The internet is now a given. It’s something that we don’t even consider. It’s always there and we can depend on it to help us just as we can depend on electricity and natural gas to keep us warm or cool.

 The way in which we use the internet began as communications and has evolved far beyond that to something that is a necessity and something that is changing lives. We are entering a very unique period in the life of the internet.

 IoT is isn't at all new to us though many people are not sure what IoT is and how it’s useful to humanity.  It began at MIT and started nearly 20 years ago, in the early part of 2000s.  IoT, to simplify the explanation, is nothing more than a network that is designed of all kinds of objects that connect to the internet. Refrigerators, cars, trucks, manufacturing computers, watches, tablets, are all examples of the IoT and each of them has unique capabilities.

 Given the changes being made in IoT, this network can now be expanded to include physical items that may not traditionally have been part of the internet. Things like sneakers that count how far you've run or cushion your foot and measure the impact to the body. Street lights connected to the internet can record those who stand beneath them or activity that took place.

 Iot, according to companies such as DHL and Cisco, is firing the imagination and creating a broad and diverse array of new jobs and new methods of accomplishing old tasks.

 IoT offers us a transition in technology that has been impacting many different industries. IT will continue to do so along the way, impacting more tasks and more companies. It will, as it continues to change and evolve—offer huge implications for the movement of goods and services and the business of logistics.

 Today some 15 million devices are connected to the internet. These embed sensors, control computers, help us to analyze our work, to source new data, and to find unparalleled views into operations and information that allow us to improve the speed, improve the products, improve the delivery and improve the overall service to our customers.

 The IoT is already changing the way that we do business and the logistics of storage and delivery. It’s doing that by changing how we are making decisions about how goods are trucked, “stored, monitored, serviced, and delivered to customers.”

Trucks and cars carrying goods are already moving by the use of robotics in countries such as Singapore, the UK and the US.

Units for storage are carefully measuring temperature to ensure that goods are stored in the right way to prevent spoilage and saving money for the companies which are using them.

Vast changes and major impacts in how we buy, sell and use goods and services and improvements in the  ways that they serve mankind are being wrought by the internet of things every day. Expect the future to be more of the same.

For more information check out our website at www.internetofthingsrecruiting.com

It is said that there are 100,000 freighters on the seas and that 90% of everything you have has come via container ship. The first time I saw Hong Kong Harbour from my swank room at the JW Marriott what struck me most was the number of container ships. As I scanned the waters I counted several dozen of the floating giants and imagined everything onboard was coming out of China and going somewhere on the planet.

Photo Credit: Andrew Smith via Flickr

Once at its destination port a gantry crane unloads the containers and places them either on a truck or a rail car. Then the goods are sent off to their respective warehouses, where another delivery vehicle most likely takes it to another vendor or supplier where it might eventually end up in your garage. Just thinking about this one aspect of transportation and logistics is mind boggling. And it’s perfect for IoT.

The fine folks at Deloitte University Press have written a wonderful overview on IoT considerations for the shipping and logistics industries. Entitled, “Shipping smarter: IoT opportunities in transport and logistics,” the report highlights that while companies in transport and logistics (T&L) have always been data-driven, with specific applications like real-time tracking of shipments, warehouse-capacity optimization, predictive asset maintenance, route optimization, improved last-mile delivery, and more, they still have a huge opportunity ahead of them in IoT.

The increasing number of connected devices, embedded sensors, and analytics technologies will only increase the data and accelerate. This will lead to more efficient use of transport infrastructure, better engagement with customers, and more informed decision making. The report has four recommendations for T&L and IoT, but what I found most thought provoking was their framework that captures the series and sequence of activities by which organizations create value from information: the Information Value Loop (see below).

You can find the full report here. Further reading on the subject is listed after the graphic.

Further Reading

• Big Data Analytics and Supply Chain Management - http://bit.ly/1KU0lOZ

• Sensor Applications Support the IoT: Part 1 Smart Transport - http://bit.ly/1Kt4YNZ

• How IoT Based Analytics Will Drive Future Supply Chain Operations - http://bit.ly/1OhOOJE

• Top technology trends in supply chain & logistics industry - http://bit.ly/1Lk6Bhw

• The Industrial Internet Comes to the Loading Docks - http://bit.ly/1iSEHOE