Times Have Changed
Although a lot of the art of logistics is the same, much of it has changed over the years.
Although a lot of the art of logistics is the same, much of it has changed over the years.
One of the newer buzzwords in the IT world is Robotic Process Automation, or RPA for short. According to the Wikipedia article on the subject, it is an emerging form of business process automation technology based on the notion of metaphorical software robots or artificial intelligence (AI) workers.
Today I saw that McDonald’s purchased an AI startup with the intention of using their voice recognition technology to improve their ordering process. With Artifical Intellegence everywhere, it may time for smaller distibution and delivery businesses to consider solutions that could improve their last mile processes.
This week Hurricane Dorian is at the top of the news feed. The Bahamas took heavy damage, but closer to home there were lot of disruptions in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. In these places there was quite a bit of infrastructure damage, mostly electrical power and flooding.
I just got back from a trip to Taiwan and while travelling I gave some thought to how transportation is more efficient now than it was in the past. Commercial aircraft are more efficient today. Although the cruising speed of a modern Boeing 777 is just about the same as a 1959 vintage Boeing 707, the 777 can move twice the number of passengers and can fly 8,000 miles non-stop, a big improvement over the 3,000 mile range of the 707. The results, move more people, eliminate stops, and thus reduce the overall travel time.