The Growing Role of Data And Technology In Cold Chains
Digital opportunities enhance visibility and business performance
IMPROVE VISIBILITY
The Growing Role of Data And Technology In Cold Chains
The rise of digital technologies is changing the way food and beverage businesses operate, and advances in everything from artificial intelligence to blockchain have the potential to redefine companies while creating new opportunities. These advances are changing not only what is expected of businesses, but also what is expected of the leaders within the organizations.
The Business Side of Food and Beverage
Tata Consultancy Services calls the transformation Business 4.0. In a survey of 689 responses from senior finance executives in the United States and Europe conducted by CFO Research in collaboration with Tata Consultancy Services, about one-third of respondents ranked their finance functions’ digital capabilities in six categories as "moderate."
The six areas included analytics and measurement; agility and efficiency; business architecture; governance, risk management and compliance; shared services/business process outsourcing; and organizational alignment.
At Penske Transportation Solutions, we’ve focused on the digital capabilities that can benefit our food and beverage customers, and we have several solutions to help business owners capture, manage and utilize information so fleets can access data quickly and easily. This approach is particularly useful during planning, quarterly reviews and an audit.
Visibility and Data: Through Fleet Insightâ„¢, our proprietary online tool designed to give customers greater visibility and control of their fleet, business owners can access their data, including invoices, fuel planning information, and safety and compliance records, at any time. In addition, Fleet Insight allows customers to view and download information about any truck at any time.
Financial Reporting: Our billing and record keeping provides easy-to-understand information that is accessible online. This information is readily available for annual planning, quarterly reporting or in the event of an audit.
Fixed Costs: As business owners plan for the future, leasing can increase the reliable financial information they use for forecasting because expenses associated with a full-service lease are established in advance. Leasing can also free up capital that businesses can use to invest in new technology or growing the business.
Truck Technology: Equipment is advancing rapidly with manufacturers adding new safety features each year. By utilizing leases, fleets can keep the average age of their fleet low and take advantage of the latest technological advances, such as collision mitigation technology. This can also reduce insurance costs by reducing the risk of a crash, enhancing driver safety and improving driver retention, which can save on driver recruitment costs.
Data and Connectivity Drive Fleet Health and Improve Uptime
A reliable food and beverage fleet runs on data and fleet expertise. From knowing where your shipment is to ensuring that trucks are running at peak performance and temperature, data is a strategic asset, and Penske is using the vast amount of information from our data platform to improve the health of equipment, maximize fleet performance and improve uptime. That means that shippers who lease or rent from us can rest assured that the trucks delivering their products are up to the job.
Enhanced Fleet Performance
Marrying truck data with maintenance data leads to better uptime. Using data off the truck also enables more proactive solutions, including increasingly predictive maintenance, leading to improved fleet performance. This information is then used to identify failure rates and implement preventive maintenance practices allowing the ability to avoid potential failures and breakdowns altogether, ensuring that your refrigerated truck stays at optimal temperature and all your trucks stay on the road.
The data analysis process factors in the equipment's operating environment, geography and mileage to better identify maintenance needs.
Improve Uptime
And because data improves remote diagnostics, technicians can get to the maintenance faster, get equipment fixed faster and back on the road delivering your food and beverage freight faster. If a roadside event occurs, data from the truck is given to our 24/7 coordinators so they can pinpoint where the truck is, identify the right service technician for the job and ensure the right tools are available.
Connectivity also increases visibility, so we can monitor the timeliness of PMs (Preventive Maintenance), how many trucks are in for repair, the number of road calls on a particular day and overall fleet maintenance costs. Having the capability to identify trucks that may be costing more due to breakdowns and failures provides an additional benefit.
The overall goal is to use data to have greater insight into fleet performance, improve the health of the vehicles and keep your trucks running smoothly.
Increase Supply Chain Visibility to Gain Control
A strong is central to effective food and beverage operations, but anything from rapid growth to external forces can disrupt operations. When a cold chain is out of control, the right people, processes and technology can bring it back in line to improve service, optimize routes and reduce costs.
See the Entire Cold Chain
Having an accurate line of sight into each part of the cold chain helps keep it in check. Near real-time information is critical and knowing where products are and when they will arrive can speed decision making, ensure freshness, inform orders and help mitigate problems before they occur.
Improved visibility also directly affects inventory management. When all parts of the supply chain are connected, systems can combine data on inventory practices and levels with supplier lead times and anticipated demand to inform food and beverage ordering and production. That, in turn, improves fill rates and reduces backorders while also eliminating overstock and spoilage situations, which reduces inventory costs.
Compare Fulfillment Solutions
Data and visibility help shippers determine the cost service benefit of fulfilling through various means, which is becoming more essential in today's omnichannel environment.
Shippers also must factor in intangible benefits, such as customer satisfaction, public perception and, ultimately, customer retention.
Connect Essential Teams
Visibility lays the groundwork to connect teams, such as customer service, sales, procurement and transportation. That connectivity can identify how individual decisions will impact different stakeholders.
With multiple influences in supply chains, it is valuable to opt for the best overall option over something that may only be beneficial to one aspect of the cold chain.
Connectivity also makes it easier to identify exceptions, creating even more control, while greater visibility offers the ability to assess situations and potential solutions, allowing for more informed decisions.
That, in turn, ensures products arrive fresh and exactly when and where they are needed so no sales opportunities are lost. Having the flexibility to shift fulfillment can be even more important when demand surges.
A Reliable Fleet and Innovative Provider
At Penske, we're built on the strength and expertise it takes to own and maintain more than 300,000 vehicles. With that kind of experience, you can rest assured that we offer some of the best-maintained and reliable trucks, reefers and tractors in the industry. Additionally, Penske has decades of experience in all areas of the food and beverage supply chain.
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Penske Transportation Solutions has decades experience across the food and beverage supply chain. We are here to help you solve problems and grow your business. Read these articles on gaining supply chain efficiencies and much more. Then take a look at our extensive library of even more articles that can benefit your business.
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