{"id":29163,"date":"2019-09-26T11:56:43","date_gmt":"2019-09-26T10:56:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/?p=29163"},"modified":"2019-09-27T11:10:50","modified_gmt":"2019-09-27T10:10:50","slug":"trackmatic-ceo-on-automating-supply-chain-innovation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/2019\/09\/26\/trackmatic-ceo-on-automating-supply-chain-innovation\/","title":{"rendered":"Trackmatic CEO on automating supply chain innovation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

David Slotow, CEO of Trackmatic, talks about refining the last mile journey with the potential of technology.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Automation offers the supply chain significant advantages across efficiency, capability and reducing complexity. It can take on the tedium while opening up opportunity, and it can cut costs while allowing for improvements in deliverable and customer engagement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is\nalso still in the early stages of adoption \u2013 organisations are unsure as to its\nlongevity while employees are concerned about its ubiquity. There have also\nbeen challenges around the cost of implementing the technology and the skilled\nlabour force required to manage and control it alongside the fears that it will\nusurp roles and oust people. Today, however, these challenges are changing as\nthe technology becomes increasingly affordable and accessible and both\norganisations and employees recognise the benefits that it brings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks\nto decreased costs and accessibility, South African organisations have more\nopportunity to take advantage of the productivity and management capabilities\nthat automation introduces. They are also starting to see how automation,\nimplemented intelligently, can increase accuracy, reduce time spent on specific\ntasks and enhance employee experiences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is\nnot just a technology that usurps the role of the employee, it is equally a\nsolution that can improve overtime and workload management, increase engagement\nand fundamentally shift quality of life. Of course, these alterations in\nemployee behaviour result in improved customer service and communication. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Automation\ntools can improve working environments and empower employees, but the level of\nimpact is entirely dependent on the level of implementation and organisation\nexpectation. As with anything, there is a dark side and it has to be addressed\nto ensure that any implementation is of value. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For\nexample, with automation changes in the last mile supply chain, customers can\nend up receiving too much information. They are bombarded with messages about\ntimings of delivery, calls from drivers letting them know that they are on the\nway, alerts reminding them of an impending arrival \u2013 all excellent barometers\nof customer service on the surface, but with more than one delivery a customer\nmay well feel overwhelmed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Automation\noverload has to be managed realistically, just as automation itself cannot be\nignored and left by the wayside. Any organisation within the supply chain that\nassumes the technology isn\u2019t going to stick is going to find itself outdated and\nleft behind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nlatter may be a sentiment often touted across expert and interview, but that\u2019s\nbecause it is the truth. Automation may not be perfect, but it does offer a\ncompetitive edge when implemented within the constraints of relevance and\nstrategy. What the organisation should be asking is this \u2013 what should be done\nto really get the most from automation investment?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nanswer lies in looking to opportunity. In providing employees with the\nopportunity to enhance their skills alongside the technology platforms within\nthe organisation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nbeing aware of how automation will affect different roles and functions and how\nto work with this change rather than against it. To see it as an opportunity to\ndo more and achieve more than ever before. Companies that are assisting their\nemployees to embrace technology and work with it to improve their performance\nare seeing noticeable and significant increases in performance activity and\nbottom-line results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Increased\nvisibility is enabling powerful developmental conversations and increasing\ncollaboration across roles and departments. Technology is also equipping\nleaders with the ability to hone in on key focus areas that can transform\nbusiness efficiency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over\nthe next few years, the industries that are not evolving and investing in\ntechnology will feel the impact. In the logistics space, logistics operators\nneed to problem-solve and address multiple touchpoints along the delivery\njourney. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Proactive\ndecision-making and the ability to streamline processes is critical to success.\nThe industry is already facing increased pressure to transform and adapt as\ncompetitors and disruptors engage with the technology and redefine efficiency. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps\nin the past automation and the emerging technologies of Digital Transformation were\nmet with scepticism as logistics operators found comfort in the control that\nmanual processes and documents provided, today market expectations are pushing\nthe boundaries of what is possible and technology, automation and business\nanalytics and intelligence has never been more crucial.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

David Slotow, CEO of Trackmatic, talks about refining the last mile journey with the potential of technology. Automation offers the supply chain significant advantages across efficiency, capability and reducing complexity. It can take on the tedium while opening up opportunity, and it can cut costs while allowing for improvements in deliverable and customer engagement. It […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":29166,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4950,134,7383,399,10675,269,262],"tags":[826,302,389,3758,1248,453,305],"class_list":["post-29163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-analysis","category-blog","category-digital-transformation","category-more-news","category-thought-leadership","category-trade-logistics","category-used","tag-automation","tag-david-slotow","tag-digital-transformation","tag-last-mile","tag-logistics","tag-south-africa","tag-trackmatic"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29163"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29163\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29171,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29163\/revisions\/29171"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}