October 8 2024 | 8 Min Read

AI in logistics: How advanced analytics are changing the game

Posted By
Lynne Vogl
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AI in logistics: How advanced analytics are changing the game

Artificial intelligence (AI) is absolutely everywhere. It’s in nearly every interaction of our daily lives, but how’s it going in logistics? Well, AI can often be seen as the brain behind the logistics operation — analyzing data, predicting trends, and driving efficiency. So, its real use today may not even be known as AI at all.

MIT Sloan explains, “It’s useful to think of the evolution of AI in logistics in the context of other tools.” The article continues on saying, “Traditional AI analyzes data to complete specific tasks. Generative AI uses large language models to take something in context, summarize it, and generate new content. Operations research uses scientific methods to study systems that require human decision-making, using approaches such as linear programming and network models.” Clearly, there isn’t some grand AI definition or use that works. 

But every brain needs a strong support system to fully realize its potential. That’s where IL2000 comes in, augmenting the massive tech innovations happening across AI in logistics with tried and true analytics capabilities. 

For shippers, AI can transform how they operate. While IL2000 isn’t building AI, we are enhancing our capabilities with data and equipping shippers with powerful analytics tools that could apply to AI insights. As an example, we’re optimizing routes with business intelligence, driving down operational costs in tendering loads, or enhancing supply chain visibility. 

Working closely with clients unlocks the potential of advanced analytics, and IL2000 helps our clients turn all the ambitious possibilities of AI into actionable improvements for their supply chains without all the hype. Here are a few things to know about this exciting purview of modern logistics management. 

How AI and advanced analytics are reshaping logistics operations

AI has become a transformative force in the logistics industry. But to fully harness the potential of AI, businesses need to apply it alongside advanced analytics. Whether it's predictive analytics for better forecasting or decision-making insights, AI’s capabilities are magnified when combined with powerful analytics solutions. Freight consolidation is a prime example of how applying AI and analytics together could reduce shipping costs and improve logistics efficiency. 

Of course, it all depends on how well shippers can connect AI tools to analytics functions. If the data upload is too great, the AI tools we all have come to know and love, or hate, like ChatGPT, won’t work. You need some other plan, and something between AI and data analytics could succeed.

Brooks Wise, VP of Sales at IL2000, spoke on the topic of AI in logistics, “AI tools can analyze data, but you still need the human element to make sense of what’s really actionable and how it will be valuable for meaningful improvements.”

For instance, AI can predict future demand based on historical data, but advanced analytics take it further by optimizing fleet utilization or warehouse operations. This dual approach enables companies to create more efficient logistics processes, improve route planning, and minimize operational costs.

The benefits of AI for inventory management and supply chain operations

AI in logistics and warehouseAI and advanced analytics can bring substantial improvements to inventory management and supply chain operations. Integrating these technologies enhances shippers’ ability to anticipate supply chain disruptions, monitor stock levels in real-time, and ensure the right amount of inventory at the right place, reducing costly overstock or stockouts. But the value can exist far beyond the four walls of a single warehouse. 

Since any conversation on applied data in supply chain operations is going to almost certainly start with route planning and cost reductions, let’s start there. 

Route planning is a key area where AI-driven insights could bring major benefits, but only when combined with robust analytics solutions. AI might suggest efficient routes by analyzing traffic patterns, fuel consumption, and delivery windows, but it’s advanced analytics that can refine those suggestions into actionable plans that deliver cost savings and improve operational efficiency.

Now, it is indeed a bit of to-MAY-to,  to-MAH-to,  but you get the picture. Now, let’s go back into our archive and find an instance where IL2000 used advanced analytics functions to get real results for a client. 

An auto parts manufacturer achieved freight savings of over $260,000 annually by leveraging advanced analytics provided by IL2000. With better data and smarter analysis, this company was able to streamline its logistics operations, improve its route efficiency, and significantly reduce its overall costs.

But, there are many more benefits that AI could offer in logistics operations:

  • Improved procurement processes based on predictive analytics.
  • Enhanced visibility into real-time inventory levels and supplier performance.
  • Automation of repetitive logistics tasks, freeing up time for more strategic work.
  • Automated packing, palletizing, and staging of freight. 
  • Increased customer satisfaction through faster delivery times and accurate order fulfillment.

There are many more benefits of automation, and if AI is the ultimate automator, then the sky’s truly the limit. 

Logistics partnerships: Maximizing AI’s impact with the right support

AI in logistics with a robot and manAI on its own isn't enough. For shippers, the real value comes from combining AI-driven insights with expert logistics partnerships like those in existence with IL2000 clients. An effective logistics partnership maximizes AI’s potential by aligning it with analytics-driven decision-making with a human safeguard to ensure actions stay in the right lane. With IL2000, shippers can fine-tune their supply chain management and keep driving down costs through data analytics that offer practical, real-world improvements. And you don't have to worry about the security of your data with some obscure chatbot or other AI tool. 

Choose IL2000 to guide you through tech-ready future of AI in logistics

The future of AI in logistics holds tremendous promise, but real success lies in combining AI technologies with advanced analytics that help companies turn data into action. Now’s not the time to run out and subscribe to another tool–but rather, be ready and have a plan in place for if and when that time comes.  IL2000’s deep expertise ensures that today’s shippers and manufacturers are equipped to apply existing and new business intelligence tools effectively, ensuring a tech-ready future that’s built on actionable insights.

Connect with an expert in all things tech and logistics at IL2000.

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Topics: Business Intelligence, Freight data, Supply Chain Optimization

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