question of how to fix a supply chain break: “How can I get the shipment back on track, and suffer the least amount of damage from this incident?” Rectifying problems from a shipment is a supply chain manager’s responsibility. However, without the proper insight, finding the parties responsible for supply chain breaks and knowing how to address each problem can be a shot in the dark.
How Intelyt solves breaks in supply chains
Intelyt can answer the above questions for you, so that you can focus on fixing the break in your supply chain. Intelyt’s technology can provide visibility into your supply’s conditions, routing, and more, including:
Current Location
Excessive Dwelling
Shock to the product
Late Departure
Alternate routes
Temperature
Theft
Counterfeit insertion
The technology does the investigation for you, so you can take action, knowing exactly what is causing problems, or where the break is.
In addition to fixing a break in a supply chain, there’s one more important question to answer: “How can we make sure that this problem never happens again?” This is where Intelyt’s vast amounts of actionable data comes in. Intelyt is constantly collecting information in real time about every angle of a shipment, from start to finish. This arms logistics managers with the with forensic data to use to make sure a problem doesn’t happen again. Intelyt delivers strategic solutions, not just tactical solutions. Getting a shipment process back on track, and also proactively knowing if something will cause problems, helps companies fix chronic supply chain breaks.
As Intelyt’s data accumulates, logistics managers will have a bird’s eye view of their supply chain health as a whole. This will guide them to make long term strategic decisions about how to optimize and streamline their supply chain to make it run more smoothly and consistently over time.
Peace of mind for logistics managers is a central goal. Our technology helps managers rest assured that their shipment will arrive on time and meet all expected specifications. It also helps businesses streamline each successive shipment, and work toward a bulletproof supply chain, running at optimum efficiency.