Digitizing & designing smart transport for new India

What was the last item you purchased online? Remember when you received it at your doorstep?

From one click purchase to the delivery – What all actually goes behind the scene?

We might have taken this for granted but Transportation & Logistics players are working relentlessly in this journey to meet our regular needs from time to time.

From your daily household consumable products, luxury items, medicines to raw materials for factories or transporting workforce from one place to another to make businesses happen, we can not just imagine without efficient and robust transportation & logistics services in any country.

Global scenario and scenario in India

Global Transport Services Market Expected to Cross $7.5 Trillion by 2023.

Source: businesswire.com

Data Source: businesswire.com

The logistics and freight industry is evolving rapidly and is regarded as the backbone of the economy in India as it ensures quick, efficient, and economical transport of goods across India and many commercial sectors rely on it. Freight transport market in India is expected to be worth US$ 307.70 billion by 2020.

According to makeinindia.com, the Indian logistics sector is currently valued at $160 Bn, & is expected to become worth $215 Bn in the next two years.”

However, despite this potential, existing transport & logistic scenarios in India are challenging. During our research and design exploration done with a few of our clients from this sector, we addressed some important areas where strategic design thinking and doing can make a significant impact.

Tackling for small to large scale transport entities, at the same time.

In India, we have a very small one person business, owning up to 5 fleets to big companies owning thousands of trucks working under them. There are more than 3 millions + trucks running on the Indian roads at time. As the number of vehicles increases, the same challenge takes a new dimension and becomes serious.

This challenge requires a solution that is specifically designed for small businesses, however can also be easily scalable for larger companies to handle the volume with a speed.

An end to end & centralized solution

During our research done for one of our client, we observed that Transport companies struggle to get clear visibility and upfront idea about Transport Systems and tools these companies use are varied and non scalable as multiple people use them for different purposes. There is also a lack of integration of these systems and tools into transport networks, warehousing management and distribution facilities.

A well structured design of an end to end system that connects & enables organizational users to have access and utilize the data in a smart manner is the need of the hour. A platform that is thoroughly integrated with transportation networks, warehouses and vendors could help the stakeholders of this sector in a big way.

Handling & managing uncertainties in demand and supply

There are few aggregators in India through which transport companies get business. It’s a good step over the traditional way that was dependent on just personal contacts.

However, there are still uncertainties for transport companies in issues like round trip, return load etc.

An intelligently designed solution ensures transporters for their return journey booking, reducing waiting time and retaining the profitability in the contract. Bringing AI to address these specific challenges can definitely help businesses to reduce their time, effort and financial loss.

Well presented Data to make new business decisions.

Currently Transporting companies struggle for clear visibility about profit & loss when bidding for particular deals. Most of the small businesses have manual operations here that often take a long time to arrive at a decision.

Super simple & fast estimation processes designed for such critical needs of predictive analysis would save time and money for businesses. Surfacing the important data points like available resource bandwidth can enable more informed business decisions.

Image Source: unsplash.com

Safety & health of fleets

Timely maintenance and money spent on the same is another pressing issue in the Transport industry. Tracking the maintenance, insurance, compliance check and spent on the same is a tedious process when it’s manual & unorganized.

If we take specific example of changing a pair of tyre life is 1 Lakh (1,00,000) Km. Which is directly dependent on the timely wheel alignment activity. In the absence of timely wheel alignment, tyre life reduced to 50-60% of the original. Similarly it applies in case of timely lubrication & fuel cost, losses incurred due to stealing off vehicle parts etc.
It is also observed that, more often small transport company owners missing on timely renewal their fleet insurance.

Streamlining these processes digitally can bring discipline, consistency and accuracy at the same time. This saves a lot of money that companies unnecessarily lose in missing the timing in these activities.

In our past collaboration with startup Mytrux, we addressed the same challenges while redesigning an end-to-end experience through their web app, mobile app & ERP. Prismic Reflections® was commissioned to create a seamless user experience for Transporters, Fleet Owners, and drivers. A quick glimpse of how we tackled the challenge along with some project shots can be seen in this case study here.

Image Source: mytrux.com

Integration & adoption challenge

Information technology is another major challenge for businesses dealing in the logistics industry. Integration & adoption of end-to-end solutions and such platforms becomes hard and time taking task for these industries. In addition to main logistical activities such as transportation, warehousing, and supply chain, these service providers also offer value-added services such as freight forwarding, customs clearance, import/export management, inventory management, packaging and labeling, assembly/installation, distribution, reverse logistics, after-sales support, spare part & service tracking for fleet owners, partnership with fuel operators and so on. A centralized solution should be scalable for such backward and forward integrations.

At Prismic Reflections®, we recently collaborated with Fligital – a company that provides an end to end solution to consolidate various data sources into a value-add centralized platform for the Transport Industry. You can learn more about Fligital by visiting to https://www.fligital.in/

Final thought

The Transport and Logistics sector is the backbone of India. It has been pivotal to countries economic, social and cultural growth. Better, affordable, efficient & accessible transport that is environment friendly is the need of the hour. Digital transformation of this sector has already begun however it needs thoughtful consideration of different challenges & constraints, especially in India. Primary stakeholders here – transport companies (small to large scale), drivers and people who use it for traveling purpose, all have their own unique challenges to make it more organized, effective and sustainable moving onward. Designers have an important role here to play to support this digital movement and make it more seamless and engaging.

Please share your thoughts or experiences if you are somehow connected to the transport industry. We would love to discuss with you if you have a business idea that needs strategic design execution, we would love to connect with you.



Main Author
Vishal Jadhav
Co-Founder of Prismic Reflections®

Article Contributors
Praveen Pottipati
Founder, Fligital
https://www.linkedin.com/in/praveenpottipati/

Simran M.
UX Researcher & Designer at Prismic Reflections®

About Vishal Jadhav

Co-Founder of Prismic Reflections® India - a design studio that focuses on User Experience & Brand Communication Design. More than 20+ experience in strategic design, Vishal heads the experience design and strategy in the studio. He has helped many large scale enterprises as well as startups in creating an impact by design & achieve desired business outcome. His main focus area also include building high performing teams and setting up creative culture in the company.