The Blind Spot
A Blind-spot as per google means, “An area where a person’s view is obstructed”. Blind spots have been a bane in every aspect until date and has plagued the logistics industry the most. Blind spots have been dreaded by the companies involved in logistics and most loved by miscreants, it has been the favorite hunting ground for all involved in thefts.
Studies have shown that pilferage during transit has been always high, and at times can amount to as big as 30% of a month’s revenue when if calculated for the entire year. Is this figure what companies consider as a normal loss? Why should companies be ok with this figure? Have companies done enough to protect their interests?
For the longest time companies have tried their best to control these aspects. They have invested in many hacks to try to solve the issue. They have invested in people (Loss Prevention), they have invested in tools like locks, seals and likewise. Training of driver partners and even their teams as well have yielded some good results too in the past. With changing times, methods have also changed. Miscreants are now smarter and try to get their share of the pie by various new methods.
Listing down some methods of solving the blind spots by companies till date:
● The Standard lock and key method: The age-old method of using a mechanical lock and having a standard issue key for the same. Religiously the keys are entrusted to the driver partner then. If just a mere lock could solve the problem, all would have copied this. Once the goods are out, one just hopes nothing goes wrong.
● Plastic seals: Evolution has played an integral part for the use of these seals; these seals are primarily for single use only and were expected to be tamper proof. Sadly it is far away from the truth, “YouTube” can advise people as to how to tamper with these locks within a jiffy. The below link will highlight the same.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceial0v1p0w
● Bottle seals: Bottle seals though costly have again been a major game changer, it held the fort and kept miscreants at bay. It was a great solution, but again it was not solving the blind spot issue at hand, companies still were unaware as to what was happening enroute. Were the seals tampered with? Did anyone access the cargo hold? Could these seals be tampered with? Have I lost some commodity in transit?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYSgVqZoVHE
● Cameras and GPS systems: This was the new age methodology to counter thefts, but sadly with evolution in locking methods likewise miscreants have evolved and have broken this method as well.
Losses in transit are like cancer, it has kept spreading and with time it has evolved to be much worse. It has given many people sleepless nights and will not stop if customers do not change with time. In today’s world where products right from safety pins to priceless gems are being transported, customers cannot just rely on the vendor's honesty. It has to be a collaborative effort and also include Tech based solutions, which should be constantly evolving.
How can these blind spots be eliminated, how can I have eyes everywhere, and what can I do? ; these are the questions for which answers are being sought. An evolving tech-based solution may be the one answer, if not all. What should a tech-based solution offer be is the question? Maybe some of the methods can be as below:
● A keyless activity: This removes duplication of keys, multiple handling and even handover of the same onto many hands.
● Threat alerts: Being tamper proof may not be the only solution, active threat alerts is one of the main aspects. A resounding beep in the control room of any company, highlight a threat alert will be a great boon for many.
● Geo-location updates: Every time a lock is accessed, geo-location alerts being sent to companies will help for sure.
● User notification: Enabling users for the use of locks should be in the control of the corporate. Each time the user makes an access, notifications should be available at the company’s disposal that can be reviewed.
● Access details: When, Where, and by whom were the locks accessed, can be a powerful tool as well. It makes the user weary before plotting an illegal activity.
● Geo-fencing: A tool like geo-fencing can make the cargo hold almost inaccessible to many, stricter and shorter radius of the geo-fence will make it even difficult to access these locks at any other location.
● Time-based access: With time being added as a constraint along with the geo-fence, a lock can almost be impenetrable for most miscreants and cannot be tampered with or accessed anywhere else.
These methods may control most of the challenges the logistics industries face pertaining to pilferage, it may not be the end, but will act as a ‘means to the end’. With an evolving tech partner and newer advancements in tech much more can be done to make the cargo hold an impenetrable force whilst in transit.
Blind spots should be a thing of the past and should be eliminated for sure. Tech-enabled software and methods should be the solution for the world of tomorrow.
***Image and Video credits to google, youtube and all concerned parties**