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SHIPPING & LOGISTICS S2 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 24 JUNE 2018 FOR logistics experts nowadays, ma- chine learning has become quite the buzzword. If you happen to be shipping out goods to any part of the world, the chances are that you already are a user of machine learning. The technological innovation is fast reshaping the logistics and manufacturing sector to a great ex- tent. However, you do not have to be an ac- tive part of the industry to experience this game-changing technology. Any- time you place an order on a website or view your favourite movie on Netflix, you experience machine learning. It in- volves multiple algorithms which pas- sively keep track of your actions on the internet and then shows you similar items or information with suggestions such as 'You may also like' or 'Recom- mended'. Machine learning works by using fun- damental computing power to deter- mine certain patterns in data that human beings are unable to easily recognise. It then extracts the information from every piece of data to become smart and pre- cise in real time. Machine learning is a small yet an important part of artificial intelligence. How does machine learning assist shippers in making better decisions? In the logistics sector, we make use of machine learning to make faster and superior decisions that assist shippers in optimising carrier selection, grade, determining best routes, and keeping quality checks. These measures all ul- timately help them economize the cost and enhance efficiency. With its capabil- ity to collect and evaluate a large number of varied data points, machine learning can help in resolving an issue you are still unaware of. For instance, in case you're seeking out a plan for the lanes, a con- ventional analytical method would take into consideration a specified set of as- sumptions. Analytics, in accordance with machine learning, would take into account dynamic characteristics, such as weather conditions or amount of traffic and evolve on its own as time goes by to identify new, useful patterns. The strength of machine learning origi- nates from leveraging data across various platforms as well as data sets. The incor- poration of the data in the carrier's net- work with the external resources, such as global positioning system, historic pric- ing performance, and FMCSA can assist shippers in estimating the demand cor- rectly, evaluate patterns in supply chains, keep track of seasonal calendars as well as monitor everyday patterns within the lanes. For analysing numerous carriers and understanding the variations of lanes for hundreds of companies, machine learn- ing can be quite useful. It can be used to create simulations to easily figure out the ideal combination of carriers and lanes for delivering a load. Such simulations make use of the data in its raw form and then extract the useful information from it in real time. This eventually boosts the efficiency, avoids possible conflicts and improves the overall service levels. All in all, this helps the shippers in reduc- ing risk, optimising the routes and also learning about the new lanes in a much easier and faster way. With machine learning in action, it takes no more than months to optimise a lane and work out all the other related details. NLP saves the time of shippers Natural Language Processing (NLP), an additional form of machine learning, is considerably enhancing the perfor- mance of supply chains by accelerating data entry processes and auto-populat- ing the fields in the forms. Whenever incorporated into a trans- portation management system and chat, email or voice-based communication, NLP models keep track of and under- stand such exchanges. In the long run, the system can identify behaviour pat- terns of particular users and can start an- ticipating what they need by auto-popu- lating orders of shipping, bill of lading, as well as other transactions, which helps in saving the shipper's precious time. The advantage of employing NLP is the fact that it is learning all the time. This unsupervised learning, furthermore, im- proves the precision of tracking status by assessing inputs like climatic conditions and traffic. How can machine learning help the manufacturing sector? In an illustration of how one can em- ploy advanced analytics by using ma- chine learning, a good sized manufac- turing firm with multiple locations can easily keep track of financial estimations, the speed, and flow of production, cou- pled with order processing. These data points, along with strong observations regarding carrier capacity, lead to a ver- satile strategy which is optimised for both costs as well as the time. The data enables the firm to respond to real time queries such as "are we running within the financial budget? "How much production can we boost without exceed- ing our freight spending budget?" or, "How many more orders can we take within budget for a particular group of lanes?" Machine learning triggers predictive analytics With a sizeable amount of data in hand, it's quite easy to evaluate what precisely in the past was incalculable. You can't at- tain true proficiency until you are able to foresee each and every event and predict every single contingency. These kinds of state-of-the-art machine learning plat- forms provide us with the resources and intelligence to make quicker and more insightful business choices. Machine learning is a small yet an integral part of artificial intelligence Machine learning: Revolutionising the logistics sector