Hello ladies and gentlemen!
After 2 weeks of break, I am back with another concept that is quite familiar to many of you.
We all have heard about UPS and how they saved millions of dollars by improving their supply chain process. So how did it happen? Generally, be it small or medium-sized business, a small change in the day to day operations can have huge impacts on the revenue. A small/medium business may have limited time & resources, so in order to use them effectively, one needs to analyze and use its supply chain effectively. More importantly, effective utilization may not just pave way for more revenue but also helps the environment and CSR activities.
The example for the above is what UPS did or doing even now, which inspired a lot of other companies to follow the same. In 2005 UPS decided to optimize its supply chain process, after having several discussions they decided to launch a particular idea wherein they decided that most of their delivery trucks in the US will minimize left turns. Soon after they did this, they saved a lot of fuel and also distance covered. Amazed by this, UPS decided to work further on this and still optimized it much more. What's the magic behind this?
Well, the magic is ORION, not the star in the universe created by Zeus, rather an intelligent telemetry and data analysis system. ORION stands for On-Road Integrated Optimisation & Navigation, provides the drivers with optimal organization of which stops they had to make. The sensors in the vehicle gather information from the road and then sends it to the server, which is then analyzed and guides the driver to ensure that an optimized route is provided by not needing to take a left turn.
In certain cases, the drivers might have to travel longer than the usual routes, but the advantage is that, when they don't take left turns, they avoid traffic signals because when a truck waits in the signal for few mins, the ignition is on and the engine is idle which tends to consume more fuel. By keeping the truck on the go, fuel consumption is reduced. This is the key highlight of this system, as this type of optimization helped UPS shave 28.5 million miles of its delivery routes which resulted in saving close to 3 million gallons of fuel and reduced CO2 emissions by 31,000 metric tons.
So this supply chain analysis not just brought monetary benefits but also benefits to the environment. Even the US government after noticing the change UPS brought in, advised the entire nation saying be like UPS.
Adios, Amigo!
- Varadharaju R
Do u think such a system can be applied on Indian transportation network?
ReplyDeleteThe biggest challenge for this system to be applied in India is that, people still park their vehicles outside in the roads, this kind of makes it difficult for the delivery vehicles to pass through small roads. But yes it is possible in the future.
ReplyDelete