How Utilization of Assets is Impacted by Digitalization and Automation

Mobile assets traditionally have been the center of utilization initiatives like pooling, improving dispatching algorithms or tracking assets over time and space. Mobile assets include vehicles, rolling stock and storage equipment like containers and pallets. Each mode of transport (rail, road, air and ocean to name the major ones) and each asset category have their own unique utilization challenge. To improve asset utilization, companies have three basic levers. They can firstly minimize the transport time by improved trip scheduling or minimize waiting time by optimally tracking and tracing an assets availability for the next trip. Additionally, the pooling of assets allows to minimize empty trips and utilizes an assets maximum capacity. There are emerging digital business models around each of these levers. They all rely on active and passive identification of an assets location and other sensor data collected by the asset in question.