For the past three years, the world has witnessed a pandemic, conflicts, war, inflation, natural disasters, talks of a recession, and changes that we can barely keep up with. While the entire Earth’s population was dramatically affected by all these happenings, supply chains have also greatly suffered.
Since the beginning of the pandemic back in 2020, supply chains of all industries faced challenges that put their continuity at risk. Although, we saw the light at the end of the tunnel many times, another “crisis” came up, giving the word challenge a whole new meaning.
The pandemic might be behind us but the challenges that were born with it did not entirely go away. In fact, they created holes and issues that were made even wider by new disruptions, new trials that pushed already fragile supply chains to the verge of a breakdown.
Blaming the pandemic for these supply challenges would however be foolish as it did not create these transportation challenges. Rather as pointed out the already existing weaknesses in systems and supply chains are to blame. From geopolitical conflicts to the rising energy costs and ecological regulations, all these factors have put a toll on the survivability of supply chains, testing their resilience down to their weakest link and impacting transportation in 2023.
By making good use of our 30+ years’ experience in logistics at Alpega, we will use this blog to assess 2023’s most prominent transportation challenges and Alpega’s suggested solutions to overcome them.
1. Logistic Challenge: The uncertainty of freight cost
Freight prices in the past couple of years have risen drastically. This has forced logistics and transport managers to double their efforts to find the more affordable option to transport their goods.
It became a series of calculations and extra spendings for far too many organizations. These then struggled to meet growth targets or to keep up with their already complex supply chains. However, freight prices have recently considerably dropped. Some transport modes have even seen their prices dip by almost 50%. Nevertheless, many transport and logistics managers continue to pay the full price!
This uncertainty and these fluctuations are not easy to keep up with if you don’t have the technology that keeps you updated and that finds you the best current prices for your transportation. With TenderEasy, a sourcing module from the Alpega TMS platform, you save on freight tendering allocation through more accurate tender results. Allowing you to save on freight cost thanks to more accurate calculations.
2.Logistic Challenge: Capacity and driver shortage, the logistics industry nightmare
One of the most notorious and recurring logistical issues example is that of capacity. Due to the afore mentioned external challenges, labor became scarce and consumer demand shifted immensely with the rise of e-commerce. The drivers’ working conditions as well as their availability have changed and finding the right people, at the right time and at the right price to move the goods became a global transportation issue with no end.
It’s not a shippers’ market anymore, it’s a carriers’ market. Spending hours and days to find a carrier willing and ready to transport is most likely a task many must put up with. Today’s problems require today’s digital technology.
TenderEasy – part of Alpega TMS, is a solution created to provide you with the highest level of visibility which will allow you to find capacity when you need it. With TenderEasy and the network design, you are given the tools to build and keep strong carrier relationships and optimize your network. Further, the optimization of physical locations from our TMS functionalities, allows automating your processes to spend your time wisely, focusing on what matters the most.
The Alpega TMS solutions allows you to take control of freight procurement, streamline the RFQ process, improve carrier communication, and get better rates. Thus you save cots on procurement throught direct access to carriers and dynamic transport optimitation, and you save on capacity throught automated order comunication.
3.Logistic Challenge: Overcoming green logistics challenges
The topic of sustainability is increasing in importance among all industries and organizations. With the new rules and regulations being set and implemented by the EU, it is necessary to start taking intentional actions rather than keep delaying the inevitable. In our recent blog article on ESRS (the new European Sustainability Reporting Standard), we discussed the European Parliament and council’s recently adopted instruments to expand the public accountability of companies, requiring them to report on broad range of ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) factors.
At Alpega, we believe that every step of the logistics process should be made with a sustainability goal in mind in order to build a resilient, efficient and sustainable supply chain. Our different transport services and solutions come together in a concerted manner and are designed to play their part at each different stage of the supply chain.
They support corporate sustainability initiatives through more efficient load and route planning for lower fuel consumption and less carbon emissions, procuring alternate or additional modes of transportation, monitoring GHG (Greenhouse Gas) emissions, consolidating more per shipment, and managing reusable transport packaging assets.
The Alpega TMS platform can help you reach your sustainability objectives and efficiently reduce your GHG emissions throughout your transportation and logistics processes while improving shipping rates and delivery times.
4. Logistic Challenge: The era of digitalization
Markets are changing and priorities are shifting. With the recent events, the economic uncertainty and the global instability call for enhanced ways of conducting logistics business. Supply chains are more fragile than ever, and officers must manage disruptions and challenges by getting their supply chains out of survival mode and on a path of transformation. The issues of energy, growth and cost optimization should be triggers to moving your current processes to automated logistics systems.
For a supply chain to run smoothly and be resilient, human logistic management is not the way to operate anymore. A digital system needs to come into the picture to oversee and guide your logistics, and to give you a peephole onto what happens behind the curtain.
Alpega TMS is a scalable and modular end-to-end transportation management solution that tackles logistics processes. It allows your company to enhance your efficiency and unlock full supply chain visibility and control for optimum performance. It provides a single source of accurate information that connects all stakeholders in a collaborative platform and transforms global and local supply chains into collaborative ecosystems.
By digitizing your transportation processes, Alpega’s supply chain optimization technologies allow you to manage your activities across logistics networks, providing greater visibility of the logistics flows and better execution supported by automated workflows, data collection and next generation analytics to empower better business decisions.
5.Logistic Challenge: The never-ending visibility issue
Try conducting your logistics processes blindfolded. Now try avoiding all the disruptions, be it big or small, with that same blindfold on. It is certain you will hit a wall or two. Nowadays, and with all the uncertainties that lie behind and ahead, walking across your supply chain with your eyes closed guarantees you to get hurt or worse. Choosing to be blind when you can see is like going to war unarmed...your chances at survival or victory are slim.
Imagine owning a pair of magic glasses that give you the possibility to see everything that happens at every stage of your logistics processes, from procurement to delivery. Alpega TMS’ platform was designed and created to provide you with this clear view that is so needed in order to know everything that happens in your supply chain. With visibility comes great expectations and even greater results.
We have learned, these past few years, that anticipation and preparation are the best remedy when it comes to logistics challenges. Being aware of what may come your way allows you to manage by exception and to find alternative solutions to your current problems. With Alpega TMS, you are supercharged with real-time visibility, which is a sure way to boost the resilience of your supply chain. A modern cloud-based transportation visibility solution such as Alpega TMS, makes it possible for companies to increase operation efficiency and reduce costs while improving shipping performance and thus, delivering a great customer experience. Moreover, when operating efficiently, you not only reduce your costs but also and mostly optimize your supply chain, affecting positively factors of time and carrier capacity.
As your company’s visibility increases, so does your ability to make well-informed decisions, decreasing the risk of errors, improving your overall logistics processes, boosting your network, and elevating the overall customer experience.
Why choose Alpega TMS for your transportation management?
With each challenge, we offer a solution. We base our strategic advice on the latest thought leadership, practical wisdom from our collaboration with clients and 30+ years of logistics expertise.
Built to serve the needs of manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers, regardless of their logistics complexity level, the quality of service we provide is one of the many reasons why leading companies choose Alpega to manage and optimize their supply chains. It is focused on empowering customers with the efficient digitalization needed to meet today’s logistics challenges to drive the industry towards smarter supply chains, digital logistics and logistics 4.0., that emphasize carbon emission reduction.
Find out more about our Alpega TMS solutions.
If this blog got you thinking about your own transport and logistics strategy in logistics, and you are interested in knowing more about our solutions, we would love to discuss it further with you.
Please get in touch with an Alpega TMS expert. !
