With digitization taking the world as an unstoppable force across several sectors, it is true that the logistics and freight sector may have been lagging behind by a tad bit. The benefits of digital transformation like operational efficiency, easy track and trace etc are undisputed and even common sense but the rate of adaptation of new technology among its players is not high.

5 big challenges for digitization

The gap between the aspiration levels and the operational reality in terms of digitization in the freight sector can be owed to the following pitfalls that may be special to our sector. Let’s discuss some of them quickly.

1) Vast and complex sector with too many stakeholders.

The logistics sector is complex and a well oiled machine with too many complex links and cogs involved. Each cog has to be digitised before the entire sector gets running for digital transformation. And there are no “one size fits all” solutions because of varying sizes and complexities of these innumerable businesses involved.

Moreover the technology adoption should come in as a business decision, rather than a compulsory shift from the industry, for it reap the maximum benefits to all. And such a decision may not immediately be profitable for the small and micro players in the industry.

Throwing in the uncertain times that we are living into the mix, the hesitation in adaptation of technology does not seem unreasonable.

2) Implementational challenges

Any change in the way that a business operates should begin from within, as a top to bottom approach. Such operational changes, including digitization depends on the leadership, day to day business processes, and the employee involvement.

Implementing a large-scale digitization strategy can prove difficult if any of these pillars fail to support. And the transition period towards the digital era can be costly in terms of manhours and training from external resources, apart from the humongous investment on the technology itself.

A simpler method would be to implement these digitization techniques in phases, starting with a simple and robust air freight management software, instead of jumping towards a complete overhaul.

3) Market centricity

With the whole globe within your reach, your customers can be from anywhere. The market you are catering decides the level of technological needs. What works for a highly competitive and digitally charged market may be an overkill for an easy market.

A region where analogue and paper trail are indispensable may not benefit much from all your electronic transactions. Usually, disintegrated markets with smaller players are usually reluctant to invest in newer technology.

4) Incompatible legacy technologies

The logistics and freight industry has many stakeholders and players, and the level of technology adaptation and expertise among them is usually non-uniform. More often than not, the output from one system cannot be directly used by the next, even internally, and requires manual intervention.

The machine-human codependence can work well only if the quality of the workforce and the robustness of the technology or system is high. Otherwise, it would just lead to more duplication of work and costly errors. This can be a huge dampener when it comes to adapting to new technologies.

One of the major advantages of using a robust air freight management software like Elliptia is the seamless integration between internal as well as a few selected external systems, that help your business run as smoothly and efficiently as possible.

5) Regulatory governmental control

One important step that is critical to improve digitization among the industry players would be a push from the public authorities themselves. Such a push can be in the form of facilitating digitization and ensuring seamless data exchange, reducing the need for in person visits etc.

But these regulatory frameworks largely depend on the country involved and changes from nation to nation. And not all nations feel so strongly about the need for digitization and newer technologies. This can be a huge disadvantage to the businesses from these nations, especially in today’s global era.

Conclusion

Despite what many of us sadly believe, digitization is not the end goal of a business itself; but in reality is just a means to running a more effective and transparent business. The driving force behind the digitization should be better productivity and customer centric goals.

Is your business ready to take these goals on? Speak to our experts to know more about Elliptia and digitizing your air freight business.