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The boom in e-commerce, especially during COVID-19, has spurred an increase in the production, distribution, and transportation of goods. Given the rise in consumer demand and the convenience of technology, businesses need to manage and operate supply chains smoothly and flexibly.
As such, digital transformation is the solution businesses should invest in to recover from the pandemic and prepare for a breakthrough in the future.
The following article will point out three factors for successful digital transformation in logistics: process, people, and system.
1. Transforming the supply chain operational process
If the ultimate goal that businesses want from digital transformation is to save costs and reduce operating time, the solution may not lie entirely in technology. Sometimes, all leaders need to do is review their current processes to systematize a more structured approach. Optimizing or shortening the process itself can save a lot of time and money for businesses.
Usually, logistics companies often use multiple communication channels such as email, phone, text messages, etc., causing fragmented communication, lack of connection, and unclear information between managers, drivers, and customers. Besides, the tracking and management of orders still take place manually. The manager has to call the driver every hour or wait until the end of the day to check the order status. Given these difficulties, managers do not have end-to-end visibility over the delivery process in real-time, resulting in ineffective management.
Businesses should study transportation management software and create optimal delivery routes automatically to improve operational processes.
2. Changing people’s mindset
According to McKinsey, 4 out of 5 qualities of successful digital transformation businesses lie in the human factor: leadership policy, capacity building, employee motivation, corporate communication, and finally, technology upgrade.
Indeed, technology alone cannot solve the problem of digital transformation. To truly transform, businesses also need to embrace the human element.
First of all, each business member needs to connect with each other and connect with change. An open culture enables employees to participate, lead, and propose changes or improvements to the company's transformation activities.
Besides, businesses also need to pay more attention to the users' needs. Depending on the different needs of people, technology will follow to help.
For example, if a supervisor wants to track an employee's work progress, he or she will need a tool to check and manage the entire process, while a deliveryman needs to systematize orders, locations, etc., on the same day delivery. For leaders, they may need well-compiled data statistics. Then they will need to be equipped with intelligent report analysis integrations.
3. Choose the right system for your business
After establishing a standard process and connecting everyone in the organization, businesses need to choose the right system for successful digital transformation.
The common mistake that many businesses often make in the digital transformation process is the hasty mentality, wanting to immediately deploy the system while the company itself is still not ready in terms of data.
Indeed, businesses need to check data such as orders, customers, drivers, vehicle loads, etc. Are they still missing anything? Are they being stored in the form of hard or soft copies? Are they systematically arranged and regularly updated? Then, those data need to be aggregated and stored on an on-premise or cloud server for easy data entry and management.
An enterprise software system needs to ensure three elements:
Stable or seamless high uptime, SLA, and 24/7 customer service.
Smart enough to be automatic, need the necessary and appropriate features following the requirements and processes of the business.
Fit for business standards, including a few common standards such as security, system decentralization, team management, integration capabilities, statistical reporting, SLA and customer support, etc.
Conclusion
Digital transformation is not only a trend but also a prerequisite for businesses to breakthrough today. However, digital transformation is a long and arduous process of change, from the business operations to the people’s mindset. For a successful digital transformation, businesses should focus on the above three factors: processes, people, and system.
