While the pandemic had an unexpected negative impact on all industries and economies, it also led to some positive developments.
In the world, which has survived the pandemic process, the transformation processes have accelerated with the effect of Covid-19 in the logistics sector. There are many new trends that will affect the industry, from supply chain flexibility to 5G, from green logistics to IoT Internet of Things technology.
The concept of sustainability, which has started to take a big place in our lives in recent years, is also starting to reveal new trends in the logistics and distribution sector.
Supply Chain Flexibility
The demand for bringing regionalized supply chains closer to markets has been discussed for a long time, and the pandemic period has made this process a reality.
Internet of Things (IoT) technology, big data, predictive analytics and artificial intelligence are transforming the logistics industry; it takes speed, transformation and efficiency to a completely different dimension. This enables much more flexible supply chains, that is, supply chains that address personalized customer needs. Working cost-effectively while meeting customer demands for shorter delivery times also reduces oversupply. Thanks to the artificial intelligence systems used in warehouse automation, it reduces the problem of sending wrong products and can shorten the time of the product leaving the warehouse.
Used for analysis of big data in the logistics industry, AI also automates repetitive tasks and processes in supply chain functions and helps bring new forms of strategic decision-making and collaboration to life.
With predictive analytics, artificial intelligence can predict what customers might order based on their previous behavior. Algorithms that can make various predictions also have the potential to prepare products early and reduce delivery time.
Green Logistics
In recent years, air quality has been declining every year. Especially the emissions of vehicles used in the field of logistics to the environment reduce the air quality. The most important move to be made in this direction is the transition to green logistics practices. These practices are the most basic steps to be taken in the field of sustainable logistics. The coming years show that the companies that adopt the green logistics approach will be preferred by the consumers.
Green logistics is an important point in the production phase of the innovations that are developing in the sector today. In recent years, companies' interest in green practices has increased and studies are shaped according to this situation. Logistics is one of the most successful sectors that has adapted the green concept to itself. The underlying reason for this situation is undoubtedly the great negative effects of the industry on the environment. Green logistics began to be included in the logistics literature in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It has been made to feel that it is necessary to have a green consciousness in the logistics sector and that the states should provide incentives and carry out necessary studies on these issues. Since the emergence of the concept, it has been thought that the work that can be done in green understanding is a situation that can create an opportunity in the future.
Applications in which businesses can be evaluated within a green understanding can be listed as showing the necessary sensitivity about the use of natural resources and carrying out innovative applications with an environmentalist understanding. In addition, environmental management and cooperation with stakeholders are among the sub-factors of green logistics practices. In this direction, it is possible to consider green logistics management as a process that includes green production management, green supply management, green material management, green distribution management, green marketing management and reverse logistics activities management. The concept of green approach, which expresses the steps taken to minimize the damage to the environment and to protect the environment, has a direct relationship with the understanding of sustainability. In this sense, green logistics is the adoption of an environmentally sensitive understanding in logistics activities.
During the supply chain, presenting the products in accordance with the needs of the consumers but without harming the environment and carrying out activities such as storage, stocking, packaging, transportation with recyclable resources are among the green logistics objectives. Green logistics should not be handled only in the environmental aspect. Because green logistics also has social and economic functions. On the other hand, it is important for businesses to have environmental certificates and to support green logistics practices with these certificates. ISO 14025 (related to the declaration of environmental products), ISO 14040-44 (related to the life cycle assessment of products), ISO 14064 (related to standards for greenhouse gas emission measurement and control), and ISO 14067 (related to the carbon footprint standard) It is among the standards that it can apply and the documents it can receive regarding green logistics.
5G and IOT Technology
5G, which is a new generation technology, is a term that allows wireless network connections to work more efficiently, while on the one hand, standard applications that are already in existence accelerate. The advantages of 5G technology include minimum waiting time and maximum speed. 5G, the 5th generation internet technology, represents the fifth infrastructure. 5G Technology offers high upload and download speeds and aims to provide an increase of minimum 10 and maximum 100 times of 4G technology. Thus, it is aimed to transfer large-capacity data faster. Among the advantages of 5G, faster communication between devices stands out. In this way, it offers the opportunity to experience many experiences simultaneously.
Internet of Things IOT Technology
The Internet of Things, which is presented as the Turkish equivalent of Iot Technology, which is the abbreviation of the term "Internet of Things", is a technology that enables objects used in daily life to exchange data with other objects and to be in full synchronization with each other. This technology offers a service consisting of web-enabled smart devices that allow collecting, sending and processing data from environments. IoT devices transfer the collected data through a gateway, share it by connecting it to a cloud system or a different end device where the data can be analyzed. IoT devices perform most of their work without human intervention, by communicating with other related devices, in line with the information they receive from each other.
The Internet of Things has application areas that make daily life easier, as well as providing various benefits to companies in corporate, production and industrial areas. Although the usage area and the benefits it provides vary depending on the area, there are four basic components that make up the internet of things technology. IoT components can be explained as follows:
Object Component: Object component is the concept that expresses the devices connected to the internet and each other for decision making. These objects use embedded systems that allow communication between an internal server and the external environment. The most known of these objects are sensors that convert physical properties into electrical signals so that they can be processed by computers, controllers that send the data received from the sensors to any device in the cloud, and activators that allow a system or mechanism to be controlled in line with the transferred data.
Data Component: Basically, in terms of the internet of things, the data component is a concept that covers data that is divided into two as structured and unstructured. Structured data is seen as files or data that are easily classified, queried and analyzed by the computer. Unstructured data, also called raw data, is data that has not been put into classical formats specified in databases. The efficiency of processes such as data transport and storage is important for successful data management.
The Human Component: Huge amounts of data alone don't make much sense. Data needs to be transformed into useful information that can be used by people so that appropriate decisions can be made and effective actions can be taken. For this, one of the M2M (Machine to Machine), M2P (Machine to People) or P2P (People to People) interactions must be performed. Although basically only M2M connection seems to cover IoT technology, M2P and P2P interactions also provide IoT technology to create the highest value interaction process.
Process Component: The process component refers to the harmonious operation of other IoT components. Processes that facilitate the interaction between people, objects and data ensure that information is delivered to the right person at the right time, in an appropriate manner.
Internet of Things Technology has started to make a name for itself both in social life and in business life. IoT technology basically allows two different smart devices to communicate. Today, this system, which finds its place in many areas from urban planning to small household appliances, offers a wide range of benefits for both people and companies.
IoT technology enables companies to work more efficiently, provide better customer service, and conduct more effective decision-making processes.
Internet of Things usage areas are widely used in corporate, production and industrial areas. In addition to these areas, it is also widely used in logistics and construction applications, smart city, manufacturing, IT sector, health and trade applications.
The Internet of Things has many advantages such as increased efficiency and reduced workload, effective operations management, better use of resources and assets, comprehensive marketing and development, improved customer service, better business opportunities.
Yolda.com, Turkey's first customer-oriented logistics initiative with advanced technology infrastructure, supports the digital transformation of the logistics industry. It continues its efforts to increase the satisfaction of its business partners, and aims to reduce the carbon footprint, which is a global problem, by giving importance to green logistics practices.