Chris Davis-Pipe, Group VP IT, Crown Worldwide, on the implementation of new software and technology within the logistics industry and the potential for AI to integrate processes more tightly.
It’s no secret that AI has made its way into many areas of day-to-day life in 2024, but it’s also shaping the way people work. AI’s influence has become a game-changer for most business sectors today, driving operational efficiencies and automating many mundane, albeit time-consuming, processes.
My industry is just one example. The movement of people, goods, and information around the world has evolved a lot over the years, and the arrival (and popularisation) of AI in recent months has promised to be the next big tech disruption.
Providers in this space – whether that be employee mobility, records management, or global supply chain and logistics – are increasingly looking to AI for ways to optimise, and simplify, the way in which we move things around the world.
In a sector that has so many moving parts – from ever-changing customs legislation and visa requirements, to data privacy and safety concerns – leaders are also hopeful that AI can help to alleviate some of these challenges.
But as it stands, where do the capabilities of this revolutionary technology begin, and where do its limitations lie?
Enhancing employee experience
At Crown Worldwide, we’ve witnessed a decades-long evolution in how people, goods and information are moved and stored around the world. Like any people-centric business, we have had to be agile in adapting to ever-changing customer needs, embracing technologies to drive efficiency and improve customer experience.
AI’s diverse capabilities – its ability to evaluate vast amounts of data, predict outcomes, automate basic tasks and inform decision-making – have useful applications across several stages of the transportation journey.
In the movement and relocation of people, for example, AI is already being used to make life easier for both the assignee and the HR manager overseeing the assignment. For employees relocating to new countries, AI-chatbots can accurately answer queries they have about their assignment location at any time of the day, alleviating the need for human assistance outside office hours.
Moving into the future, we can also expect to see AI integrated into different areas of the relocation process, like virtual home searches and orientation processes, as the technology becomes more sophisticated. And for HR managers, AI solutions have potential to support in the assessment of an employee’s suitability for assignment, analysing their intercultural intelligence, adaptability and other core skills needed for a role overseas.
That said, despite AI’s impressive potential, organisations must exercise caution and remember that human expertise and supervision is still essential. AI can provide valuable assistance.
However, it cannot recreate the human touch, particularly when supporting assignees during a life-altering change or challenging, emotional situations.
Ultimately, AI must be utilised to enhance a human-centric approach to people mobility, not the other way around.
Driving better decisions in logistics
Aside from global people movement, businesses in the logistics sector are realising the unique potential of AI to assist transportation personnel in their day-to-day operations. Given that precision and hands-on experience are central to the logistics industry, this potential lies in everything from the intricacies involved with handling delicate fine art to the meticulous task of safeguarding critical information like medical records.
When transporting goods, AI holds the power to assist with risk management, a vital area that logistics companies must be aware of. Given that logistics operations are highly susceptible to risks like geopolitical issues and natural disasters, AI’s predictive abilities can be hugely advantageous when it comes to anticipating risks. AI-powered systems can predict disruptions using vast amount of historical data and real-time information, empowering logistics companies to proactively devise contingency plans, ensuring operations run with minimal disruption.
That said, many companies in the logistics space have yet to tap into the full capabilities AI has offer. Perhaps what is needed is more investment in upskilling teams to ensure AI’s real-time and predictive insights are fully harnessed to drive operational efficiency.
Transforming digital records management
And with the movement of people and goods, comes the generation of data and sensitive records. What impact, if any, will AI have on this essential business function?
With records management, customers expect businesses to embrace the new era of technology and digitalisation. There has been a pivot towards the digitalisation of records and information storage around the world, moving away from legacy systems and outdated physical records, and towards digital versions that allow for quick and secure access to files.
Recent developments have made this paperless approach more possible. Innovations with cloud storage solutions is just one example, providing a scalable and secure option for businesses looking to store digital documents, whether that be with AWS, Google Cloud or another provider.
And AI is playing a key role in this digitisation, too, helping to migrate vast amounts of manual, physical-record oriented tasks to the cloud – particularly through document analysis, scanning and processing. AI offers the ability to categorise documents by their content, context and sentiment, massively reducing the manual labour required to manage records. Using Natural Language Processing, (NLP), AI can also improve the ‘searchability’ of documents through human-like queries to speed up processes.
Automated document analysis and enhanced information retrieval are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to AI’s capabilities. But despite the affordances that AI presents, certain industries such as legal, healthcare and government may never wholly abandon paper documents due to regulatory, legal or practical restraints.
In light of this, we are increasingly witnessing a hybrid approach to records management, combining digital and paper-based processes and balancing efficiency with necessity.
Final words
The potential of AI for businesses today is as clear as day. From faster processes and predictive analytics to 24/7 assistance, its capabilities can often appear boundless to organisations exploring it for the first time.
However, it must be remembered that AI does, in fact, have its limitations at present. Human input and oversight must remain central to processes to ensure that the right balance is struck for optimal efficiency.
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