Chess or checkers? The stakes are higher in chess, and the moves more calculated. The same can be said for transportation in the supply chain in 2011. Growth will be slower, harder to find and more strategic. The days of strategy based on intuition are long gone.
I believe this year will bring unprecedented use of analytics to wring every drop of revenue from business and drive margin expansion. The economy has forced logistics companies to take deep cuts, work leaner and rethink optimization of their business models. The myriad factors a company considers before making a decision are complex, dynamic and often intertwined with their partners in the supply chain. The largest companies have had access to sophisticated analytics and business intelligence tools for several years, but midsize and small logistics companies increasingly will find analytics are the new equalizer to remain competitive.
Business intelligence with more unique industry-driven data and analysis will play a crucial role in the overarching strategy of a company with predictive modeling, allowing managers to make tactical decisions with confidence and mitigate risk. Companies will also need to layer in comparative market benchmark data in addition to their own internal company data if they want to remain competitive with their peers.
If analytics can find additional revenue and profit per load, and the results can be multiplied across a company’s business operations, the implications are significant. Simultaneously, the evolution of the communications platforms delivering that targeted data, like we’ve seen with smart phones, will leapfrog current systems.