The logistics industry is headed for a transformation with the advancements in digital technologies, changing consumer preferences due to e-commerce, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and government reforms. Its undeniable that the pandemic has fastfowarded the adoption of digitalization and new technologies to improve efficiency and performance in the sector.
In an interaction with Rhitiman Majumder, Co-founder, Pickrr Technologies Pvt. Ltd, we try to see how the new technologies will affect the industry:
Is the industry open to the adoption of new technologies? How is the logistics industry approach towards the adoption of new technologies?
Since logistics is very unorganized even at this point of time, technological changes that target improvements in efficiency are always welcomed. For us the type of improvements we bring in are over the top of the tech already built in by direct logistics companies that are easily usable by sellers. The major challenge we face in adoption is more to do with the ease of use, the developments that we continue doing however complex or simple, need to be easily implementable even by a non-technical person.
How will the new technologies impact the industry? Please elaborate on the new technologies.
With high COD order volumes, one of the major challenges the industry faces is high returns, we have been working very hard to channelize our tech efforts to solve this for our sellers. Route optimizations based on AI is another area that the industry is adopting very actively and the sellers and virtual logistics providers like Pickrr become important sources of data for improved optimizations.
Will manpower be hit in any way with the adoption of new technologies?
This depends on perception, while efficiency initiatives generally replace manpower with technology, this also helps reduce cost and help logistics expand reach and create jobs indirectly.
Will it help the industry in making more profits?
In the long-term technological advancements help in decreasing overall cost, so yes there is a direct upwards impact on profits. However, the timeline of profit realization might depend heavily on the fixed cost deployed in setting up technological backbone.
Also Read: The/Nudge Centre for Social Innovation selects 4 non-profits to receive grants from Facebook
What are some of the challenges that come along with new technologies and how do you overcome it?
Creating use cases for wide adoption is made easier is the most challenging part of new technologies. A very useful and efficient tech advancement might make no sense if the implementation and adoption is not made of the mass.
