The rise of ecommerce of recent years has brought with it important consequences in the market. Among them, the growth of one of the key sectors and closely linked to online commerce: that of logistics. In fact, according to these data, more than 16,000 million euros have been moved in 2022 and worldwide, thanks to this sector. In addition, experts expect that 19,000 million will be reached in the year 2026, with an average annual growth of 4.4%.
Speaking of numbers, according to the consulting company CBRE, in the first quarter of the year, the sector has hired more than 690,000 square meters. This means everything a historical hiring record, meters increasing by 1.5% in the first quarter of last year. Already at the time, the figures for 2022 were the highest in the history of this industry.
Faced with this great challenge that lies ahead, the different actors in distribution and logistics will need digital tools for its management. Although it is true that they have been incorporating solutions to optimize some of the most critical steps in their business, such as the distribution chain, this growth will come with new technological needs.
Main logistics challenges
Strong growth is good news for any business, but it also raises challenges that must be overcome if we do not want all this to overwhelm us. Let’s see what will be the main challenges for companies:
- Process automation. Manual and repetitive tasks are going to be relegated for various reasons. First of all, there will come a time when they become unreachable by your team. Second, they will lose you time, money, and customers. The solution, if you don’t already use it, is to automate as many processes as possible, through technological solutions that have already been successfully tested by companies in the sector.
- Staff training in digital skills. Digitization will not cause job destruction, but many tasks will have to be redistributed. As we have said before, the most manual ones have their days numbered. This can scare many workers, even demotivate them. When it really is the opposite: they can put monotonous and boring tasks aside, applying their potential to more creative ones. If you give the staff the right training, you will not only attract talent from outside, but you will discover the potential of the workers you already had.
- Greater control of suppliers and customers. Good administrative management must be digitized through specialized software that will allow you to know, at a glance, important information regarding your clients, your billing and, in general, the situation of your business.
The ERP as a key tool in the digitization of logistics
He erp software that will help with the management of logistics companies is one that is specifically designed for the distribution sector. Thus, it takes into account the needs of logistics operators, distribution companies, etc. and seeks to improve and streamline their services, the relationship with customers and optimize productivity.
These are their main advantages:
- Automate and manage processes from the same platform. We know that the logistics sector is highly interconnected and the volume of operations is intense. With an ERP you will have all the information in the same program, with a sharing of data and information that will make decision making easier. In addition, this functionality is applied to all the activities of the sector, from control of traceability, transport, inventory to those that are more purely commercial, such as cost control and accounting.
- Consultation of data in real time. The nuance of immediacy is very important when we have to make hasty decisions. With an ERP in the cloud you will have all the information integrated into a single database, which is continuously updated. If you need to vary the route of your carriers, for example, with a simple click you will be able to do so, as well as check traffic, trends, adjust inventory, or notify those in the warehouse that merchandise is missing, among other things.
- Strategy planning in the short, medium or long term. The entrepreneur can draw up a business plan based on real data from his business and not doing it blindly. In addition, since market information can be incorporated, the strategy will look much more successful.
- Cost control through payment tools, invoices and digital collections, since accounting is done automatically. As processes are also streamlined and optimized, the staff can better coordinate when distributing the goods and this also means savings for the company.
- Improve the relationship with the client. Using a CRM program, within your ERP, you will get a more complete and personalized view of customers. This will allow you to have greater control of their movements, as well as to know their tastes to launch campaigns and commercial proposals that have a greater and better impact.
An example of ERP adapted to the logistics sector is Marine ERP. It is a software tool for comprehensive management of your company using a single platform. Among its main advantages are the dynamism and flexibility that it will provide to the administration of your business. Being hosted in the cloud, you can access it from any device and place, all with maximum data protection.
The module Marine CRM It will let you consult the commercial information of the clients, in addition to controlling, managing and facilitating the communication channels between the two. This will reduce commercial and marketing efforts, allowing campaigns to be optimized and considerably increasing the possibility of sales.
Finally, note that the solution has a specific module for warehouse logistics management. Its main objective is to improve the control of merchandise, optimizing its management, regularization between various spaces, control of carrier locations and also has links to radio frequency terminals.
