Author: Jim O Brien/CEO

CEO and expert in transport and Mobile tech. A fan 20 years, mobile consultant, Nokia Mobile expert, Former Nokia/Microsoft VIP,Multiple forum tech supporter with worldwide top ranking,Working in the background on mobile technology, Weekly radio show, Featured on the RTE consumer show, Cavan TV and on TRT WORLD. Award winning Technology reviewer and blogger. Security and logisitcs Professional.

Top 7 Advantages of Digital Learning for Students

The world is evolving, and so is education. The outdated classroom environment is no longer followed. Now, teaching takes place remotely too. You might be wondering how such a profound change will help students since adapting is challenging. Well, here are seven benefits of digital learning for students!

Self-Paced Learning

The biggest problem students of today face is managing their time. Education systems are rushing while students have multiple tasks on their plates. They have to work part-time jobs, study, have a social life, spend some time on their own, it is a long list of tasks, and 24 hours a day isn’t enough. Many companies also write an essay for cheap prices online because people have no time to work on arduous tasks.

  • Online education helps people get rid of this speedy learning; 
  • There are online courses, and many colleges upload course material on their learning management systems; 
  • You can access everything in your own time and learn according to your convenience; 
  • The time clashes; missed classes and lengthy courses are now a thing of the past. 

It is a great way to ensure students are learning well too. How? They don’t have excuses anymore. Education has become remote. All people need is a laptop and an internet connection to start studying. It is the perfect way to introduce a self-paced learning method—no need to rush or work according to someone else’s schedule. You make your own decisions now! 

Breadth of Information

The best thing is, now, you can get information on every topic from anywhere. The essential, which is the need to stick to a classroom and course material, is now gone. Instead, you can access any detail through the internet and learn flexible learning techniques. 

Students used to feel the pressure increasing and their stress levels rising due to a lack of information in case they missed out on a single lecture. Well, now teachers can conduct classes remotely and even record lessons for the ease of students. Even if we let go of a student’s perspective and consider a teacher, teachers have more flexibility. They can impart knowledge from the comfort of their homes. 

It is one of the most significant advantages of online learning, and once you experience this comfort of the breadth of information, you will realize what you’ve been missing out on for so many years. So instead of caging yourself up in the paradox of knowledge, allow yourself to soar free and gather information from anywhere!

More Engaging Lessons

Classroom lessons often follow the same format, the same pattern, and the same type of boring routine questions after the chapter finishes. It is a great way to keep people interested in what’s happening in each course. There are several activities and surveys people can conduct on the internet as a part of their coursework and engagement. 

For example, some students struggle with confidence issues. They can’t speak up in the open environment of a classroom. Digital classes enable them to speak up because they don’t have real people next to them. They can switch off their cameras and speak. Increasing confidence in people is one of the positives of online learning that we often neglect. You notice your attention span increasing, too, because now you want to focus on what’s happening in the digital class instead of looking at the clock repeatedly and rushing out of a classroom.

Online Assessments & Mock Tests

Everyone knows how much students despise assessments and tests in classrooms. The benefits of digital learning also include flexible mock tests and examinations. How? You can choose when to give the tests if it is an online course. Do it according to your convenience. If it is a digital classroom, you don’t have to work with paper and pen and sit at a desk. You can take a small break during the assessment.

It reduces the anxiety people face before an exam. For example, many people might experience an anxiety attack if they get late for an exam and the teacher refuses to sit for the paper. Well, now it’s all online, so conveyance isn’t an issue for students, nor do they have to struggle with the stressful environment before a test. 

Moreover, teachers don’t have to check every copy. Instead, they can fix answers online through the digital platform, and it checks the answers, returning the results to students within a few minutes. 

Better Time Management

Digital education systems come with better time management and ease. Students are often seen getting late to classes, sprinting across campus to make it to classes on time, and then rushing out to meet the requirements of their jobs. 

Now, they can manage their time better and take classes anywhere, whether they’re at home, at work, or even traveling. It only requires the internet. Furthermore, people can also listen to lecture recordings in their free time to revise their course. What a great catch!

24-Hour Resources

Digitalization of education has enabled people to have 24-hour resources now. Gone are the days when people only had access to some course material, only when they went to class. Now, you can study in the morning or late at night. 

It’s all according to your productivity. So pick a time you feel most productive and access these online resources. It is a great way to learn new things and not miss out on your grade. Why? You have it all right at your fingertips, thanks to digitalization!

Refined Critical-Thinking Skills

Critical thinking skills are essential for college learners because they must soon step into practical life. Therefore, digital systems also drive them to develop more robust critical thinking. How? There are no limits to learning here. 

Education isn’t confined to four walls and a door. Students can get an education from wherever they like. Not only that, the curriculum is excellent and offers them many things to think about. The questions are simple yet enable people to use their minds instead of rote learning methods.

These are some ways you can also enhance your critical thinking skills without any trouble and have it all according to yourself. In addition, there are personalized courses that you will love!

Now that you’re aware of such excellent benefits of digital learning, why not start making it a part of your routine? Of course, there might be a few problems in adapting initially, but you will love the flexibility and convenience it offers once you do. So make sure you follow this unique method to educate yourself better without gaps!

The Main Benefits of AI in Education

Artificial Intelligence, i.e., AI and Machine Learning, improves learning processes. Just like any other field, AI provides numerous benefits in the field of education. However, there are different benefits both for students and teachers. Let us take a look at how AI has revolutionized the education industry.

According to a recent “Educational Technology” poll, 87% of college students rely on mobile applications to help them study at university and keep organized. However, considering there are more than 520,000 educational applications to choose from in 2022, selecting those of excellent quality may seem like an overwhelming effort. It might be challenging to find high-quality apps to enhance learning. But don’t worry; we’ve covered you and picked the top programs for you.

Companion Apps

Students identified Todoist and Dropbox as two of the most useful tools for managing their time and reducing the pressure of approaching due dates. These apps aren’t designed to teach college kids directly, or they do not provide the function of custom college papers but they help students succeed in school by improving their time management, study habits, and deadline adherence.

Personalization

Students come with various needs and demands. Each student is different from others and needs special attention. You can’t teach all the kids with the same style and curriculum. It is also impossible to cater to the demands of each student. 

By implementing artificial intelligence in colleges, teachers can identify the personal needs of the students. It can personalize the student’s learning materials by suggesting tweaking them accordingly. For instance, if a student likes to solve a math problem and has no interest in English grammar. Through artificial intelligence, the teacher can introduce tenses with the help of math problems. By knowing each student’s specific needs and demands, professors and teachers can adjust the courses and address common knowledge gaps.

Without Artificial Intelligence, teachers need to develop a one-on-one strategy to deal with students’ specific problems and issues. It takes a lot of your time to create a curriculum designed for students. The life of students is stressful. They have to complete various assignments promptly. It becomes impossible to achieve the tasks on time. Professors assign research papers and essays to students from time to time. If you are a student who is overwhelmed with the number of assignments, check out essay samples at essayzoo.org, that will save your precious time, and you will get a prewritten essay in no time.

 

Curriculum Automatic Creating

One of the benefits of artificial intelligence in education is creating a curriculum from scratch. As a result, teachers don’t have to develop a course. Different applications give the power of AI to improve learning processes. For instance, Thinkster Math allows teachers to understand how a child thinks when solving any math equation or word problem. It will enable the math teacher to spot any child’s mistake and custom design the course based on the individual performance. The curriculum is designed according to the feedback given by the teachers on the students’ performance.

Cram101 is another tool that allows teachers to import syllabus and convert it into an intelligent guide for students. The curriculum is divided into smaller parts that are easier to digest and understand. The tool also provides multiple-choice questions to know how well the students learn. It saves the time of both students and teachers as they are better synced with the student’s performances.

Tutoring

There are different advantages of AI that help students learn faster. For example, students need a teacher when they sit down to do their homework. There are plenty of questions that the student wishes to ask their teacher. AI tutors and chatbots are a perfect solution that answers all the questions posed by students. Although it doesn’t replace anything the teacher or tutor says in the classroom, the students get to answer questions all time of the day. Here are some benefits of AI as a tutor:

  • The AI-powered chatbot answers all questions at a reasonably quick rate;
  • It gives a one-to-one learning experience. Students facing any issues with studies or doing homework can instantly ask the chatbot, which in turn addresses the query at a fast pace;
  • The response rate is usually only for 2 seconds;
  • Students get the benefit of being tutored throughout the educational journey;
  • Any issues with their assignment or solving a math problem are quickly fixed. 

Universal 24/7 Access To Learning

There are different ways students can access AI-based interactive tools and apps. For example, AI in education allows students to learn other languages. Students from across the globe can easily access courses and training programs designed based on specific needs. Duolingo is an app that gives students a chance to learn multiple languages. It helps them build their skills over time. The program adapts to different quizzes and other tests based on the user’s abilities to offer new challenges.

Students who know other foreign languages can quickly get the course material through AI. Students who have hearing and visual impairments can also benefit from artificial intelligence.

Moreover, the content is available round the clock. Students can access course material any day or night and in multiple languages. Teachers provide feedback so that students make amendments to their mistakes and quickly learn complex concepts. Instead of sticking to the traditional teaching methods, you can improve how you teach.

Smart Content

The AI in the education sector involves creating intelligent learning materials. The entire content can be digitized to speed up the learning process. Textbooks and educational content are transformed to fit the digital landscape. It improves the overall users’ experience. For instance, you can break the textbook content into various parts through artificial intelligence. It will help the child learn quicker. You can also add a summary, thesis, and question answers with each chapter. As soon as the child finishes a textbook section, an assessment can digitally gauge the learning. There are other methods to create content platforms, such as having a cloud platform that provides virtual training and conferences. 

With the help of AI and machine learning, intelligent content systems provide digitized curriculum real-time feedback and allow the teachers to interact with their students on the go. Moreover, the educational content enables different courses and training programs in a digital world.

It allows students to learn from tutors across the globe. The content is available online, and there are interactive learning materials, course materials, and training programs from the world’s best tutors. AI also allows mentally challenged students to interact with their teachers through smart content. The tutors can streamline the grading process, quickly take the data, and analyze the student’s performance there and then. It allows students to learn any course from anywhere across the globe.

These are some of the best benefits of adopting artificial intelligence in education. It allows the students to learn faster and better from various tutors across the globe. The personalized experience, digitized content, and access to learning provide enhanced educational experiences. Task automation allows grading processes to be much faster and more transparent.

Google.org Provides €250k Grant to Support spunout to Establish “Empathy Academy” for Irish Young People

Google.org, the philanthropic arm of Google, has announced it will support spunout to establish a peer led empathy education programme over the next two years with a €250k grant. In developing the platform, spunout is building on its work in the areas of digital citizenship, mental health and social-emotional learning to help build a safer digital experience for young people.

The grant will be used to develop and roll out an innovative and scalable empathy education program.  Offering a range of peer-led resources designed to help make the internet a kinder space, the empathy-based learning platform will support:

  • Young people at risk of engaging in harmful or illegal behavior online

  • Young people at risk of being victims of harmful or illegal behavior online, especially young people targeted with hatespeech and discrimination such as young women, members of LGBTI+ communities, people with disabilities, and BIPOC

  • Young people who have or might witness harassing, bullying or dangerous behavior online.

The programme will provide a toolkit for building skills in the areas of self compassion, healthy communication, emotional regulation, and conflict resolution and resilience. With grant support from Google.org, spunout’s empathy focused learning programme will deliver a curriculum of interactive, accessible and jargon-free content designed to empower young people with the tools to self-regulate, engender empathy and to engage in bystander intervention online.

Kiki Martire, Director of spunout, commented:

“The core values of spunout are empathy, equity and innovation, and this opportunity to develop the Empathy Academy with  grant support from Google.org, is truly at the perfect intersection of all three. Empathy is an undercurrent in all of our work; empathy for self, empathy for and between young people, empathy in action, empathy in information, and empathy online. We want to be a platform that facilitates the true understanding of empathy, the practice and spread of empathy amongst young people and their communities, and providing quality information as a tool for building empathy. The Academy will enable spunout to empower and support young people to navigate their digital worlds in ever safer and healthier ways, and to connect with each other empathetically in every step of that process.”

Speaking at today’s announcement, Ryan Meade, Public Policy & Government Relations Manager, Google, said:

“At Google, we are committed to playing our part in ensuring that the wellbeing and safety of young people is central to all digital learning experiences. Keeping people safe online is at the heart of everything we do, and we continue to innovate as new challenges emerge. We’re also committed to supporting spunout to foster digital wellbeing and teaching empathy online. Peer led support plays a huge role in equipping children and young people with the right knowledge and tools to navigate the online world. I am delighted to be here today to announce our grant from Google.org and I look forward to the roll out of this innovative empathy focused learning platform.”

On 21st March, to mark the inception of spunout’s empathy learning platform, spunout’s Mental Health content editor, Joseph Morning, will lead a virtual panel discussion of spunout Action Panel members and volunteers to explore their experiences of empathy (or lack thereof) online. Kiki Martire, Director of spunout, and Almudena Lara, Senior Manager, Child Safety at Google, will reflect on the need for empathy based interventions and why Google.Org is supporting spunout in this work.

As part of the announcement, spunout asked a number of Ireland’s young people [aged 16 -25] what empathy means to them, see what they said here.

AIB and Revolut SMS scam sms purchase

A quick heads up on a new sms scam doing the rounds to keep your eyes open for with AIB and Revolut, in recent times this BANK OF IRELAND scam was popular and here is all the details on that and the identifier is what you need to watch out for if you do deal with your bank on your phone.

The latest message claims to come from AIB this time around and of course both AIB and Revolut have been contacted on the issue which some could fall for, most of the banks moved over to SCA (Strong Customer Authentication) so when you use your card online you will authenticate the purchase via your app on your smartphone for example.

Both AIB and Revolut are now aware of the issue and have responded with their usual lines seen below

Revolut – Thank you for sharing this with us. We can confirm that the message wasn’t sent by us. Please don’t share any details via this link and remember that we’ll never ask you to provide any details via a link sent in SMS. Stay safe!

AIB – Hi Jim, This is a fraudulent text message. If you clicked on the link, please call on 01 2695022 or +353 12695022 from abroad, 7 days a week, 8am to midnight. If possible, please forward the text message to us on the following link: aib.ie/security-centr Thanks ^CK

Source 

Royal Frontier – Epic Turn Based RPG out now onPlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Microsoft Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. Steam PC and Nintendo Switch

Indie publisher Ratalaika Games, in collaboration with Finland developer Woblyware, is delighted to announce the digital release of Royal Frontier  for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Microsoft Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. Steam PC and Nintendo Switch.

Billed as an epic roguelite styled, light hearted, turned based, strategic adventure it encompasses many exciting experiences and challenges giving it a broader appeal than many other similar games of this genre.

Setting the scene

Settlers are ready to head East, across the perilous continent, through hardships and dangers, in hopes for a better life in the far away land. A group of heroes is tasked to guide the caravan safely through the dangerous continent. Not all succeed. The main goal of the game is to choose the right paths, make the right decisions while making the most of the resources you have available, and guide the settlers safely through the continent. The game also gives players smaller challenges they can try to complete on each run.

Features:

  • Unlock characters and power ups for your next trip
  • Use the gold to buy weapons and equipment
  • Take decisions that can help or hurt your party
  • Turn-based and time-based combat
  • Choose your road wisely

 

The Challenge is set

Each run will be different, and as you play more you will unlock new heroes to try out and more powerful blessings that will push you towards the final boss. 60 optional challenges  that vary from surviving 4 days without taking any damage to hunting down Old Sawtooth, an ancient grizzly living in the heart of the forest.

Royal Frontier has a wide variety of items, spells, heroes and monsters to keep each run interesting. The paths and events the player experiences are randomly chosen for each run, so every time you play the game, it should be a new experience. Combinations of different heroes will require the player to try new tactics and finding the right combination of heroes can be critical for survival.

Get Ready

Before each run the player will get to choose 3 heroes from a total of 6. After that they will choose 3 out of a selection of 48 blessings. Blessings will give the party various buffs that will increase the chances of survival. The party will face a wide variety of monsters along the way. From lowly goblins to powerful ogres. There is also a boss at the end of each area, as well as optional bosses the players can hunt down, in search of greater challenges and rewards.

The length of the game will of course vary greatly depending on the player’s abilities but Royal Frontier has a really nice intuitive feel to ensure fun and immersement into the experience.The game doesn’t end when the player completes one run. Each run is different and the player won’t be able to find all treasures, bosses, or complete all challenges during one run. So the replayability is quite high

VR Bartending heads into Space to Meta Quest and Meta Quest 2

Startenders, developed by Bristol-based Foggy Box Games, is a new VR bartending experience out now on Meta Quest and Meta Quest 2. An immersive arcade-style game with a wacky sci-fi narrative, Startenders puts players behind the bar to mix cocktails for an assortment of weird and wonderful patrons.

As a newly enrolled intern in the Startenders Academy, players will have to shake, slice, cryo blast and serve to level up their skills behind the bar. Startenders has over 100 named recipes utilising over 25 ingredients which can be served at three different temperatures, within three styles of glass and topped off with 13 different garnishes, so there’s plenty to keep on top of as you rise through the bartending ranks. That’s over two million unique combinations of possible drinks – a lot.

Startenders offers ‘Story’, ‘Free Mix’, ‘Pass the Headset’ and ‘Daily Run’ game modes, allowing players to enjoy a hilarious narrative adventure meeting new alien species, experiment with the craziest cocktails imaginable or compare their drinks-making skills with the rest of the world in daily challenges.

“We wanted each player’s Startenders experience to be unique, so we built a system that can provide endless procedurally generated shifts, with different customers and orders each time you play,” says Chris Youles, Creative Director of Foggy Box Games. “We strove to create an experience where the players are not punished for having fun, even if it means going off script. The game doesn’t have fail-states or restarts, we want players to experiment and let their creativity influence their mixology.”

Features

  • Full hand tracking
  • Pass The Headset local social party mode
  • Create your own custom drinks for customers to order
  • Make multiple drinks on time and as requested – the quicker and more accurate your concoction the higher your tips.
  • Upgrade your equipment, purchase different ingredients to discover a wide array of drinks to serve.
  • You get one chance a day compete on the global leader board for the best score in Daily Play
  • Relax or train in-between shifts in your habitat

Startenders features a range of VR specific accessibility options for the comfort of players. Playable seated or standing, the game also allows for teleport node-based locomotion and optional snap turning, seated mode height offsets, in-world subtitles and height adjustment on all surfaces.

Startenders is out now on Meta Quest and Meta Quest 2 priced $14.99 / £11.99 / €14.99. PlayStation and PC VR versions are planned for a later date. Developed by Foggy Box Games and published by Yogscast Games.

Visit joinstartenders.com for more info.

Glofox to Grow Headcount by 150 This Year

Glofox, one of the fastest growing fitness business management software platforms, today announced its plans to hire 150 new employees throughout 2022, bringing their headcount to 350. This follows on the back of continued strong growth with the team doubling in size to 200 in 2021. Glofox  serves 80 countries, supporting 17 languages and 40 currencies,with plans to invest more to support payments in the Middle East as well as explore how to better serve LATAM

The innovative platform provides powerful, easy to use software for studio operators and staff, a seamless and engaging multi-platform member experience, and network-wide management solutions for franchisors.

Glofox’s all-in-one platform replaces outdated and over complicated systems with a streamlined experience for members and staff alike. Built to address the intricacies that come with managing both independent fitness businesses and large fitness franchises, the platform delivers a powerful suite of tools to drive success and empower operators globally.

Glofox recently announced its partnership with Xponential Fitness, a curator of leading brands across a variety of verticals in boutique fitness including Club Pilates, Pure Barre, Rumble and CycleBar, to support its network of franchise partners as it expands into new markets beyond the United States.

Conor O’Loughlin, Glofox CEO said, “The hiring of 150 new roles as part of our continued expansion, is an exciting step as we continue to capture new global markets. Glofox employees will have significant opportunities to enhance their careers across a fast-growing and dynamic sector. Each member of the team will play a key role in further driving our commercial expansion or in the development of new industry leading solutions.”

Approximately 40% of the new roles will be in Research and Development, with the rest consisting of specialists to support customer success and growth as Glofox continues their strong growth and further develops their innovative software and customer offering.

Glofox is a fully remote company that takes pride in its employee satisfaction rate. The Founding team have made it a priority to ensure that their company is a healthy and enjoyable place to work, implementing regular pulse surveys as one method of measuring sentiment. The company hosts a wealth of employee benefits to drive wellbeing and balance, including Unlimited Annual Leave, monthly Mental Health half day Fridays, Gym and wellness stipends as well as Pawternity Leave (for people who’ve just welcomed a new pet into their home). These are just a few of the many initiatives Glofox employs to deliver care to its team. This has led to a collaborative environment driven by trust and a genuine shared passion for the company vision among its employees.

“The ability to successfully drive our vision forward is in the collective hands of our global team. Being totally remote allows us to welcome talented people from anywhere in the world, whilst our responsibility to support them to live healthy, well-balanced lives is something we consider to be crucial in creating an exceptional working environment” said Conor O’Loughlin, Glofox CEO.

Why to Implement Digital Signage: Key Benefits & Opportunities

You can expect the long-term benefits of using digital signage in marketing campaigns. There are various ways to use digital signage, from tiny displays to massive display walls. By inviting consumers to participate in market research, locate stock or browse product options, interactive digital signage may take engagement to a whole new level. In some instances, digital demonstrations of items or services are offered on storefront signs. You will want to collect as much information as possible such as digital signage pricing, before making a choice that might have a long-term influence on your organization. Likewise, consider the following advantages and opportunities before launching into the creative process with digital signage.

Increased exposure

Unlike print runs and email lists, digital signage in high-traffic locations allows you to reach an almost infinite number of people. It’s also possible to show more messages at a higher frequency and control when and where they appear. You can show a digital sign on any device with a screen. If you like, you may send messages to all of these devices simultaneously or any combination of them.

Self-service

It’s clear from recent research that internet users prefer self-service over calling customer support for help. One possible implementation is a self-service digital signage that enables customers to browse inventory or ask inquiries. When conventional customer service is too time-consuming or expensive, our service provides a cost-effective and rapid alternative. It is essential to have a strategy for swiftly and readily giving clients the information they need to purchase.

Customers who are left waiting and dissatisfied are the last things you need. They may go through with the transaction, but they may never return.

Attention-grabbing

Overall, digital signage is a great way to draw attention to a business and attract new customers. People are attracted to these things because of their intrinsic uniqueness. In addition, the displays are frequently rated highly for their aesthetic attractiveness. It is common for the colors to be considerably more brilliant and dazzling than on a print sign. A lot of attention has been paid to this issue.

When it comes to material and its presentation, you have a wide range of options for drawing attention. The usage of animations and movement may be quite beneficial. Our eyes easily detect moving objects and changes in the environment.

You can show off the sign better using these effects. On the other hand, you may utilize it to draw attention to certain aspects of your content. One way to draw attention to your standout product is through animated visuals.

Increased flexibility with reduced risk

Businesses need every tool they can get their hands on to keep up with the ever-increasing demands of their customers, prospects, and staff. In the digital era, “Mad Men” type marketing efforts are rare because there is too much risk to invest in a static message that may not connect with your audience as you think it would. Yet, it is here that digital signage has had a significant impact.

With the unprecedented ability to handle material remotely, the chance of a catastrophically unsuccessful marketing campaign is much reduced since any advertising may be modified or replaced totally in seconds – not days or weeks. The cloud-based system allows users to make modest changes to their website and full-scale rebranding from any location in the globe.

Interactivity

Almost everyone has a smartphone these days, and they are accustomed to using touchscreens to access information. Your digital signage may provide a more immersive experience for your audience if you include interactivity, such as a voice or touch user interface. Using self-service kiosks, customers can easily find the information they are looking for and get to the parts of the process that matter most to them. You may also provide a wide range of alternatives on a single screen using touchscreens, such as interactive wayfinding, directories and menu boards. The use of interactive displays also allows your personnel to provide a more customized level of service to customers.

Whether it is a single screen or a worldwide network, digital signage displays are the best way to communicate effectively. Regardless of your audience, they are used to seeing information presented graphically, dynamically and in real-time. Digital signage can assist any business and provide solutions for hospitals, schools,  banks, hotels or government offices to attract and retain customers.

Key Ways Technology Can Help You Improve Your Supply Chain

As many business owners and managers have discovered since the global pandemic hit, it only takes one or two significant changes and disruptions to cause all sorts of issues with the supply chain, regardless of the types of items you deal with. 

Plus, as costs rise and the environmental impact of logistics continues to be felt, it’s becoming increasingly evident that all entrepreneurs who buy and move goods need to find ways to be more efficient and less wasteful with their supply chain movements. Happily, technology can help us improve this area of our organizations and be kinder to the earth.

Real-Time Data for Better Decision Making and Communication

It’s vital to move goods around as quickly as possible and get items delivered to the right places on time, every time. Big data programs can help make this happen, as you can learn about weather and traffic conditions as details get updated in real-time. You’ll enjoy a clearer picture of when deliveries will arrive and if you need to make changes to delivery locations or inform customers of delays or other factors. 

If your business makes, sells, or transports perishable goods, in particular, or offers express delivery options to your clients, this information will help with both decision-making and communication and keep consumers happier in turn. 

Also, you can use analytics programs to help you decide which stock to order and when, since software can track the performance metrics of various product lines, the outcomes of different marketing promotions and other activities, and sales and pre-order tactics. 

Another logistics decision organizations are faced with constantly is what goods to put on which trucks or in shipping containers, etc., and when. Happily, you can utilize tech tools to help you work out how to best streamline the movement of products by consolidating shipments. Rather than sending too many partially-full loads out, wasting delivery time, fuel, driver hours, and other resources, you can let consolidation programs determine the best way to combine purchase orders and pack truck beds and containers, etc. 

On top of noting parcel weight, stackability, vehicle capacity, and the like, software can use algorithms to take note of empty pallet spots on trucks in nearby areas that might be able to pick up single inventory items as they pass nearby. This lessens wasted trips and reduces the number of times you “ship air.”

Increase Inventory Visibility and Management

When companies handle a tremendous amount of inventory, it gets time-consuming and stressful trying to find out which stock is on which truck or boat or train, etc., and then unpacking orders and ticking off deliveries to ensure orders are complete and correct. There’s also wasted time and money when searching for missing items or concluding that goods have disappeared. Technology can aid you in this area as well, though. 

For example, place RFID tracking sensors on packages so you can check at any time exactly where a package is, whether in transit, at a warehouse, or elsewhere. When deliveries arrive at your location, you can also use RFID readers to scan whole boxes at once. This means stock can be unloaded and given to customers ASAP or otherwise used rather than waiting for each piece to be checked individually. This tech is also helpful if you use it in warehouses to locate items, especially those that seem to have gone missing.

The right service provider is key to making this all work. It’s worth seeking out a vendor of big data and analytics services that can help you set up the software, integrate it with your existing infrastructure, and customize it to your organization’s needs. That’s why it’s important to click to request a quote before making a final decision. Comparing your options and selecting a technology partner that can cater to your unique needs will help you make the most of the tech available and improve all areas of your supply chain. Plus, as new technology emerges, they can keep you updated on how it could benefit your organization. You’ll always be ahead of competitors who don’t utilize such tools or partners.

Manage Supplier Networks

If you’re a retailer or wholesaler and deal with significant supplier diversity, managing all these relationships and the different orders you place at different times can get tricky. However, with the aid of technology, namely big data, you can use analytics solutions to understand which suppliers perform best for your needs and make changes accordingly. 

For example, compare actual performance on things like breakages, correct deliveries, on-time shipments, and customer satisfaction against key performance indicators (KPIs) you set at the start (which could even be part of supplier contracts). Integrate analytics software into your vendor systems, accounting programs, social media feeds, and the like to keep updated on the cost of goods, delivery timeframes, customer complaints, and more. You can then have your tech tools send you alerts or prepare reports if KPIs drop below a specific range. 

Other ways technology can help you improve your supply chains include enabling better forecasting and trend spotting, improved route planning in transit, driver behavior tracking, and warehouse inventory setup and management. 

As you can see, there are all sorts of helpful ways digital systems can benefit your business, so it pays to start utilizing tech tools more today.