Combat Supply Chain Disruptions With Advanced GPS Tracking
You’re only as strong as your weakest link, or so they say. In the current supply chain, nearly every link has been weakened in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic. Fewer workers and a lack of communication means it’s hard to calculate when containers or trailers will arrive, so receivers might not have the proper staff, space, or time to execute proper transit cycle times to keep your operations flowing smoothly.
Advanced asset tracking can easily monitor the location of any asset, to help make more informed decisions about your assets and optimize the supply chain for any business.
How Did We Get Here?
It all starts with the shipping containers – or lack thereof. Many containers are stuck, with nobody to return them, because shipping carriers have prioritized highly profitable routes and ignored the containers left at less profitable locations.
Once a container is finally filled, it needs to be loaded on a ship. When the Ever Given blocked the Suez Canal in March 2021, it created delays in shipping schedules for other vessels and ripple effects of this are still being felt. Having more ships available would help, but they can take years to build.
Ports have become a traffic jam. Despite a 50% increase in productivity, containers are still sitting at anchor 2.5 times longer than pre-COVID. Severe weather, such as hurricanes and typhoons, only makes the problem worse.
After docking and unloading, there’s a shortage of truck drivers to haul the containers across the country. Many have chosen to leave the industry due to concerns over safety while traveling, expanded unemployment benefits, and having children at home that need to be cared for.
The railroad system is great at getting these containers inland, but after furloughing thousands of workers and taking hundreds of trains offline, rail companies are now having trouble getting conductors to return to work.
Warehouse capacity is finite, and without people to unload the containers, they end up sitting idle for longer than usual. This exacerbates the problem since you now have the exact same issues, but in reverse.
A Real-World Example
One specific case to illustrate this disruption is semiconductors for automakers. In this highly fragmented industry, you may have three different companies developing the semiconductor before it is received at the automaker’s assembly plant. Unfortunately, there’s a lack of communication between all these touchpoints because they fear their information might be used to replace them or negotiate a lower price. Since there are over 30,000 parts in a car, this creates a logistical nightmare.
How Asset Tracking Can Help
Although we can’t fix the supply chain disruption overnight, we can use advanced asset tracking to make better decisions. For each container, trailer, railcar, or any asset that is deployed, you can attach a small asset tracking device that captures location information and makes it available to you 24/7 through the linked asset tracking software. By knowing the exact location of your asset, you can better predict its arrival and ensure you have the space, time, and manpower to handle it. This level of asset monitoring, such as that of CallPass’sLANA Vision, also enables you to better optimize the space inside your trailers and containers so you can make the most of each trip and always hold the pulse of your operations.
CallPass Has an All-Encompassing Solution
With CallPass, construction managers are able to use heavy equipment tracking on their assets to Locate, Analyze, Notify, and Act on everyday hurdles to their day-to-day operations along with simply boosting operational efficiencies on a daily basis. Cutting-edge GPS tracking devices enable real-time location information so you’re always aware of where your heavy equipment is at, but that is just the start! Advanced customizable reporting allows you to fully manage each asset you own. So, you can be proactive rather than reactive, such as being alerted when an asset is due for maintenance or if an asset leaves a job site location without authorization.
Counter Supply Chain Disruptions With Ease
- Real-Time Tracking
- SMS/Email Alerts
- One Dashboard To Manage All Your Assets
Advanced Asset Tracking With CallPass
The power of asset tracking can’t be understated. The amount of information collected by each asset tracking device will help you stay on track during the supply chain disruption and create a more efficient shipping process for you. To learn more about how we can put these powerful devices to work for you, please contact us with questions or request a demo.
