Traditional logistics meant hoping for the best with traffic and weather. Now AI can predict road congestion and suggest alternative routes before problems develop. It can even factor in local festivals that might affect delivery schedules. This means significant savings of fuel for companies running hundreds of trucks, writes Utkarsh Tripathi, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer (COO), Hexalog.
For years, moving goods around India has been expensive and slow. Logistics costs typically take up 13-14% of the country’s GDP compared to 8-10% in other countries. However, the scenario is changing now, as the government intends to cut these costs to single digits by 2030. The push for change accelerated during COVID when everyone realized how fragile our supply chains were. Online shopping exploded, customers started expecting same-day delivery, and traditional logistics companies found themselves scrambling to keep up. Currently worth around $317 billion, India’s logistics industry could reach $484 billion by 2029. Digital technology is the key to this projected growth.
Smart Technology Making Better Decisions
Artificial intelligence is not a mere buzzword. It’s a daily reality in logistics operations. Instead of making educated guesses about customer demand, AI systems can analyze massive amounts of data and predict patterns with remarkable accuracy. Companies using these tools report significantly fewer forecasting errors. This gets translated directly into less wasted inventory and happier customers.
Route optimization is also quite impressive. Traditional logistics meant hoping for the best with traffic and weather. Now AI can predict road congestion and suggest alternative routes before problems develop. It can even factor in local festivals that might affect delivery schedules. This means significant savings of fuel for companies running hundreds of trucks.
IoT Ending Ambiguity
The days of not knowing where your shipments are, or what condition they’re in, are long gone. Credit goes to the Internet of Things. Tiny sensors are now tracking temperature, location, humidity, and whether packages are getting damaged during transport.
This is especially important for pharmaceuticals and fresh food. According to WHO, there is a 50% shortage of vaccines worldwide because of temperature problems during shipping. But this can be solved with IoT sensors that catch temperature deviations immediately and alert everyone so they can fix problems before products get ruined. The numbers show the potential: the cold chain monitoring market has is projected to grow from $5.3 billion in 2022 to about$10.2 billion by 2026.
End customers love this transparency too. Real-time tracking and accurate delivery windows are now expected, not luxury features. IoT makes this possible. Customers have already gotten used to this level of service, they don’t expect and accept anything less.
A Bright Future with Policy Support
The future for tech-powered logistics is brighter than ever. In the coming time, we can expect to see edge computing enable instant decision-making. Networks under the 5G spectrum and beyond will support millions more sensors, and digital twins will allow companies to test changes in virtual environments before real implementation. Companies embracing these changes will serve customers better while keeping costs competitive.
The government has already taken cognizance of this, and is actively providing crucial infrastructure and policy support. The PM Gati Shakti initiative uses advanced mapping technology to coordinate infrastructure projects across different ministries. The National Logistics Policy created the Unified Logistics Interface Platform, connecting 33 different government systems. Over 900 businesses use this platform now, having surpassed 100 crore transactions.
As India works toward becoming a $5 trillion economy, having world-class logistics isn’t optional. The foundation being built today will benefit everyone who buys, sells, or moves goods across the country for decades to come.