Intelligent optimization is the future of effective transportation management

As we’re approaching the Retail Supply Chain Summit: New York and I’m preparing for my panel conversation with supply chain managers from large retailers/manufacturers, a recent Deloitte study – Embracing a Digital Future – caught my eye.

According to the study, 79 percent of companies with high-performing supply chains achieve above average revenue growth. Yet, very few companies include supply chain managers in their boardrooms. Businesses that have applied big data analytics to their supply chain functions have seen a reduction in costs, improved risk management, shorter cycle times, more accurate forecasting, and an overall improvement when it comes to making informed decisions.

With e-commerce accounting for nearly 20 percent of all retail sales by 2019, according to a forecast based on data from the U.S. Department of Commerce, those slow to implement digital supply networks risk being left behind.

Which digital technologies will yield the most business value? According to Deloitte, there is significant focus on advanced analytics, optimization and predictive analytics as well as artificial intelligence. This is music to our ears. The Loadsmart platform leverages data and machine learning technology to provide shippers, including those in the manufacturing and retail industries, with an instant pricing/ instant booking experience in which truckload shipments can be booked in a few seconds, thus adding to the digital value chain.

I’m excited about what is to come and how through intelligent optimization of effective transportation management, we can contribute to retailers and manufactures establishing their digital foundry.

If you want to learn more or are attending the Retail Supply Chain Summit: New York, join me and fellow panel members from Mercury Gate, Sephora, Lacoste and Transfix at the Marriott Brooklyn Bridge on May 10 at 2:15 pm. Together, we’ll explore how data insights can improve delivery decisions and effective transportation management. This includes:

• Generating more value from existing data: How to cut through large datasets and ways of identifying key trends and relationships within your broader dataset to assist with transport and delivery decisions
• Automating delivery decisions: Providing relevant data to key stakeholders for easy data sharing and powering your systems to automate and speed up the decision-making process based on pre-set criteria suitable to your business
• Co-create the new norm: Work with your logistics partners to prepare them for the new age of distribution, with smaller, more frequent shipments, delivered accurately and efficiently

Share your experience with us! Can’t attend the summit? Email us and we’ll be happy to share best practices!

Ricardo Salgado is the CEO of Loadsmart.