Anna Forrester
Cisco and logistics service provider DHL have released a joint report on trends in the Internet of Things as they pursue a new IoT project to facilitate near-real-time analytics functions for supply chain decisions.
DHL said Wednesday the “Internet of Things in Logistics” report forecasts that IoT could have an $8 trillion value at stake over the next 10 years and projects supply chain and logistics to generate $1.9 trillion.
“Digitization and the expansion of the Internet of Things is a catalyst for growth, which is driving new economic models and enabling organizations to remain competitive and embrace the pace of change happening globally,” said Chris Dedicoat, Cisco president for Europe, Middle East, Africa and Russia.
According to DHL, IoT could potentially boost trade through “global connectedness” and shape warehousing operations, freight transportation and other parts of the supply chain.
With 50 billion Internet-connected devices by 2020, as projected in the trend report, DHL also anticipates operational efficiencies in inventory and asset management and “last-mile delivery” options for the logistics industry.
“To get the maximum global economic benefit, we’ll need to understand how all components in the value chain converge and this will require a comprehensive collaboration, participation and the willingness to invest to create a thriving IoT ecosystem for sustainable business processes,” said Markus Kuckelhaus, vice president for innovation and trend research at DHL’s customer solutions and innovation unit.
DHL said the joint IoT innovation project with Cisco seeks to apply the latter’s Connected Mobile Experiences tool to collect and analyze Wi-Fi location data and guide business decisions for warehouse operations.
