TECHNOLOGY

The Future of International Commerce

Published

2 years ago

February 13, 2022

Organizations involved in international commerce are constantly looking to gain a competitive edge over their rivals.

Such organizations can certainly attain the market dominance they so crave if they incorporate IoT and other related technologies into their daily operations.

In today’s sped-up world, the most valuable currency of them all is time. While that line may hold true for every sector, time is especially critical in the field of international commerce. Every organization involved in this industry tries to find new and innovative ways to shave off those few seconds here and there from their daily logistical operations. Information is nearly as important as time. To be more precise, not just any information: simple, timely information. At every step of the logistical and supply-chain cycles, the stakeholders involved require real-time information about aspects connected to the process. The companies that consistently get their time and information management right end up sitting atop the pecking order in the global market.

Now, you may think that the cost factor is also important in this industry, right? That is correct. However, the fluctuation in costs in international commerce can frequently be linked with those two aspects. For example, if a buyer in Berlin does not receive timely information about a delay in their shipment, they may penalize the seller (based in Mumbai) in the form of monetary compensation, thereby running up the shipping costs for that order.

The entire point of including IoT and other related technologies in the field of logistics is to optimize the time and information-related aspects of every cycle. These technologies, collectively known as connected logistics, can truly revolutionize the field of international commerce.

Enhanced Information Flow During Transportation And Delivery

During shipping and transportation, organizations can obtain large amounts of information by introducing technologies such as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chips and IoT devices in the carriage trucks, shipments, and individual product units. The data generated from these devices allow all the stakeholders to know the exact location and condition of the shipments. Additionally, organizations can get an idea about the transportation and shipping prices in the market before they can select their freight forwarders for overseas shipping. As a result, the overall visibility and transparency increase with the introduction of IoT in logistics. Traditional logistical cycles do not have the level of transparency and clarity during the various steps of the supply chain. The shortcomings stem from the fact that age-old logistical workflows rely on historical information for ongoing transportation and delivery processes. As a result, there are stark differences between the estimates regarding fuel prices, route choices, and other aspects.

Connected logistics allow organizations to plan massive orders and shipments well in advance. Setbacks encountered due to outdated information are also nearly absent in connected logistics. The increased level of information generation and real-time updates help organizations and businesses to prevent delayed deliveries. Moreover, the exact nature of the data ensures that businesses avoid underestimating or overestimating the capacity of containers or trucks while creating size-related plans for individual batches of goods to be shipped at a given point in time. Unfortunately, the IT and other expenses are high. Also, the high level of technological involvement may result in businesses exposing themselves to more data security threats.

Improved Warehouse Management

The involvement of IoT in logistics has several positive impacts on the stock management processes and mechanisms of organizations. Firstly, using area-based monitoring and estimation, IoT-connected devices configure the optimal structure of a warehouse even before it is conceptualized and constructed. By using this technology, organizations can save time and costs even before their storage facilities are built. Moreover, factors such as storage space, the correct placement of stock, and the number of laborers required can be predetermined with the help of connected logistics. As a result, while implementing it may be expensive, IoT in logistics can prove to be a cost-effective option for organizations in the long run.

Companies such as Amazon that are involved in the field of international commerce use AI-powered robots to carefully manage and retrieve goods and raw materials in their warehouses. The use of robots, although expensive, is helpful in a few ways, such as assisting human beings with lifting, removing or replacing big and heavy objects. Connected logistics involves the inclusion of multiple thermal radiation cameras and sensors which continually monitor the quantity of the goods in the organization’s storage facilities. More importantly, the system also checks the quality of the stock present in the warehouse. Perishable goods, erosive products, and bio-degradable raw materials can be analyzed by incorporating machine learning and computer vision technologies in the warehouse management systems.

Keeping in line with the concept of interconnectivity and information flow, any details about a noticeable change in the quality or quantity of stock can be relayed to the warehouse supervisors, transportation managers, and other people involved in the process. Advanced IoT systems are capable of determining the number of workers required for specific occasions (such as festive seasons, when the demand for goods is high). Based on this information, organizations can make work schedules and targets well in advance.

Better Temperature Tracking for Cold Storage Goods

The need for cold storage transportation has been highlighted during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Most of the COVID-19 vaccines need to be stored at near-sub-zero temperatures while they are transported around the world. As a result, the management of cold chain storage and transport has become a critical task for several countries around the world. In international commerce, cold chain storage is a fundamental aspect of the supply chain. This type of storage and transportation procedure is used for food items, beverages, drugs, vaccines and chemicals. There are a few commonly associated issues with cold chain transportation. Generally, foods and chemicals perish or erode if not preserved in a frozen condition continually during their transportation and storage. While the product, chemical or other similar items can endure the supercooled storage facilities, their carriers will not be able to do so. Medicines and vaccines, especially, need to be stored in surroundings that are cooled up to -2 degrees. That temperature could damage a transport vehicle over an extended period.

The inclusion of IoT in logistical processes can resolve problems like these. A temperature assessing device can be installed in the cold storage carrier. With IoT, this temperature-assessing device can provide real-time information updates to transportation supervisors and managers in the regulatory organizations. Here is how the IoT system could work: While the goods are in transit, the installed device continues to display information about the temperature within the carrier. If the temperature goes down in the mobile storage facility, the transportation supervisors will be notified about it. In such instances, major problems could be prevented.

Streamlined Shipment Security and Theft Tracking

With IoT in logistics, goods can be safeguarded against getting stolen during the transportation process. To achieve this, transportation providers normally install connected devices such as IoT- powered CCTV cameras in their smart containers used for freight. These devices constantly monitor the goods in the containers. The real-time streams of information allow several stakeholders to know the status of an ongoing shipment. Connected logistical devices help organizations track individual goods in a large shipment too. They notify and allow transportation managers to take swift action if an attempted theft is detected. Moreover, RFID tags on each product can help the organization to recover stolen or missing items from a shipment.

Perfecting Last-Mile Delivery Phase

In trade, it has been observed that the so-called last-mile journey, which is the final stretch of the supply chain that concludes with the customer receiving their purchases, is one of the most challenging phases for various purposes. From an organization’s point of view, the last-mile delivery process is crucial as it may result in the retention of their customers. IoT-powered devices positively influence the phase by detecting potential issues in the delivery routes, weather conditions, and other myriad aspects. This data can be relayed to the deliverer. As a result, connected logistics can help with making the last part of the supply chain perfect.

As you can see, the introduction of IoT and other related technologies in the field of logistics can benefit organizations involved in international commerce. To transform international commerce, countries and organizations need to embrace the standardized application of connected logistics to have it in sync with other industries, which are eventually moving towards adopting AI, IoT, and other advances in digital technology in their daily operations. Eventually, measures must be adopted so that connected logistics can become the norm rather than the exception. While that requirement comes with its own set of problems, proper implementation of connected logistics can help organizations overcome them. Over a long period, the list of benefits far outweighs the potential drawbacks regarding its implementation.

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TECHNOLOGY

Next-gen chips, Amazon Q, and speedy S3

Published

5 months ago

December 1, 2023

Max

AWS re:Invent, which has been taking place from November 27 and runs to December 1, has had its usual plethora of announcements: a total of 21 at time of print.

Perhaps not surprisingly, given the huge potential impact of generative AI – ChatGPT officially turns one year old today – a lot of focus has been on the AI side for AWS’ announcements, including a major partnership inked with NVIDIA across infrastructure, software, and services.

Yet there has been plenty more announced at the Las Vegas jamboree besides. Here, CloudTech rounds up the best of the rest:

Next-generation chips

This was the other major AI-focused announcement at re:Invent: the launch of two new chips, AWS Graviton4 and AWS Trainium2, for training and running AI and machine learning (ML) models, among other customer workloads. Graviton4 shapes up against its predecessor with 30% better compute performance, 50% more cores and 75% more memory bandwidth, while Trainium2 delivers up to four times faster training than before and will be able to be deployed in EC2 UltraClusters of up to 100,000 chips.

The EC2 UltraClusters are designed to ‘deliver the highest performance, most energy efficient AI model training infrastructure in the cloud’, as AWS puts it. With it, customers will be able to train large language models in ‘a fraction of the time’, as well as double energy efficiency.

As ever, AWS offers customers who are already utilising these tools. Databricks, Epic and SAP are among the companies cited as using the new AWS-designed chips.

Zero-ETL integrations

AWS announced new Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL, Amazon DynamoDB, and Amazon Relational Database Services (Amazon RDS) for MySQL integrations with Amazon Redshift, AWS’ cloud data warehouse. The zero-ETL integrations – eliminating the need to build ETL (extract, transform, load) data pipelines – make it easier to connect and analyse transactional data across various relational and non-relational databases in Amazon Redshift.

A simple example of how zero-ETL functions can be seen is in a hypothetical company which stores transactional data – time of transaction, items bought, where the transaction occurred – in a relational database, but use another analytics tool to analyse data in a non-relational database. To connect it all up, companies would previously have to construct ETL data pipelines which are a time and money sink.

The latest integrations “build on AWS’s zero-ETL foundation… so customers can quickly and easily connect all of their data, no matter where it lives,” the company said.

Amazon S3 Express One Zone

AWS announced the general availability of Amazon S3 Express One Zone, a new storage class purpose-built for customers’ most frequently-accessed data. Data access speed is up to 10 times faster and request costs up to 50% lower than standard S3. Companies can also opt to collocate their Amazon S3 Express One Zone data in the same availability zone as their compute resources.

Companies and partners who are using Amazon S3 Express One Zone include ChaosSearch, Cloudera, and Pinterest.

Amazon Q

A new product, and an interesting pivot, again with generative AI at its core. Amazon Q was announced as a ‘new type of generative AI-powered assistant’ which can be tailored to a customer’s business. “Customers can get fast, relevant answers to pressing questions, generate content, and take actions – all informed by a customer’s information repositories, code, and enterprise systems,” AWS added. The service also can assist companies building on AWS, as well as companies using AWS applications for business intelligence, contact centres, and supply chain management.

Customers cited as early adopters include Accenture, BMW and Wunderkind.

Want to learn more about cybersecurity and the cloud from industry leaders? Check out Cyber Security & Cloud Expo taking place in Amsterdam, California, and London. Explore other upcoming enterprise technology events and webinars powered by TechForge here.

TECHNOLOGY

HCLTech and Cisco create collaborative hybrid workplaces

Published

5 months ago

November 29, 2023

Max

Digital comms specialist Cisco and global tech firm HCLTech have teamed up to launch Meeting-Rooms-as-a-Service (MRaaS).

Available on a subscription model, this solution modernises legacy meeting rooms and enables users to join meetings from any meeting solution provider using Webex devices.

The MRaaS solution helps enterprises simplify the design, implementation and maintenance of integrated meeting rooms, enabling seamless collaboration for their globally distributed hybrid workforces.

Rakshit Ghura, senior VP and Global head of digital workplace services, HCLTech, said: “MRaaS combines our consulting and managed services expertise with Cisco’s proficiency in Webex devices to change the way employees conceptualise, organise and interact in a collaborative environment for a modern hybrid work model.

“The common vision of our partnership is to elevate the collaboration experience at work and drive productivity through modern meeting rooms.”

Alexandra Zagury, VP of partner managed and as-a-Service Sales at Cisco, said: “Our partnership with HCLTech helps our clients transform their offices through cost-effective managed services that support the ongoing evolution of workspaces.

“As we reimagine the modern office, we are making it easier to support collaboration and productivity among workers, whether they are in the office or elsewhere.”

Cisco’s Webex collaboration devices harness the power of artificial intelligence to offer intuitive, seamless collaboration experiences, enabling meeting rooms with smart features such as meeting zones, intelligent people framing, optimised attendee audio and background noise removal, among others.

Tags: Cisco, collaboration, HCLTech, Hybrid, meetings

TECHNOLOGY

Canonical releases low-touch private cloud MicroCloud

Published

5 months ago

November 28, 2023

Max

Canonical has announced the general availability of MicroCloud, a low-touch, open source cloud solution. MicroCloud is part of Canonical’s growing cloud infrastructure portfolio.

It is purpose-built for scalable clusters and edge deployments for all types of enterprises. It is designed with simplicity, security and automation in mind, minimising the time and effort to both deploy and maintain it. Conveniently, enterprise support for MicroCloud is offered as part of Canonical’s Ubuntu Pro subscription, with several support tiers available, and priced per node.

MicroClouds are optimised for repeatable and reliable remote deployments. A single command initiates the orchestration and clustering of various components with minimal involvement by the user, resulting in a fully functional cloud within minutes. This simplified deployment process significantly reduces the barrier to entry, putting a production-grade cloud at everyone’s fingertips.

Juan Manuel Ventura, head of architectures & technologies at Spindox, said: “Cloud computing is not only about technology, it’s the beating heart of any modern industrial transformation, driving agility and innovation. Our mission is to provide our customers with the most effective ways to innovate and bring value; having a complexity-free cloud infrastructure is one important piece of that puzzle. With MicroCloud, the focus shifts away from struggling with cloud operations to solving real business challenges” says

In addition to seamless deployment, MicroCloud prioritises security and ease of maintenance. All MicroCloud components are built with strict confinement for increased security, with over-the-air transactional updates that preserve data and roll back on errors automatically. Upgrades to newer versions are handled automatically and without downtime, with the mechanisms to hold or schedule them as needed.

With this approach, MicroCloud caters to both on-premise clouds but also edge deployments at remote locations, allowing organisations to use the same infrastructure primitives and services wherever they are needed. It is suitable for business-in-branch office locations or industrial use inside a factory, as well as distributed locations where the focus is on replicability and unattended operations.

Cedric Gegout, VP of product at Canonical, said: “As data becomes more distributed, the infrastructure has to follow. Cloud computing is now distributed, spanning across data centres, far and near edge computing appliances. MicroCloud is our answer to that.

“By packaging known infrastructure primitives in a portable and unattended way, we are delivering a simpler, more prescriptive cloud experience that makes zero-ops a reality for many Industries.“

MicroCloud’s lightweight architecture makes it usable on both commodity and high-end hardware, with several ways to further reduce its footprint depending on your workload needs. In addition to the standard Ubuntu Server or Desktop, MicroClouds can be run on Ubuntu Core – a lightweight OS optimised for the edge. With Ubuntu Core, MicroClouds are a perfect solution for far-edge locations with limited computing capabilities. Users can choose to run their workloads using Kubernetes or via system containers. System containers based on LXD behave similarly to traditional VMs but consume fewer resources while providing bare-metal performance.

Coupled with Canonical’s Ubuntu Pro + Support subscription, MicroCloud users can benefit from an enterprise-grade open source cloud solution that is fully supported and with better economics. An Ubuntu Pro subscription offers security maintenance for the broadest collection of open-source software available from a single vendor today. It covers over 30k packages with a consistent security maintenance commitment, and additional features such as kernel livepatch, systems management at scale, certified compliance and hardening profiles enabling easy adoption for enterprises. With per-node pricing and no hidden fees, customers can rest assured that their environment is secure and supported without the expensive price tag typically associated with cloud solutions.

Tags: automation, Canonical, MicroCloud, private cloud