Logistics meets Innovation

May 28th, 2019
Vlerick Business School, Brussels, Belgium
About the conference 2019
Artificial intelligence already powers many real-world applications, from facial recognition and fraud detection to language translators and smartphone and home assistants like Siri and Alexa — and now, the powerful software is also being applied to core logistics operations. This should be a golden era of practical AI, when algorithms give way to implementation.
For decision-makers in the logistics industry, it is worth understanding some of the basics behind those algorithms to help ensure that first experiences with AI in your workplace are successful. During the 4th edition of our Logistics meets Innovation conference, we have covered the basics of AI, machine learning, and data science as well as practical applications of this technology in the logistics operations: from data cleansing to spot truck pricing to ETA calculation.
About the Presentations
“Precision Pricing with AI”
“Enhanced Dispatching via Augmented Intelligence”
“Augmented Intelligence for Logistics: Behind the Scenes”
“Machine Learning vs. Rule-Based Approaches to ETA Calculation”
Panel Discussion and Conclusions
The keynotes were followed by an interactive panel discussion, which provided both speakers and the audience with an opportunity to explore additional aspects of Artificial Intelligence in logistics. In particular, conversations were around the topics of data quality issues in logistics, challenges of selling such technologies into companies, costs and ROI of such projects, and more. The panelists shared an opinion that it’s not that expensive to trial these technologies. The founders of both TNX Logistics and Transmetrics confirmed this argument by the facts that TNX uses the approach “pay if it works” with their customers saving about 4% on average on their transport, while Transmetrics offers their software on a monthly subscription basis with their customers saving on average 8-10% of the transport costs. The panelists representing large logistics service providers raised another argument related to the project cost consideration – what will happen in the near future if your business doesn’t invest in these technologies now? Overall, the event provided further insight into the practical issues of Artificial Intelligence in logistics both on the technological and business sides.
The conference concluded with a dinner reception during which the participants had a chance to network with other logistics and supply chain executives as well as to discuss the topic in the informal atmosphere of Vlerick Business School.