5 Ways Logistics Analytics Helps Shippers

The Future of Freight: Logistics Analytics and Actionable Insights

2.22.23

The post-pandemic transportation landscape is largely unpredictable for shippers. They face a supply chain impacted by volatile rates and unpredictable global conflicts. Many shippers are turning to improved analytics to respond and continue with effective shipping processes.

Business intelligence gained from shipping analytics provide a means of navigating complex logistics decisions to keep operations working effectively. Logistics analytics optimizes operations and improves efficiency throughout a shipper’s supply chain by providing shippers with the following five key advantages.

What Is Data Analytics in Logistics?

Data analytics in logistics is analyzing large datasets to gain insights and optimize operations within the transportation industry. This process of logistics and data analytics includes:

Looking at customer needs
Considering freight flows
Understanding the performance of the supply chain

Data analytics can help identify patterns, trends, and correlations that can be used to improve efficiency and reduce costs. By leveraging data analytics, transportation companies can better understand how their operations are performing, determine the best routes to take, and improve customer service.

Five Ways Logistics Analytics Is Building the Future of Freight

Logistics and data analytics fit together, as this industry has a bulk of data that can be collected and analyzed to gain meaningful insights. Shippers can use data analytics in logistics to inform the best strategies, create more efficiency, and adapt to an ever-changing world.

Here are five ways shippers can intelligently use shipping analytics:

1. Machine Learning and Logistics Analytics

When paired with data analytics, machine learning can provide shippers with previously unseen insights into supply chain efficiency opportunities. This advanced technology provides automated anomaly detection that can efficiently catch problems before they go too far. This detection allows shippers to identify something out of the ordinary quickly. They get right to the source and can quickly decide how to address it. For instance, machine learning might detect duplicates or incorrect invoice rates, allowing the shipper to contact the carrier before the problem escalates quickly.

2. Predictive Logistics Analytics Reduce Volatility Vulnerability

Shippers can use technology to gain the ability to forecast the future by analyzing today’s and yesterday’s data. This is predictive analytics, which enables them to develop a complex, comprehensive picture of what’s happening in a given supply chain and see what comes next. This gives a better grasp on what is likely to occur in an unpredictable logistics environment, which helps shippers better plan and strategize. For example, it could help them predict the best shipping modes for an upcoming situation.

3. Accurate Demand Forecasting Through Data Analytics in Logistics

Volatile demand trends can leave shippers scrambling to find capacity. But if they have accurate demand forecasting, shippers can see demand trends coming before they arrive, avoiding supply chain crises. They can use analytics with machine learning to look at past and current data to predict upcoming demand. This gives a better idea of the products most likely to have high demand, which informs decisions on capacity, stock, and the supply chain for those products.

4. Logistics and Analytics Helps Shippers Manage the Unmanageable

Data analytics helps shippers navigate unpredictable supply chain crises, creating resiliency in operations in even the most challenging situations. This capability is essential in modern times, as the nation and globe face a variety of uncertainties from factors like inflation, global conflicts, and lingering effects of the pandemic. For instance, shippers can use logistics analytics to make data-backed decisions on transportation spend to counteract the effects of inflation. Also, shippers can use logistics analytics software to easily communicate vital logistics insights with supply chain partners, helping to optimize efficiency throughout the supply chain.

5. Logistics Analytics Software Puts Shippers in Control

With cloud-based logistics analytics, shippers have instant access to a vast range of analytics. Logistics analytics software transforms raw data into actionable insights, giving shippers unprecedented access to efficiency-improving transportation strategies. This technology can take large amounts of data, normalize it, and analyze it to make it useful business intelligence. Shippers can increase visibility, cut costs, and optimize their processes and network.

To Prepare for the Future of Freight, Shippers Turn to Logistics Analytics Software From Intelligent Audit

As the transportation industry normalizes after a turbulent few years, shippers are turning to logistics analytics to provide the insights they need to navigate a strange new world.

With logistics analytics software from Intelligent Audit, shippers can access many actionable insights. Shippers can use software to make the most of analytics and rely on professional support to make sense of the data and analysis if needed.

Intelligent Audit offers solutions that include: