Majority of logistics companies in the Philippines have yet to automate their operations citing, among others, the lack of expertise in IT as a barrier for adopting IT, a recent online survey revealed.
The survey conducted jointly by IT logistics solutions provider SoftLink Global and PortCalls found 63% of the total 250 respondents noted their current IT system does not fulfil their requirements; 56% said their systems only partially fulfil their requirements, and 7% said their requirements are not met at all.
A total of 250 respondents participated in the recent survey, 34% of whom were company CEOs/directors and 45% were senior managers. The rest were mid-level staff.
Of the total respondents, 71% were engaged in sea freight forwarding, 63% in customs clearance, 55.8% in air freight forwarding, 23.9% in sea consolidation, 17.4% in air consolidation, and 13% in express cargo. The total exceeds 100% because the companies normally offer more than one service.
Fifty-three percent of the respondents said they had local transport operations, while 44% said they owned warehouses.
A quarter of the companies surveyed have yet to automate their air freight, sea freight and customs clearing operations. A larger section of companies have yet to automate their land freight, warehouse management and fleet management operations. Financial accounting, sales and marketing and customer service of or larger numbers of companies are automated compared to other operations.
In the air freight sector, about 38% of the respondents said they have automated their operations, while 17% said they are currently automating. Some 19% said they plan to automate this year, and one-fourth have yet to undergo automation.
For sea freight operations, less than half of the polled companies are currently automated, 12% are now getting automated, 18% plan to do so this year, and 23% have yet to start.
In the land freight sector, 42% of the survey respondents said they were found not to be automated yet. About 30% have automated systems, 13% are automating at present, and 15% have plans to automate within the year.
In the area of customs clearance, 54% said they have automated their operations, 13% are getting on with it, 17% intend to automate this year, and 16% have not yet planned on doing so.
On whether their warehouse management is automated, 37% of the survey respondents said yes, while 17% are in the process of automation. Some 16%, meanwhile, intend to go online this year, while 30% have yet to embark on any automation.
The survey also found 25% of the participants have automated their fleet management, 13% are in the process of mechanizing, 25% plan to do it this year, and 37% have no automation in place.
(To be continued)
