Real-time end-to-end supply chain visibility is only a reality for “just over half” of the logistics companies located in the APAC (Asia-Pacific) Region according to a recent study. 

In a report from HERE Technologies, entitled “APAC on the Move,” less than half of the organizations surveyed said they still require manual inputs for certain parts of their asset tracking and shipment monitoring processes.

Forty-five percent of APAC logistics companies are still using shipment monitoring software and tracking assets that rely on manual inputs to follow the movement of cargo. Conversely, 51% of APAC organizations use tracking tools that do not require any manual inputs whatsoever. Four percent of APAC logistics companies only use manual inputs to track their shipments. 

Despite the disparity between preferred tracking methods, half of all product-centric firms in the APAC Region plan on investing in real-time visibility tools in 2023, according to an April 2021 report from Gartner that was quoted in the study. Additionally, 67% of APAC Region supply chain leaders said they have invested in digital dashboard services to bolster their end-to-end supply chain visibility capabilities based on an April 2022 survey by McKinsey & Company.

In the next three years, 33% of APAC logistics firms plan on investing in drones. Thirty percent say they will invest in robotics, while another 29% aim to invest in artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities over the next three years.

Even though companies are interested in using and investing in tracking tools, some barriers are holding back the mass adoption of shipment-tracking solutions within the APAC region. Fifty-two percent of logistics asset tracking solutions said that integration challenges are their biggest roadblock when it comes to the mass adoption of these capabilities. That number jumps to 53% for shipment and cargo monitoring features.

“The awareness about having real-time visibility on assets and cargo has gone up tremendously in the post-pandemic era and that trend is likely to continue,” said Vivek Vaidya, global client leader for mobility at the market research company Frost & Sullivan. “This underlines a strong growth potential for solution providers like HERE Technologies in this space for the next decade.”

The “APAC on the Move” report consists of market research data from March 2023 that is based on the responses of 1,3000 individuals within the transportation and logistics industries in Australia, Chinese Taipei, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.