Óscar López talks about the importance of the hyperconnected supply chain with the Track and Trace solution

In 2016, Óscar López accepted the challenge of joining as CEO of FIELDEAS to position the company where it is today as a reference in the digitization of field services and in different sectors, not only in logistics and transport. Cuadernos de Logística, in its logistics section, has conducted a video interview with Óscar López where he talked about the need to support the digital transformation of field activities, with emphasis on the value chain.

The hyperconnected supply chain

The interview begins by talking about the FIELDEAS Track and Trace solution and the success case with Repsol, where the concept of “hyperconnected supply chain” is applied, which Óscar explains how it works. This concept represents how FIELDEAS has evolved in the world of transportation and logistics. Years ago, the focus was on fleet management and delivery control, and having proof that the delivery had been completed, but at FIELDEAS they saw that the concept was much broader.

“So we developed what we call “Supply Chain Visibility”, which is nothing more than the evolution of this model to control all the steps of the process, to have a full visibility, being able to anticipate situations before they ariseand then draw conclusions and make it a fully managed process”.The general manager comments in the interview.

Taking into account the above and, thanks to the advancement of new technologies such as IoT (Internet of Things), FIELDEAS developed the concept of “hyperconnected supply chain”. It gives full visibility to all the actors involved in the process. They have visibility at all times of what is happening, “of whether there are incidents and be able to deal with them, anticipating a solution for the customer.There are a number of other elements that can be incorporated around it.

An example is when the goods must be at a controlled temperature, for which it is necessary to incorporate a cold sensor, and this information is added to the Supply Chain Visibility. Sectors such as pharmaceuticals and food must take these aspects into account.

How FIELDEAS Track and Trace works at a technological level

Asked how such a powerful solution such as this can be solved in a technological manner Track and Trace, Oscar points out that, first and foremost, it is important that “The model must be based on a model that is applicable to the reality of the world of transportation and logistics: how to be able to connect all the actors of this chain with a solution that is not the traditional one of transport tracking and control. with a solution that is not the traditional transport tracking and control solution.”

On a technological level, Track and Trace is a challenge, and from a change management point of view, so is it. Starting from the objective of obtaining visibility of the whole process, at FIELDEAS “we asked ourselves what we needed and what we needed was a channel that would connect all these actors. what we needed was a channel that would connect all these actors, which was originally smart phoneswhich was originally smart phones, but today has evolved towards omnichannel,” says Oscar.

Currently, we are in a scenario where the outsourcing of transportation is very present, so there is a great challenge to create mechanisms that help to receive all the information, either through mobile solutions, telematically or facilitate responses with contactless signature solutions. In short, FIELDEAS is in charge of joining all the interaction mechanisms needed to have a correct communication and control of all the processes.

The challenge for FIELDEAS also lies in “the elimination of paper, delivery notes, delivery documents, which have associated costs and which, in addition, in situations such as the current pandemic, require interactions that can be dangerous,” adds Óscar.

eCMR and all-digital document management

Nowadays, the elimination of paper in work processes is something fundamental and something that many companies must carry out, but there are many organizations that find it difficult to make the change. The digitization of documentation is the order of the day and FIELDEAS has been working on it for some time now, thanks to the eCMR and the digital delivery note.

“The eCMR has the added bonus of being a regulatory document, but in essence, the treatment is the same,” says Oscar. At FIELDEAS, they analyze it from three different perspectives: technological, legal and cultural. From the legal point of view, they analyzed the existing solutions and saw that there was nothing on the market that had a real legal coverage, and this taking into account that in Spain the regulation on digital documentation issues is quite demanding.

In this regard, Óscar adds that “There is only room for the the formula of the digital signature and the generation of a complete traceabilitythat is to say, a detailed version of each of these interactions, unalterable, digitally signed, stored and conveniently guarded, respecting the regulations covered by the digital signature and taking advantage of the benefits of omnichannel”.

From a cultural point of view, this is an issue that has been happening in the industry with everything related to tracking and visibility solutions, “everyone likes visibility when they receive it and not so much when they are the ones who have to give it,” says Oscar. Many companies think that this visibility can be an “audit” that will expose inefficiencies in each organization. But, as Óscar says, it is necessary to be “far-sighted” and that this visibility “does provide many benefits for all the actors involved.what it does provide is a lot of benefits for all the actors involved..”

One of the aspects that Oscar makes clear in the interview is that the Track and Trace solution that FIELDEAS offers is not a fleet management solution, “it’s something different. A business-focused supply chain visibility tool. That is the first and fundamental difference, says the director. Fleet management can help to complement this other vision.

Why choose FIELDEAS Track and Trace?

In response to this question, Óscar emphasizes that “the first thing we tell the customer when they ask us this question is that what we offer is flexible technology.” Thanks to this flexibility, FIELDEAS is able to offer its customers a solution for management and visibility of the entire process, whether in scenarios with its own fleet and outsourced fleet at the same time, or also in situations where organizations offer full-load services, distribution, multi-customer, etc.

“We want to offer a flexible solution that can be parameterized and adapted to different needs. And that allows We can offer the same quality of information to the customer whoever uses the solution, regardless of how he or she works.regardless of how they work,” Óscar emphasizes. Thanks to having a technological partner like FIELDEAS, companies will be prepared to adapt to all new situations as they arise.

New technological advances in the coming years

In this issue, Óscar focuses on Industry 4.0 and the tools that it brings with it and that apply to the field of logistics and transportation, a sector that goes hand in hand with others such as food or industrial. Emerging and upcoming technologies are wide-ranging, many are practical, direct and fast to apply, such as IoT, which helps support the hyper-connected supply chain so that the information collected reaches another level.

But other technologies such as Big Data or Artificial Intelligence should not be overlooked, “which are already having their application scenario, which lead to improvements in the analysis and processing of information, as well as in the detection of patterns.and thus help to improve processes”.says Óscar.

The Blockchain also has a great value and FIELDEAS understands that “can bring many benefits but that we do not yet see the sector as mature enough and to the market, so that all the actors can get the most out of it, and which lacks the legal part that would allow an application in the whole chain with this support.“.

On the part of FIELDEAS, Óscar states that “the evolution is in evolution lies in being able to offer technology to any type of organization, regardless of its capacity and resources. regardless of their capacity and resources.