Being passionate about building digital platforms for logistical supply chains has made Shantanu to exercise prime roles in various IT companies. He outlines his goal as to make Logistics in India highly predictable.

The well-known English writer, Arthur C. Clarke had once stated, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” The fact is that our once staid logistics sector is witnessing profound infusion of technology which has already transformed its landscape. And we are on the cusp of witnessing magic. Logistics today is witnessing disruptions of tectonic proportions; and like all upheavals, this entails risk as well as opens up unprecedented opportunities: Infusion of new technology, new market entrants, new customer expectations and new business models. And there are many ways the sector will evolve, some evolutionary, others more revolutionary.

In fact, disruptive technologies will drive exponential change in logistics cost and productivity. Technology is usually a good mix of hardware and software. But disruptive technologies have made hardware more accessible to drive Supply Chain improvements. Some of these technological interventions have the potential to completely reshape our Indian Logistics industry.

1. Warehouse Robotics and Automated Guided Vehicles
While system guided manual processes can improve warehousing efficiencies to a significant extent, completely automated warehousing operations through warehousing robotics and AGVs can raise warehousing efficiencies and material throughput to a completely different orbit.

2. IoTs on Trucks
Sensors in a truck can not only detect GPS coordinates and speed but now it can monitor rapid accelerations and de-accelerations as well as rapid lane shifts (through G-force sensors), thereby monitoring driver behavior. Next wave of disruption is expected to come through sensors proactively steering driver behavior, thereby increasing fuel efficiency, reduced idle time, increased customer OTIF and increase the overall life of the vehicle.

3. Last Mile Logistics
Last mile logistics is a complex science since it has a lot of variables participating in the decision model. Having said that, sophisticated optimization algorithms along with big data interventions can help solve this. In the time to come, algorithms will progress from providing siloed navigations to individual vehicles on predetermined routes to providing closely coordinated real-time navigations, thereby enabling the entire fleet to operate as a “swarm” on a real-time virtual controltower.