(This is the second part of a report on results of a recent SoftLink-PortCalls survey on IT adoption among logistics companies.
For the first part (“Few PH cargo service firms have reached full automation—SoftLink-PortCalls survey”), click here.)
A little over a third of respondents to a recent SoftLink-PortCalls IT survey among logistics companies in the Philippines found duplication of work and non-availability of track and trace and automatic customer reporting systems as major shortfalls in IT systems.
Results also revealed 27.8% of survey respondents found using multiple systems for operations as a shortfall. Other shortfalls are: lack of proper customer support (21.6%), lack of localization (20.6%), lack of financial controls (19.6), and inaccurate documentation (15.5%).
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.
More than half of respondents, or 53.6%, said the biggest barrier to automating is the lack of expertise in IT. The second barrier with 45.2% of the votes is untrained manpower, followed by insufficient financial support and unavailability of suitable software with 33.3% votes each.
Other challenges in adopting IT include employees’ fear of change (31%), employees’ lack of commitment and involvement (28.6%), lack of commitment from top management (13.1%), rigidity of organizational culture (11.9%), exhaustive paperwork-difficult to computerize (11.9%), and perception that IT is not an advantage at all (9.5%).
Asked about the perceived benefits of adopting IT in operations, 87% cited quick response and access to information as the top benefit.
A total of 76.2% said improved customer services is another top benefit, followed by improved competitiveness and reduced paperwork with 69%, reduced errors and data re-entry efforts and track and trace facility with 63%, and improved data control with 62%.
Other perceived gains are standardized programs and procedures (60.7%), quick, effective and informed decision making (50%), streamlined logistics processes (46.4%), reduced manpower (44), and control over various logistics functions (41.7%).
On what the main motivating factors are for investing in IT, a significant 86.9% of respondents said increasing operational efficiency is a main factor, while 63.1% mentioned improving customer service. The third top factor is accurate documentation (54.8%) while other factors are enhancing profitability (33.3%), introducing effective financial control (28.6%), enforcing data security (21.4%), and reducing labor cost (20.2%).
Some 15.5% considered return on investment among their top reasons for IT adoption while 9.5% considered direct customer request as a major reason.
In terms of IT systems used, 53% of the companies indicated they are still using older versions of technology systems, while 46% still use desktop-based systems. The remaining 7% are still working with redundant legacy or disk-operating system. – Roumina Pablo
