Optimized and robust supply chains between expectations and reality

The year is now 2024 and the logistics world has gone a bit crazy. When I started in logistics, the phase was relatively calm. The financial crisis had been overcome and global supply chains were being further developed and strengthened. The main goal for a logistics specialist in a large company with a complex supply chain was, of course, to keep supply and disposal stable in the global production network. The general conditions were also stable. Of course there were supply bottlenecks, but these were easy to keep under control. And since logisticians not only have to keep an eye on supply, but also on costs, this was at the centre of our work. Optimising transport, optimising stocks, supply and delivery reliability - these were the most important targets and for years it was all about optimisation, optimisation, optimisation.

The framework conditions have changed in recent years. Global multi-crisis situations have become part of everyday life. Covid, the semiconductor crisis, bottlenecks on the raw materials market and geopolitical conflicts are omnipresent. Logistics companies have to navigate their logistics network and, above all, maintain robust supply chains. At the same time, there are other important challenges: building sustainable supply chains and continuing to focus on efficiency and costs in an increasingly economically challenging market environment. My former professor at university told me that there is never a dull moment in logistics - there is always something to do. This is exactly what I find so exciting and what motivated me to use the experience I have gained to join a software company that is trying to master the above-mentioned challenges with new technological possibilities.

Since joining RIO and with the experience I have gained as a logistics specialist in various positions at MAN, coupled with conversations with many other manufacturing companies, I have been both amazed and euphoric in equal measure. I am amazed that in 2024, logistics processes with suppliers, forwarders and subcontractors are still largely characterised by emails. More than 87% use email for standard processes such as transport orders. More than 45% have no system interfaces with their business partners in the logistics process. And even the fax machine is still occasionally used as a communication medium. We are in the year 2024. If communication is so unstructured and manual, how is a logistics specialist supposed to recognise where exactly supply risks lie in the short and medium term? How can you continue to optimise costs if the data from the processes is only partially and incompletely available? I am euphoric when I think about the willingness of logistics companies to talk about the positive effects of new digital approaches. Let's imagine that everyone involved in the supply chain can share the information relevant to their partners in a structured way via new, cloud-based approaches. Most of the information is available to everyone involved in the process. However, they simply cannot share it with their partners today. There may be several reasons for this: the fear of handing over data in an uncontrolled manner is certainly one. Respect for the complexity and the large IT investment required to exchange the information digitally via interfaces is another. However, if we imagine how this is solved in other areas of everyday life (think of financial systems), then industry and logistics processes still have many opportunities for solutions.

I am delighted that we at RIO are working every day to find simpler and better solutions to precisely these challenges for companies, whether they are suppliers, customers or freight forwarders. A pragmatic example: Volkswagen has thousands of suppliers and hundreds of transport service providers in its logistics network. On our RIO platform, suppliers can view their orders, receive automated shipping suggestions and create the transport with the carrier with just one click. So complex with millions of orders and hundreds of thousands of transports - and yet so simple for everyone in the end. And Volkswagen as a customer has full transparency for every process step in the logistics process, from ordering from the supplier to delivery to the plant. This not only enables Volkswagen to recognise risks in the supply chain at an early stage, but also to improve the logistics system across the company together with suppliers and freight forwarders - for the benefit of all. This not only serves robust supply chains, but also enables more sustainable and efficient logistics systems and simplifies trivial matters such as the invoicing of transport orders.

I often imagine what it would have been like if I had had these options back then as a logistics specialist at MAN: it would have made my day-to-day work easier and saved me the odd stressful situation in order to save supplies at the last minute. Not to mention the simplification of realising further optimisations in the logistics chain and keeping stocks low through more stable delivery processes (space problems in a big city simply limit storage space). Today I know from my MAN colleagues that our solution makes things easier for them. And I'm happy for them when they save themselves the odd stressful situation. You're welcome!

How does it look for you? Do you recognise yourselves? At RIO, our vision is to quickly and easily connect everyone involved along the supply chain - so that it's as easy for us at work as it is at home when we order a parcel: I know exactly when the parcel has been sent and when it will arrive - and I can relax and concentrate on the important things for the rest of the day. My dog is happy when we don't have to wait at home all day for the parcel to arrive so we can go for a walk. The same principle is also possible in our highly complex industrial process. If you recognise yourself in this - even if you don't have a dog - then I look forward to talking to you. Rest assured: we not only have the software, but also the expertise from millions of orders and transport orders to help you overcome these challenges.