Periodic Reporting for period 1 - PrEDICTS (Optimizing Container Load for Parcel and Pallet Transport Networks)
Reporting period: 2018-04-01 to 2018-09-30
The main problem addressed by the PrEDICTS project is the inefficiency of the cargo transport in the European Union and around the world in general. For example, EU trucks are driving around with an average of 43% empty space due to poor linehaul capacity utilization, and also the assets (e.g. trucks, containers, trailers, etc.) are used only 33% of the time, while the rest of the time they are just standing. These inefficiencies lead to CO2 emissions, traffic jams, noise levels and low margins for logistics companies. At the same time, the logistics industry is being disrupted by the new technological players (e.g. Amazon, Uber), pressure from the e-commerce growth, new capital-intensive technologies (e.g. electric trucks, drones, etc.), and many other factors, so the logistics companies need to become much more efficient in order to stay in business. To address these inefficiencies, Transmetrics developed PrEDICTS - a predictive optimization software based on Artificial Intelligence and machine learning specifically for transport and logistics. PrEDICTS' first beta client recorded a 10% increase in capacity utilization and 7-9% total cost savings.
From the beginning of Phase 1 of the PrEDICTS project, we have made great progress on all of the specified in the proposal objectives. We have met with many logistics companies who are potential customers for PrEDICTS, which enabled us to have a clear strategy towards the future product features (business and technical) and technical integration needs. One of the most important discoveries from these meetings was the fact that PrEDICTS can be easily expanded beyond parcel and pallet networks to address a much bigger market with predictive Asset Management and Staff Management. As a result of the Phase 1 project, we also developed a clear pricing/revenue strategy and managed to select the beta testers for the Phase 2 project. In fact, we have received more interest from the logistics companies and more letters of intent from future beta testers than expected. We even signed a partnership agreement with the market leader in maritime satellite communication, which are interested to become an integrator of our solution for the maritime industry.
Until the end of the project, we expect to meet with more potential customers and based on their feedback to understand whether any of other business or technical features would further improve PrEDICTS software.