There are many reasons to say that this is the best time for the logistics industry to embrace Artificial Intelligence. This technology has never been so accessible and affordable. This has already started showing its presence in almost all the activities of the consumer, the enterprise and industrial sectors . In logistics, the network-based nature of the industry provides a natural framework for put into practice and scaling AI, amplifying the human components of highly organized global supply chains. Furthermore, companies deciding not to adopt AI face the risk of getting outdated in the long term, as competitors seize and effectively use AI in their business today.AI is stretching beyond consumer reach and into customer-focused commercial ventures. As such, once the value of AI is proven in the commercial context it will arrive in the industrial setting. The specific time of these transitions are quite impossible to predict, but the fact that AI is now deeply embedded in consumer markets and is experiencing explosive growth in commercial areas,is the proof that the use of AI in industrial sectors such as logistics is quickly approaching. The Logistics companies are in a position to get benefited by applying AI in almost all aspects of the supply chain.The high volume of data is the most underutilized in the industry that supply chains generate on a daily basis. This data is both structured and unstructured, and AI will enable logistics companies to make better use of it. In addition, many logistics companies around the world have started accepting the digital transformation, transitioning away from legacy enterprise resource planning systems to advanced analytics, increased automation, and hardware and software robotics, and mobile computing, the next obvious step in the increasingly digital supply chain is to apply AI. Further, logistics companies depend on networks – both physical and increasingly digital – which must function harmoniously amid high volumes, low margins, lean asset allocation, and time-sensitive deadlines. AI provides the logistics companies the ability to optimize network orchestration to degrees of efficiency that cannot be achieved with human thinking alone. The Artificial intelligence can thus help the logistics industry to redefine today’s behaviors and practices, taking operations from reactive to proactive, planning from forecast to prediction, processes from manual to autonomous, and services from standardized to personalize .Logistics service providers often rely on vast numbers of third parties including common carriers, subcontracted staff, charter airlines, and other third-party vendors to operate core functions of their business. This leads to an increase in the burden on logistics accounting teams to process millions of invoices annually from thousands of vendors, partners, or providers. Here, AI technologies like natural language processing can extract critical information such as billing amounts, account information, dates, addresses, and parties involved from the sea of unstructured invoice forms received by the company .Global logistics and supply chain operators typically manage large fleets of vehicles and networks of facilities worldwide.Thus using AI can significantly advance the performance of logistics operations. For air freight, on-time and in-full shipment is critical as it represents only 1% of global trade in terms of tonnage but 35% in terms of value.35 Most air freight lanes and networks are planned using historical data and expertise from professionals with decades of industry experience

Innovative technology concepts function as a major factor for digital transformation and change. The widest distribution and highest importance of these concepts were found in an investigation of Enterprise-Resource-Planning (ERP) stems and Warehouse Management systems. An increase in the importance of predictive analytics, clients’ mobile access to data, and sensor technologies for monitoring the supply chain, might arise in the next couple of years. A relatively large portion of the survey participants may introduce these concepts and the different data streams are so interconnected in these spaces these suggested solutions complement each other perfectly. Predictive analytics specifically optimizes processes such that they achieve significant savings in practice. The Autonomous vehicles, drones, reality, and block chain are also identified as disruptive technologies ,so when these technologies have adequately matured, they will comprehensively change logistics and supply chain management.The utilization of services with varying costs allows new and adapted business models, which make it possible to respond more specifically to customers’ wishes. Flexibility – which is a central competitive advantage – is taken to a next level as a result of these services. Quality and cost of performance, as well as the ability to adjust to changing market requirements, together take the second place as important compe-t itive advantages.As such in logistics, business models that integrate digitalization still lag behind: The majority of companies do not plan, in part or completely, in order to become digitally-driven businesses. Instead, digitalization is greatly linked with the utilization of different data sources. The data analysis functions as an instrument for using business data for optimizing own performance and or more efficiently satisfying the customers’ need .Overall, the digital transformation gives rise to the development of a lot of opportunities in all sectors. As per the records , 73% rate this as high or very high for their companies. Even then as much as half of the companies indicated a wait-and-see attitude until tried and tested solutions are available for practical application. This can be highly a risky affair for business, as in a digital era very quick innovation is more important than before. The digital transformation, must have to be tightly integrated with all facets in the logistics and supply chain management strategy. Besides extending well established systems further, it is definitely important to bear omnipresent sensory technologies and predictive analytics of business data in mind. Regarding IT infrastructure, the often historically developed systems seem to reach their boundaries.The inter-business data exchange is already being done comprehensively in the area of transport data;Thus a great potential can be noted in the fields of inventory, demands, as well as material flow disruptions.Focusing on such data as well as the new digital technologies might require a suitable profile of employees and must have to focus on the development of IT competences, as well as a culture of experimenting and learning. The end customer who, from the perspective of the survey participants, is still the largest driver of the digitalization theme, should remain pivotal in future innovation Logistics is now facing historical possibilities of controlling ever more complex material flows, of increasing the productivity to at least stable flexibility, and of fulfilling most individualized customer demands in good ways not contemplated before.

Benchmarking is the process of identifying the highest standards of excellence for products, services or processes and then making the improvements that are necessary to reach those standards commonly called ‘best practices’. Benchmarking in logistics organisations helps the company to constantly monitor and assess its performance and operating techniques against other logistics practices both within a specific industry (retail, wholesale, etc.) and against best of class companies. The process is important to the continuous improvement in an organisation’s service and expense levels. Benefits from benchmarking for logistics organisations include:

• improved productivity in operations

• identification of new material handling systems that will enhance and improve throughput and lower expense

• improved information flow between departments

• improved customer service and quality control

• reduced logistics expenses

• improved team spirit and morale

Implementing benchmarking in a logistics operation involves the following steps .The following steps describe the implementation process of logistics benchmarking:

• First, choose which process or processes to benchmark. The choice can be based upon which function in the logistics organisation is the most expensive to perform, causes the most trouble or has the greatest impact on customer service.

•Identify the key performance variables for the selected functions. These items can include efficiency (timing, cost, productivity, etc.) quality (errors, customer service parameters, etc.) or cost (cost of outbound transportation as a percentage of company sales, cost per unit shipped, etcDocument the current processes, steps required and operations flow observing all physical activities and supporting information system interactions.

•Identify competitors and best-in-class companies with whom to compare

benchmarks. Best-in-class information is relatively easy to obtain.

•Decide which competitor or non-industry practices or measures would be the most beneficial to a company. Choices should be based upon strategic quality and/or customer service and not just for cost cutting. When choosing other company practices to review, do not just copy a practice but modify it to suit the practice and procedures of the benchmarked company.In order to evaluate the importance of the critical success factors and to analyse the performance of the companies to be benchmarked, the success factors are structured into a form of a hierarchy.The goal for the benchmarking analysis is located on the highest level of the hierarchy and the logistic critical success factors on the second level. Each logistics critical success factor has been classified based on its utility. For example, reliability is measured with the following numerical scale: over 99%, 97–99%, 95–97%, 93–95% or less than 93% of the orders are delivered according to the

target schedule, in right quantities and without damage. Correspondingly, compatibility is evaluated using a qualitative ratings scale, i.e., outstanding, above average, average, below average or unsatisfactory. The use of ratings enables DMs to analyse each LSP individually with respect to each success factor for their subsequent ranking relative to each other.In the increasingly competitive global market, logistics strategic management has become vital for achieving competitive advantage in order to capture market share. The use of benchmarking is used in a larger sense in order to support strategic management for survival. FAHP may be employed to reduce the vagueness and impreciseness while making judgemental decision to support logistics benchmarking process. In the present research FAHP has been successfully applied to prioritise the critical success factors and for their subsequent ranking. The various 3PL services providers have been evaluated with reference to the identified critical success factors for the necessary benchmarking. Thus the benchmarking using FAHP has been in use to achieve the desired performance standard. The benchmarking process helps both shippers and LSP. LSPs may improve upon their weak area of performance while the shippers may use the benchmarking process to identify the potential 3PL services providers and to optimise their requirements.

E-commerce is one in every of the buzzwords within the recent years. E-commerce technology develops quickly with the event of web and other people will relish convenient life by exploitation e-commerce. But nowadays several of the new e-commerce firms have failing or are troubled for economic survival, and therefore the failure for several firms in e-commerce are often partially accounted by the neglecting of provision. E-commerce or electronic commerce is the shopping for, selling, and exchanging of products and services over laptop networks through that transactions or terms of sale are performed electronically. Electronic commerce particularly B2C (business to consumer) style now could be the foremost un remarkably mentioned variety of e-commerce that sells to individual shoppers on-line. Logistics plays an awfully necessary role in e-commerce. It refers not merely to the walk delivery of parcels to customers, but together the final e-fulfillment ways illustrates how product would reach the shopper in academic degree e-commerce state of affairs. The shopper can either be a business customers or a private (consumer). Today, customers want their product to be delivered quickly and at their convenience. They have academic degree expectation with regards to delivery and can ponder the speed and convenience of delivery as necessary as product value and quality. At an identical time, the amount of packages that need to be picked, packed and shipped is growing, albeit being in smaller package sizes. Therefore, once it involves e-commerce activity, corporations should be compelled to deliver large volumes of packages fast, usually even within a particular or slender delivery time window. What’s additional, with a far better volume of e-commerce transactions, e- businesses together should be compelled to manage a corresponding volume of came, modified and broken product. Hence, the delivery and operational costs of e-commerce activity could also be necessary. This is further exacerbated potential last-mile delivery failures. Not all e-commerce businesses can survive the impact of high delivery worth and high operational worth for delivery to their end customers. The companies typically cannot entirely absorb the worth and then pass these costs to their customers. This might result in potential e-commerce customers baulking. Cross-border e-commerce differs from native e-commerce not alone in web site operations but together in activity arrangements. In cross-border e-commerce web site operations, key components for accomplishment embody translation of internet sites into the language, provision for displaying of prices in native currency and giving country specific on-line payment decisions. The e-commerce web site needs to be able to adapt to the requirements of the consumers, and be accepted by the market among the targeted countries. equally for the activity arrangements for cross-border e-commerce, there is a demand to consider varied custom rules and fulfillment ways. inconsistent and time intense custom activities square measure one all told the inspiration causes of e-commerce activity inability. it’ll delay the delivery fulfillment for weeks and even months. it’ll increase the activity costs and reduces customers’ satisfaction. Cross-border fulfillment strategy, significantly native fulfillment, is in addition barely powerful. Cross-border e-commerce corporations should be compelled to understand the shopper expectations. Most customers want fast delivery (86%), the facility to decide on their delivery decisions (82%), secured delivery dates (83%) and thus the flexibility to specify their delivery time slots (80%). This result’s somewhat aligned with the e-commerce suppliers’ (or manufacturers’) expectations as disclosed from our study on cross border e-commerce solutions for Asia and Europe eight . The suppliers (or manufacturers) perceive “Tracking until delivery” as a result of the foremost vital service by a delivery company Supports the expectations from every customers and suppliers, a reliable fulfillment strategy whereas in acquisition an excessive quantity valuable is needed. logistics courses in kerala

A warehouse will be a perfect warehouse if it possesses the following characteristics. I. Warehouse ought to be situated at a convenient place close to highways, railway stations, airports and seaports wherever merchandise may be loaded and unloaded simply. ii. Mechanical appliances ought to be there for loading and unloading the products. This reduces the wastage’s in handling and additionally minimizes handling prices. iii. Adequate area ought to be offered within the building to stay the products in correct order. Iv. Ware houses meant for preservation of perishable things like fruits, vegetables, eggs and butter etc. ought to have cold storage facilities. v. Correct arrangement ought to be there to safeguard the products from daylight, rain, wind, dust, wetness and pests. vi. Proper car parking zone must be there within the premises to facilitate straightforward and fast loading and unloading of products. vii. Around the clock security arrangement is a must to avoid loss of products. viii. The building ought to be fitted with latest fireplace-fighting instrumentality to avoid loss of products because of fire. There square measure differing kinds of warehouses. A deposition caters to the storage wants of various varieties of commodities. In order to fulfill their demand numerous varieties of warehouses came into existence, which can be classified as follows. i. personal Warehouses ii. Public Warehouses iii. Government Warehouses iv. Secured Warehouses v. Co-operative Warehouses
Private Warehouses – The warehouses that square measure owned and managed by the makers or traders to store, completely, their own stock of products square measure called personal warehouses. Typically these warehouses square measure created by the farmers close to their fields, by wholesalers and retailers close to their business center and by makers close to their factories. The planning and therefore the facilities provided in that square measure per the character of merchandise to be hold on. ii. Public Warehouses – The warehouses that are run to store merchandise of the overall public are called public warehouses. Anyone can store the merchandise in these warehouses on payment of rent. A personal, a partnership firm or a corporation could own these warehouses. To start out such warehouses a license from the government is needed. The government additionally regulates the functions and operations of those warehouses. Principally these warehouses square measure employed by makers, wholesalers, exporters, importers, government agencies, etc. iii. Government Warehouses -These warehouses are owned, managed and controlled by central or state governments or public firms or native authorities. Each government and personal enterprises could use these warehouses to store their merchandise. Central warehousing Corporation of India, State warehousing Corporation and Food Corporation of Asian nation square measure samples of agencies maintaining government warehouses. iv. Secured Warehouses – These warehouses are owned , managed and controlled by government moreover as personal agencies, personal secured warehouses have to be compelled to acquire license from the govt. Secured warehouses are accustomed store foreign merchandise that duty is however to be paid. Just in case of foreign merchandise the importers aren’t allowed to require away the products from the ports until such duty is paid. These warehouses are typically owned by dock authorities and located close to the ports. v. Co-operative Warehouses – warehouses that are owned, managed and controlled by co-operative societies come under Cooperative warehouses. They supply deposition facilities at the foremost economical rates to the members of their society.