B1501850 NG SHU HEE

Table of Contents
1. Introduction - Logistics and its key activities ........................................................................ 1
2. Warehousing and Inventory Management ............................................................................. 2
2.1 Information Technology- Warehouse/Inventory Management System (WMS/IMS) ......... 3
2.2 Warehouse/Inventory Robotic Technology ......................................................................... 3
2.2.1 Dimensioning system ........................................................................................................ 4
2.2.2 Automated Inventory Technology .................................................................................... 5
2.2.3 Warehouse Shipping Robot / Artificial Intelligence Technology..................................... 6
2.2.4 Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) ............................................................................ 7
3. Transportation ........................................................................................................................ 8
3.1 Information Technology- Transportation Management System(Telematics and Fleet
Management) ............................................................................................................................. 8
3.2 Transportation Robotics Technology- Drone Delivery ....................................................... 9
4. Customer Service ................................................................................................................. 10
4.1 Cloud Enterprise Resource Planning Cloud (Cloud ERP) and Customer Relationship
Management (CRM) ................................................................................................................ 10
4.2 Application Software(Apps) .............................................................................................. 11
5.Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 12
6. References ............................................................................................................................ 13

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1. Introduction - Logistics and its key activities

Logistics is defined as the art and science of obtaining producing, and distributing material
and product in a proper place and proper quantities. Logistics management is parts of supply
chain management that plans, implements and control the efficient effective forward and
reverse flow of storage of goods services and related information between the point origin
and the point of consumption in order to meet customers requirement. There is a distinct
difference between the supply chain and logistics. Supply chain involves the transforming of
a raw material into products and getting it to the customers, whereas, logistics involves the
movement of materials in the whole supply chain. Thus, the most concerned in logistics
management is getting the right product in the right quantity, in the right condition, at a right
place, at a right time, to the right customers and at a right price. Following the areas of
logistics management, there are a many key activities that contribute to an integrated
approach to logistics, mainly, warehousing, inventory management, transporting and
customer service. (Murphy, P. R., & Knemeyer ).

Figure 1 : Forward & Reverse Logistics

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Over the past several years, technology has begun to change the way every business
operates. Technology are comprised with structure systems such as knowledge, skill, tools or
machine that are designed to achieve a set of goals within the defined system. It is always
being said that a functioning technology allows business to maximize its efficiency and save
on costs, and the same can be said about the logistics industry because technology has
contributed to the way in which materials or products are delivered to the customers. (Ballou,
2013). Effective logistics management are defined by the efficiency of their process, as well
as their flexibility and reliability, and technologies are proving valuable in achieving these
goals. In recent years, it can be easily seen that large deployment of mobile and wireless
technology in the logistics sector in accordance to their key activities. (Carter, C, & Rogers,
D, 2008).

2. Warehousing and Inventory Management

Warehouses are usually owned by suppliers, distributors, retailers or third party logistics.
Warehouse are used to store both raw materials and finished good, including damaged goods
returned by customers, hence it is a planned space to the efficient storage and handling of
goods. Inventory is an integral part of warehousing. which means that warehousing is the
broader term. Warehousing refers to all the operations from inward movement of the stock
till the product is passed out of the warehouse such as inward movement, stacking, record
maintenance of stock in stack wise order, quality maintenance during storage, assessment of
physical damages and losses, dumping of damaged goods and liquidation of goods such as
outward flow. However, inventory management involves only the physical number of the
products such as checking for the availability of sufficient buffer stock required for
production or supply, ordering and reordering of stock and the maintenance of records
thereof. (RCS Logistics, 2016)

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2.1 Information Technology- Warehouse/Inventory Management System (WMS/IMS)

A warehouse or inventory management system is a form of information technology that
plays an integral role in helping the warehouse or inventory to run smoothly. It helps with
tracking movement, location and status of inventory within warehouses, as well as assisting
with the management of staff. (Jerry Matos, 2014). For instance, information technology or
systems such as Stord, Flexe, Stichlabs, and Terra Tech. are providing efficient system for
warehouse and inventory management. Activities that can be controlled by these
management systems include inventory management, product receiving, determination of
storage location, order selection process and order shipping. As such, these system enables
the users to better maintain perpetual real-time inventory count and thus, increasing the
visibility and be able to easily monitor concerns such as stock ordering, delivery status in real
time. (Contalog, 2015). These real-time information provides accurate and current
information to the users for better decision making as they brings together the technology,
algorithms and logics with robotic such as forklifts, conveyors and any other hard physical
work in the warehouse for users to delve deeper into the data to derive meaningful
information and create forecasts on a daily basis for every product at the line-item level,
(Dupre, 2015).

2.2 Warehouse/Inventory Robotic Technology

After the technologies for warehouse management system, robotic technology has become
one of the most sought aspect in warehouse and inventory management. Warehouse robotics
comes with several benefits such as reducing the operational and labor costs, improving
productivity and higher order accuracy. (Evan Puzey, 2017). Several firms have been able to
achieve reduction in cost and increase in efficiency with the use of advanced technologies to
leverage their logistics activities, improving delivery time and accuracy. (Poirier & Quinn,
2006).

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2.2.1 Dimensioning system

By words, dimensioning is referring to the measure of volume or area that an object
occupies. In warehousing, dimensioning is used to provide an insight to the user on
identifying the weight and dimension of its pallet. There could be thousands of pallet to be
cubed and weighted in their respective dimension and this usually can be very time
consuming to manually measure them, and error could occur when it is done manually in a
warehouse. However, this process can be done easily and automated with a well-integrated
dimensioning system.

Take for example, CubiX Cargo is a dimensioning system introduced by LTS scale. It
uses advanced technology to measure the cubic volume displaced by a pallet of cargo. Data is
then captured and transmitted wirelessly in a format that is compatible with the particular
automated warehouse management system. The CubiX provides forklift operators with
system status and the ability to trigger the system wirelessly using an on-board computer. The
forklift operator will first drops the pallet in the measurement area, barcode will be scanned
with a handheld indicator on the Cubix, pallet will then be lifted, and the weight and
dimension data will be collected and transferred wirelessly either back to the triggering
device to be combined with other operating data or directly to the customer’s warehouse
management system. The system are capable of measuring pallets with irregular shapes,
shiny or dark surface and in all light conditions. The system’s streamlined design greatly
improves the ability to capture accurate measurement quickly. Thus, the technology here
allows trucking and logistics companies to optimize loads, as well as documenting the
condition and location of cargo to minimize their freight disputes. (LTS scale, n.d.).

Figure 2 : CubiX Dimensioning System

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2.2.2 Automated Inventory Technology

Robotics has enhanced the picking and allocation process within the inventory activities
with two systems, Pick-to-Light Systems and Put-to-Light Systems.

Pick-to-Light Systems (Picking)

In this system, an operator logs in to the system and scans a container label. All lights will
then illuminate with respective pick quantities and the work indicator will display container
ID. Required items are placed in the container. The operator then extinguishes the light to
confirm the pick. Upon completion of all picks, the work indicator will display ‘DONE’.
Hence, the Pick-to-Light System can be used on a stand-alone basis for order fulfillment
where it direct warehouse operator to the product locations and tell them which products to
pick and how many.

Figure 2 : Pick-to-Light System

Put-to-Light Systems (Allocation)

This system is the exact opposite of Put-to-Light System. Batch wave label are firstly
scanned in tote of mixed SKU merchandise. Warehouse operator then put the item into the
directed location and press the dome light after the selection of items. Optional pack-out
lights will illuminate on the opposite side of the workstation for each completed order that
can be pulled for packing.

As such, these two systems are highly flexible with the ability to increase accuracy with
fewer errors, control and better productivity, as well as analyze the volume of order picked in
regards to the inventory activity. (Dematic, n.d).

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2.2.3 Warehouse Shipping Robot / Artificial Intelligence Technology

In recent years, this delivery robotic function are greatly deployed by many logistics
companies. For instance, the STO Express Tianjin warehouse employs 100 units of sorting
robot to enhance its daily activities. These robots are WiFi-equipped and are responsible for
moving goods in the warehouse. Sorters will first place the parcel usually weighing less than
5kg on the robot and weight checks and destinations are done in seconds. Then, the robots
move at 3 meters per second to their designated drop off points for human workers to pick
up. The robots are also capable of working tirelessly and self-charged with it is near spent.
Hence, the robots could save workers from running around the warehouse to find goods and
aid in enabling effectively respond to volume growth and perform more task with less labor
and at a lower cost. (Sarah Zheng, 2018)

There is also another factory in Andover, UK, uses this system that is similar to a ‘dark
warehouse’ with an fully air-traffic-control-system and AI technology introduced by Ocado
Tech. to coordinate and manage their warehouse and inventories. Ocado's new warehouse
technology act as a giant good-to-person system and it has thousands of robots zooming
around a grid system that is several times the size of a football pitch to collect and pack
groceries. These robots communicate on a 4G network too to avoid bumping into each other
and brings crates of products to pick station whereby other robots and human will then
assemble the orders, and it is able to process about 65,000 orders every week, effectively
increasing work efficiency at a lower cost. (Ocado, 2017)

Figure 3: Warehouse Shipping Robot Figure 4 : Ocado Automated Warehouse

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2.2.4 Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)

These days, every product has a barcode that contains basic information about the product.
With barcodes, warehouse operator can keep track on their inventory or stocks. However,
despite their many disadvantages, barcode must be read one at a time and the information that
contained is fixed. In recent trend, there have been increase in the usage to RFID tag to
replace the barcode system. RFID tag comes with a small microchips and transmitter and it
can only be activated by a RFID reader to which the tag returns the signal. Since RFID tags
are able to communicate with a RFID reader, the reader are capable of picking up the signals
from all the microchips within a certain distance and this makes the inventory control much
quicker as each product has its own separate RFID tag and may be scanned in bulk to retrieve
its location, quantity or other related information that is needed. (Jason Rosing, 2017).

To better illustrate this, RFID solution by Dnex IT & Services are able to help improve the
warehouse and inventory management system with its RFID Warehouse Management
System. It makes it easier to control components and work in progress, validate goods
returned for warranty repairs, save costs in cages, stillages, pallets and track tools, ensuring
that they are available when needed and returned when finished with and also speed up trade
stock process within distributed position in the logistics system. (Dnex, 2018)

Figure 5: RFID

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3. Transportation
Transportation in logistics management is knows as an integral part of delivering goods
from the suppliers to customers by using freight trains, trucks, ships and planes. With the
increase in utilizing transportation today, the complexity and scale of transportation makes it
an excellent area for the technology to come in. (Dupre, 2015)

3.1 Information Technology- Transportation Management System(Telematics and Fleet

Management)
This technology refers to the method of capturing and processing driving data and there
are a huge potential applications. It captures many useful data and it can be used to track and
monitor the exact location of a vehicle and driver. Telematics are also capable of sending
alerts on critical function such as harsh breaking, vehicle theft, over speeding and any other
emergency situation. (John Griffiths,2016). These helps in avoiding unnecessary repair cost
and enable the logistics user to take proactive action in protecting their goods from damage
and theft. More often, telematics are integrated with fleet management in logistics to easily
track inefficient driver and unproductive vehicle utilization to gain better control in the
transportation. (Gary Wollenhaupt, 2016).

For instance, Fleetboard Telematics has provide a complete transparency over the
transport service.With Fleetboard, users can see at a glance on how the driver performs in
term of braking behaviour, speed or accelerating pedal movements. In other words,
everything that influence the fuel consumptions and wear and tear are monitored by it.
Fleetboard translates these data into a driving style score and it take into account of the
gradient of route, the weight of the truck and the numbers of stops in order to make a fair
evaluation. A further benefit is that Fleetboard guarantees the optimum up time for the fleet
because workshop will be able to see when maintenance is necessary well in advance and can
plan this ideally so that the trucks in usage will not suffer any unplanned stops or downtime.
Beside, Fleetboard also enable users to see exactly where the trucks and their load are located
and it gives an overview of driving and rest time, thus simplifies the transportation
management to increase its efficiency. Hence, with such technology, paper works is being
replaced with electronic devices empowered with telematics technology. These power of data
and open communication are capable of delivering improvement in compliance, driver
efficiency and fleet performances. (Fleetboard, 2017)

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3.2 Transportation Robotics Technology- Drone Delivery

People have found many useful application for modern drones. Other than they are used
for surveillance, they are now widely being employed by large companies for logistics and
transport of goods. This has a complete competitive edge for companies since the large part
of their business relies on efficient and fast delivery of goods. Drones are not just used for
delivery, they are also used in other areas related to logistics including management, storage
and supervision of the transport of goods in most cases. (Adam Robinson, 2016). Drones
used in transport are usually able to carry a payload of 400 grams to 5000 grams. There are
different type of drones currently in use for this purpose and the flight times usually depends
on the specification of these machine including battery life and equipment, with an average of
30 minutes flight time. These drones are also providing an attractive feature of autopilot
which means the drone is able to fly autonomously in a specified range without the need for a
transmitter or remote controller.

Similarly, Amazon announced its delivery drone that would be able to deliver packages in
a matter of hours after a person buys a product from the store online. The drone was
developed for the facility prime air that provides same-day delivery to customers who opt for
it. This drone would be apple to deliver the package within 30 minutes of order placement on
the internet. According to Amazon, their small drones are designed to weight not more than
25 kilograms. These machine will be totally autonomous and complete their mission without
any human intervention and they are also able to return to their home after successful
delivery of the package. As such, drones are said to be operating quite successfully where
they provide their service 24/7 and without any sort of delay or accidents, thus saving a lot of
manpower and time in delivering. (Jess, 2018) Nevertheless, the drone technology has only
shown potentials and it is still new and developing, hence, it is for the future to get out ahead
of the drone technology in the logistics world in regards to issues like regulatory barriers,
technical issues and consumer acceptance.

Figure 6: Drone delivery

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4. Customer Service
Customer service is one of the vital categories in logistics. Businesses aim at providing the
best customer service at the lowest cost. It is important that the operational or logistics
activities should offer excellent customer service at every customer touch point to bring about
customer loyalty and be able to differentiate from competitors. With Enterprise Resource
Planning(ERP) and Customer Relationship Management(CRM) that help guides logistic
processes in a business, they are now able to maintain high quality of customer service. To a
larger extent, these systems work hand in hand and their application certainly improves the
results of a business.

4.1 Cloud Enterprise Resource Planning Cloud (Cloud ERP) and Customer
Relationship Management (CRM)
Companies have relied on ERP and CRM since the 90s to streamline processes and
improve data visibility around finance project management and manufacturing. ERP work
together with CRM and are usually refer to a system or a tool that is used for contact
management, sales management, productivity, or simply, to improve business relationship.
However, the cost of ownership began to climb significantly and on-premise ERP could not
keep up with the modern security demands or technology trends. Today, ERP has evolved to
embrace the internet with new features and functionality. For instance, ERP cloud, offers a
more affordable alternative for ERP because it eliminates the need for software and hardware
or additional IT staff. Companies can upload and access data in real-time via the cloud, from
any device with an internet connection, allowing for greater collaboration among
departments. Cloud ERP software also has the benefit of being hosted on one platform.
Having all of the business applications, such as CRM and logistics management system on
the same cloud platform allows users to unify the systems of engagement with the systems of
record. With such one cloud platform, it allows the users to talk to each other, share a central
database, get real-time reporting and use a single user interface. Hence, ERP cloud enable the
users to make significant cost saving, improve business insight, enhance collaboration and
increase efficiency with real time visibility. Several organisations have seen to made use of
advanced planning and scheduling systems for bringing about dramatic reductions in
inventory levels and improving customer service (Poirier & Quinn, 2006).

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For example, Oracle ERP cloud is built for the digital age, delivering on the promise of
the end-to-end process, visibility, and speed, all at a lower cost. With Oracle, it connects all
the logistics management activities such as customer service, warehouse and inventory
management and transportation management, as well as all the Internet of Thing enabled
technology to deliver a single view of the truth from the plant floor to the top floor. It
supports an unlimited numbers of users on a single multi-tenant user interface anywhere,
anytime and on any device. It then updates everyone to the same release automatically to
continuously access to new features and improve productivity. Ultimately, ERP cloud creates
cloud-based analytics and communication protocol to oversee the operations in logistics by
enabling the access to the information that it needs to better serve the customer such as
streamlining shipping operation, implement inventory control, improve productivity and
foster better customer communication through reliable lead, opportunity and quote tracking.,
hence, improving logistics management.

4.2 Application Software(Apps)

With the rising trend of online shopping and popularity of ecommerce site, customers has
been giving extra pressure for companies to ensure the delivery of packages to be on time.
Customer are always expecting almost instantaneous delivery of their purchases and the
ecommerce companies would be able to keep them updated, as it would then leads to greater
customer experiences and satisfaction. Technology advance in this area has comes in handy
by enabling the customers to view view, track and control their deliveries in real time. With
the apps developed on smart devices, customers can always track and secure where their
parcel is along its way of delivery, hence it would be easier for customers to receive an
estimated delivery date and allow less chances for the parcel to go missing

Take for example, EasyTrack is a shipment tracking app introduced by Exabytes Network
to facilitate customers in tracking their parcels. This systems are integrated with 29 couriers
worldwide such as PosLaju and DHL, and it features shipment notifications and messages,
customizable reporting, and customer accounts with information specific to the cargo
destined to them. As such, it gives a more direct focus on efficiency being at the core of the
service of delivery and it saves time and the money in order for companies to maintain
customer relationship at ease.

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5.Conclusion
Although information technology and robotic would help logistics management in many
ways, however, many of these smart systems such as drones and automated warehouses are
still furthermore complex in nature and it takes time to install and operate for firms that are
still deploying less advanced technology. With such installation likely to disrupt existing
organisational operations, the managers of logistics introducing new technologies have to
plan their strategies in this regard with great care to ensure minimisation of operational
disruption and customer dissatisfaction(Carter &Rogers, 2008). It is also important to keep in
mind that the introduction of new technologies is bound to result in significant changes in
operational activities and possibly to redundancy of labour, both of which could result in
change resistance amongst employees and to opposition to organisational plans in this regard
(Simchi-Levi et al., 2007). Nevertheless, we could still expect more innovative smart
technologies like drones and AI technologies to emerge over the next decade despite the
benefits of it are real and achievable, while the company’s logistics managements as a whole
becomes more stable, more compliant, and cost optimized.

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Ballou. (2013, January 19). Logistics Information Systems | Supply Chain Resource
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Carter, C, & Rogers, D. (2008). A framework of sustainable supply chain management :
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Jason Rosing. (2017, October 25). Top 5 Ways Inventory Tracking Technology Is Evolving.
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Simchi-Levi, D., Kaminsky, P., & Simchi-Levi, E. (2008). Designing and managing the
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