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The modern supply chain management is giving importance to responsiveness. Just before the system has achieved low cost and productivity and now adding the responsiveness to make it agile for the E-commerce market requirements.
What is 5G?
5G is the telecom technology going to be introduced across the globe soon, as many telecom service providers have started their infrastructure works and the whole world is looking for its implementation this year onwards.
5G technology is 100 times faster than the 4G technology which enables the big data process. The automation of the supply chain has allowed capturing the data from different points and the same can be processed at a faster speed to enable unmanned vehicles and automated robotics in action.
The 5G technology is giving the following technological advantage to enable Supply Chain Management to be more automated.
Advantages of 5G in Supply Chain Management
Enhanced Mobile broadband:
The enhanced mobile broadband allows the AR/VR contents, videos and streaming of data possible. A supply chain network can utilize these enhanced technology adaptions to make the communication in both the direction of the supply chain very fast and accurate.
Massive machine type communication:
The massive speed for the communication allows the high-speed machine to machine communication, this enables the communication in Internet of Things (IoT) devices and makes the supply chain as a smart chain ecosystem.
IoT is the ecosystem where different electronic devices are connected and mutually communicated through the machine-to-machine communication channel. Smart warehouses, smart inventory management, smart distribution, smart production system, smart homes, and smart cities could be possible with this IoT implementation.
Ultra-reliable and low latency communication:
The 5G technology enables automated surgery and automated vehicle movements because both need faster decision-making based on a large volume of data analysis and appropriate decision-making. Reliability is a big factor as it gives the authority to allow such technology for use in public and can prevent any possible losses of assets or even lives of people.
So 5G technology would be the triggering point for the Supply Chain innovation and the leap in technological advancement we can expect after this. Now one side application advancements are happening in Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Blockchain applications, big data collection from the business areas.
The structured big data processing, analysis, and decision-making process give great innovation in Supply Chain Management applications and this will help E-commerce to the next level. The drones could be used for the last mile delivery. The supply chain responses become efficient and fast, enable the best demand analysis and eliminate all types of wastages in the system.
BoxBay the automated container stacking system at DP World, Dubai, UAE
DP World, Dubai, UAE, the 3rd largest port operator in the world – has 181 business units in 64 countries, employing 56,000 employees. They provide smart end-to-end supply chain solutions to international trade. It’s a publicly listed company headquartered in Dubai, UAE, and has a global presence. The company keeps expanding its business across the globe through acquiring land transports, shipping business, freight forwarding, and using state-of-the-art technology to make the best in the world.
DP World has completed a proto-type model of BoxBay, an automated container stacking system at their major seaport in Dubai, UAE. This is a joint venture between DP World and the German industrial automation company SMS group.
This project is a part of DP world’s concept of using innovation and technology enabling global trade and the model should be able to adapt at any location worldwide for more efficiency and productivity. The logistics partners are working on Blockchain technology which enables them to offer the Electronic Bill of lading for the shipping industry.
The system stores the container in steel racks which is as high as 7 containers high storable. It delivers a capacity of 3 times compared to a conventional container yard where the containers are stored on top of the other, so this technology can reduce the footprint of almost 70% of the container yard.
In BoxBay, the containers are moved in and out through electrified and automated cranes which are built in the system. The individual containers can be moved without touching any other containers.
The whole BoxBay project is powered by solar panels which have connected at the top of the system so this is a very sustainable project for power utilization. The cost of operations is less for the long run as the power charges would be negligible as it’s a renewable power source.
The port container yards are big areas where the solar cells could be connected without any disturbances, the solar cells are available at much low cost due to their massive production and usage, the fast storage cells and availability for great results, all made the solar power generation cost in par with the conventional energy cost.
Fast, reliable and responsive – The buzzwords for the model logistics, the above project can help the Container yard speed up the operations, give more reliability, less carbon footprint, more economic feasibility, sustainability, and automation. The 6 months trial of BoxBay has given the confidence for the DP world to invest in this project and make it available for its regular port operations soon.
