New features implemented in January 2021

goodloading-new-features-january

In January we worked in Goodloading on:

1. Save all loads added from the CSV file at once.
2. New PDF – a list with a summary of loads and a new layout of views with visualization has appeared on the PDF file.

Goodloading among top 10 providers of load management solutions in Europe

2021-10-27Blog - All about loading in one placeLogistics Tech Outlook magazine has recognised Goodloading as an innovative start-up in the world of logistics. As a result, the magazine featured an interview with Bogumił Paszkiewicz, the CEO of Goodloading. Logistics Tech Outlook is a magazine that covers topics related to the latest technologies such as drones, artificial intelligence and IoT in the world of logistics. As the topic of trends in the transport industry is particularly important to us, we are pleased that this magazine has recognised Goodloading as a top solution. The CEO of Goodloading explained how the application supports the loading planning process. At the same time, he emphasised that our mission is to improve the work of loading planners. This mission is supported by the adopted strategy of Goodloading being a product that is constantly evolving to fulfil the needs of its users. Every month new features requested by people involved in loading planning are implemented. Bogumił also revealed some details of a new algorithm that is to appear in Goodloading. Besides Goodloading, the list includes companies such as Blue-box systems – a solution that allows logistics managers to supervise and handle shipments, DS-C4RGO – offering a new generation of multi-sensor measurement systems or GoRamp – a logistics platform designed to optimise flow in the supply chain. You can read the magazine interview here. [...]

Is technological development in logistics a threat to employees?

2021-11-09Blog - All about loading in one place8.6 trillion US dollars – that was the value of the global logistics market in the weaker year 2020. The United States generated, almost alone in North America, 20% of this amount during that time. The supply chain’s impact on the country’s GDP has already reached over 10%. Asia and the Pacific earned almost twice the value of America. Europe, which is trying to jump into second place, reached 1.6 trillion. These figures, apart from the scale being hard to imagine, say above all that someone has worked for it. In Germany only, for which logistics is the largest economic sector, more than 3 million people are employed. It is also the country that is leading the development of infrastructure and technology in our industry. The UK has a similar size of workforce. At the same time, a very high increase in the number of schools with a logistics specialisation has been observed for several years in almost the entire world. What will happen to all these people when the already fashionable and ever-present automation enters the market from all sides? We are, after all, talking about a modest estimated number of more than a hundred million workers worldwide. Warehouse robots can do any job 3-4 times faster than a human with little risk of error In many cases, the extremely popular TMS class software is capable of replacing a number of activities of the freight forwarder at even shorter times than robots in a warehouse. The popular algorithm assessing technological advances “Will robots take my job” estimates that the occupation described as “Cargo and Freight Agent” is at 97% risk. Decathlon tested drone deliveries in Poland at the beginning of the year, and as of this autumn, 7-Eleven, the US giant, is starting similar tests in Korea. Drivers, in turn, will be replaced by autonomous vehicles, being tested for over a decade. It seems that as logisticians we are at the event horizon and the black hole that will engulf us is called new technologies. Source: Facebook/Spartaqs Group The world’s greatest logistics challenge Not only Europe has a problem, but as a dense conglomerate of needs, it constitutes a litmus test for transport and warehousing in growing economies. According to calculations by trans.info – a continental service, there is a shortage of 400 000 professional drivers. The situation is most challenging in Poland, the United Kingdom and Germany. Autonomous vehicles have been under discussion for years. In fact, we should all be supporting this technology as one that is safer for health and life. The problem is that we are still talking about the crawling stage. Shawn Kerrigan from Plus, a US company specialising in the autonomous vehicle experience, makes the current approach clear: “First, you need to develop technology that is much safer than a human driver. Secondly, you need to prove this safety to regulators and the public before implementing it on a large scale.” The first tests have recently been carried out in China on nearly 1,000-mile routes. The interest is noticeable, but the future is still uncertain. When will we see the first vehicles on American or European roads? Which medium-sized companies will be able to replace their entire fleet with unmanned vehicles? The European climate package mentions a 55% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. If this was achieved in 10 years, we would be able to breathe more deeply. For the time being, the profession of a professional driver is not only secure but desirable, and this is unlikely to change in the next decade. Tesco recruits prisoners The age of an average warehouse worker is around 30 years. In Eastern and Central Europe it tends to be slightly higher due to migration – mainly from Ukraine. Amazon is one of the largest employers in this part of the continent and, although it is regarded as an attractive employer by managers in both the US and Europe, the approach to work for manual workers is controversial. It also affects the overall perception of employment in the warehouse, where the workforce is starting to become scarce. While the mentioned migrants are a great support here, in the UK Brexit has caused serious shortages. This is why Tesco has started a pilot scheme to employ prisoners, with the expected displeasure of the rest of the staff. WMSs present in warehouses allow for more efficient management of operations, but few are able to integrate with robots at every stage. Alibaba, the world’s largest retailer, handled nearly 3 billion shipments in 5 days, tied with Singles’ Day, with the use of robots, but also the support of thousands of people. Completely autonomous warehouses are isolated cases in the world, and they appeared more than a decade ago. Smaller companies still use 100% human power, while the presence of WMS solutions is not yet standard. Alibaba, robots in the warehouse / Source: Business Insider Unwanted forwarder and planner While working with Trimble, a Californian tycoon, we had the opportunity to talk to the owner of a medium-sized company performing international transport. The need to use new technological solutions came by itself when the profits of the company started to fall dramatically. Implementation of TMS allowed to reduce not only the number of employees, but also to organize and control processes, giving a profit of 5%. Further implementations based on the electronic handling of the document workflow saved time and stress in the accounting department, which was responsible for the document mailing process. In this case, we are still talking about savings in the single-digit range. The higher turnover of a transport company supported by such systems certainly reduces the need to hire more staff, yet the capabilities of the person using such support will always be limited. There is a noticeable change in the competences of the forwarder, who in unfortunate cases is a seller of the load. The more serious-minded entrepreneur here sees a supervisor who has soft skills at the level of communication rather than negotiations and, above all, skilfully uses modern tools. Even the extremely popular freight exchanges have been developing extensive communication systems and new modules to automate work for several years. Digital freight forwarding, which has been on the rise for some years now, is an unquestionable help for … the freight forwarder. Thanks to them, repetitive work is replaced by an algorithm which saves time for handling operations or offers, for example, the possibility of tracking the status of a shipment, which was unthinkable only 10 years ago. There is still a long way to go from a few percent technological support to full process automation. Demand for transport is under no doubt Being the number 1 trend in 2021, e-commerce is doing everything it can to reduce the time needed for the smooth flow of goods. The popularity of online shopping in recent years has reached a growth that effectively affected the prices of IT services. In 2018, Romania has already recorded a 39% increased interest in online transactions, while nearly 30% growth in online sales was recently recorded by the Czech Republic. In Germany 85% of people did e-shopping in 2020. The year 2021 has clearly shown how much more technological innovation we need. This is not because machine capitalism has wiped out the so-called protein element, but because we badly lack this protein. And there we are, with an offer of the software supporting optimal use of cargo space on a semi-trailer, container or pallet, saving up to several dozen of minutes of the logistician’s work, whose work will be made easier by the technology at each stage of the supply chain – whether we are talking about CEP, contract logistics, international transport, forwarding or a warehouse. [...]

Why use container loading software?

2019-08-28ContainersLoad planning programs bring many benefits – planners can prepare the allocation of various dimensions loads faster than using traditional methods. They can also estimate transport costs easily. Tools such as Goodloading, which support the process of loading containers, among others, serve this purpose. One of the reasons why freight forwarders use the container loading software is that it shows the placement of loads of different sizes within a cargo space. ‘Sometimes we have doubts about loads of irregular dimensions and we don’t know which container should be chosen in order to use cargo space to the full extent and, in result, optimize the transport cost.’ says Konrad Wojciechowski, a freight forwarder in OMEGAir Cargo sp.z o.o. As he explains, this is when a container loading software is most useful. Małgorzata Michalik from go-pack.pl company notes: ‘The reason why it definitely makes sense to use such software is that it enforces us to verify all the important information like container dimensions (internal & external), check with the transport company if there are any abnormalities in the transport means they are going to provide us with (e.g. different size of the entrance door, different thickness of the walls, etc.). When this exercise is done, there is also lower risk of costly mistakes.’ Goodloading – container loading software There are several load planning programs on the market, and Goodloading is one of them. It stands out from other applications with a friendly and modern interface, which makes the program more intuitive and simple to use. What’s more, the user has a lot of freedom when planning loading – can work on visualization by manually changing the location of loads, rotate cargoes or take them outside of the loading space. Goodloading is available in two versions, free and PRO. User registration is required to use them. Work in the program begins with the selection of a container; you can choose an existing one from the list or enter its dimensions. When adding a container, you can include the necessary parameters – that is, add the width and height of the door, set the center of gravity, indicate the method of loading the container or add a refrigeration unit. Dozens of containers can be added to the application, which is especially useful for large projects. You then add loads from an excel-type file or by manually entering their dimensions. The placement appears on the 3D visualization. The finished project can be sent to another person in the form of a link or a PDF file, which significantly facilitates communication between persons responsible for individual loading stages. The application summarizes the loading, thanks to which the planner has continuous access to information about occupied and free LDMs, loaded and unloaded space, total weight of loads, available space (in m2) and load volume (in m3). ‘I think the tool is great for the students working on certain projects and, of course, logistics planners – especially for the budgeting phase’ says Małgorzata Michalik. Additional benefits of using container loading software You don’t have to think every time when planning container loading – what are the dimensions of the 20ft container? And how about the 40ft one? The application has basic containers, but it’s best to verify that their dimensions match those you plan to load. The program offers the addition of an unlimited number of custom container dimensions. Then, when choosing a loading space, the right container can be selected from the list. Container transport largely operates with cubic meters, the so-called CBM. CBM is often used at the time of settlement, when customers adopt the freight ton as the basis for payment. To calculate how much volume the load takes, many logistics professionals use the CBM calculator. Instead, you can use a program that will not only show you the optimal placement of the load but also provide the necessary information for settlement. Małgorzata Michalik says: ‘I came across the Goodloading application by accident, while preparing the calculation concept for my customer. We had to analyse the transport costs of metal components from China to Poland in non-standard size containers. It was so much easier to check various options by just changing the set-up, than to draw everything again and again on the paper.’ In case of many loads of various dimensions the container loading software will help you handle them in such a way as to maximize load capacity of the container. ‘Using the container loading calculator allows us to simulate what the loaded container will look like before the arrival of the goods. We can see if and how much free space is left in it and how to place the goods to load the container in a way that will ensure effective protection of them,’ says Konrad Wojciechowski. People who plan container loading have their hands full of work, and they will have even more – because container transport is developing very quickly. Konrad Wojciechowski notes: ‘Of course, we could calculate it all on a piece of paper, but if someone has ever tried, he knows how complex such a task is when working with various dimensions of goods. Using the application allows us to minimize human error and gives us greater flexibility when changing the idea of the placement of goods.’ [...]