Freighting the cargo into the future business intelligence services for logistics

Freighting the Cargo into the Future! Business Intelligence Services for Logistics!!

Business Intelligence becomes the most discussed word today when it comes to extracting useful information from streams of unstructured and diverse data. Business Intelligence is not a standalone technology, but rather is a comprehensive term covering analytics, technologies for reporting as well as data refinement techniques. Properly implemented Business Intelligence tools in an organization help enhancing businesses in more than many ways and enterprises recognize the unmissable signs of moving ahead with BI. • • • • •

Granular as well as macro level reporting with the ability to micro analyze data Deriving analytics against live, feed category data to come up with dashboards and reports that depict the as-is state of a department, process or Key Performance Indicators and metrics Lends an edge to the decision-making capability of an organization Helps transform raw data to actionable data Helps identify deficient areas using trend analytics to counter the handicaps to the organization growth

Today, comprehensive BI solutions are available that meet the diverse yet closely coupled business needs at an enterprise level. Solutions specific to different functions and departments ensure that the organization leverages full capabilities of analytics, data warehousing and big data to offer a comprehensive platform.

Several CRM & ERP solutions have now been integrated with BI suites & platforms allowing enterprises to purchase and rollout complete packaged products. With Software as a Service – SaaS with BI solutions on the rise, enterprises need not invest in expensive infrastructure to avail the BI offering as scalable solutions are made available to the advantage of various industries including logistics.

Features for Logistics Software Solutions

Logistics is the undisputed critical component of Supply Chain to the extent that they are indispensable. This intricate operation typically involves moving a service or product from the producer or supplier to the end customer.

The Supply chain management (SCM) is a complex aspect involving procurement, transportation, sourcing, delivery assurance etc. Logistics on the other hand is associated with the flow of products and service enabling materials from the origin to final consumption point, making it a subset or part of supply chain management.

The inherent complexity of these areas propagates use of Business Intelligence. The logistics and supply chain industries traditionally have a huge number of challenges when it comes to managing the data which is expected to be real-time and available 24*7 thorough multiple touch points.

Transportation costs, freight status, inventory & shipment tracking, delivery schedules are just some of the problems that need to be tracked with accuracy.

End to End Monitoring •

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Properly implemented BI suite makes use of data generated at each layer of the supply chain right up to the completion of the delivery cycle enabling insightful decision making as well as chart trends to analyze and fix problems with overall logistics management.

Whether the goods or commodities were delivered on time, if there were any blockages to shipment, challenges at the port of entry, issues at the time of delivery are all monitored, tracked and remediated using a hybrid BI system specifically designed for Logistics.

Inventory management •

Business Intelligence tools help the enterprise keep a watchful eye on inventory and stock management. It enables the business take informed decision on when to trigger the import chain, when the current stock will run out and integrating it with demand management, take informed decisions for future inventory orders with planned logistical arrangements.

Transportation Management •

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Transportation is at the core of the supply chain & logistics industry. With BI systems, it is possible to analyze the performance of goods carriers and keep a check on the compliance level of the supplier as well. BI tools enable data to information transition which provides valuable inputs for freight audits and route optimization.

Suppliers and vendors can effectively determine maintenance windows based on low traffic periods & reduced requirements time frame to ensure minimal impact to business.

BI systems also help track shipment history that helps determine supplier performance for a specified product.

Measuring Key Performance Indicators (KPI) Business Intelligence services facilitate the SCM & Logistic industry keep a track of critical KPIs to keep the operations efficient & optimized.

KPIs

Financial Management Features With Business Intelligence, areas like cost-benefit analysis, budget analysis, measuring fuel surcharge & net revenue per terminal, determining total transportation cost become a lot easier.

Sales & Order Management BI systems keep a tab on financial gains per order, volume discounts for preferred customers, order receive time, orders cancelled or returned and orders resulting in 100% requirements fulfillment. BI tools also help track supplier performance, customer portfolio analysis and service level analytics with a specific client.

Business Intelligence Enhancing Logistics

The Logistics operations across enterprises make the most of the Business Intelligence services made available for this niche.

Integrated Logistics Data for Increased Visibilities The manufacturing industry tends to have lack of interconnections between data fragments, and aspects like transportation and supplier equations even complicate it further. BI tools specially designed for logistics have run,

slice and dice through data to comprehend meaningfully. By combining data sets generated across the organization & running data analytics algorithms allows the manufacturer, supplier or the end customer at any level of the supply chain get an accurate visibility.

Optimized Operations With monitoring, route adjustments, check on shipments & revenues, BI enables the Logistics industry roll-out efficient processes & workflows. Routine operations are better streamlined by leveraging business intelligence.

Effective Planning BI tools combined with forecast models eliminate uncertainties by intuitive predictions for better planning. Supply Chain generally needs to consider vehicle options, combining multiple tasks, as well as weather disruptions posing complications in adhering to the schedules. Business Intelligence chalks out a set of best practices to make best possible use of data, trend analytics, predictive analytics and decision making insights resulting in effective planning for the enterprise.

Keep a Check on Risks Effective logistics and supply chain management is all about minimizing risks to eventually generate more value.

Properly implemented BI systems keep a check on parameters critical for business, and raise flags when components go out of sync in the supply chain. Predictive trend analytics are very effective when it comes to risk management as corrective actions can be taken before thresholds are breached.

Drill in into Discrepancies Situations hampering routine business operations or growth can be effectively drilled into using BI systems for further introspection. Root cause analysis is indeed a winning feature for modern day BI tools & systems.

In a Nutshell

Studies indicate that over 80% of data that flows into business is relatively unstructured; such as emails, online conversations, responses or feedback on the company website, raw data recorded as notes, and so on. Such data can be potentially useful in leading enterprise wide transformation, making the role of Business Intelligence all the more important.

In a field as dynamic as Logistics, Business Intelligence services becomes a critical component of the solutions designed to increase visibilities and prompt immediate actions to maintain increased efficiencies across the supply chain management.

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