Due to the ever-growing demands of the industry, nothing can work as effectively as such a balance. Man delivers the humanity required by the operations; he has the best ability to grow and adapt to changes, and he has foresight and creativity. Machine or technology, on the other hand, has speed and precision. Both aspects have their strengths and weaknesses, but the really nice thing here is that when one cannot do something effectively, the other can take over to deliver target results. It’s a highly beneficial symbiotic relationship.

Another big advantage of the careful combination of human skills and technology is the way that advancement is secured. With people being able to predict the changes in industry requirements, they are in the best position to develop technological and other technical solutions to effectively address these changes. They can develop the necessary technology so the values they need to demonstrate for the furtherance of the industry can be a reality.

Take, for example, what the parcel delivery services in Japan have developed; knowing that their nifty gadgets are greatly in demand abroad, these services have dedicated study, time and money to developing packing equipment that can preserve the quality of the electronic gadgets, even if subjected to the most careless handling. It is new technology that’s a product of man’s foresight; the beauty with this is that it has now allowed for the service menu of logistics companies all over the country to expand, and hopefully soon, the rest of the world will be able to use the same technology.

All these only go to show that these two aspects simply must work hand in hand. One cannot be prioritised more than the other because that will be counterproductive. Man and machine have very specific roles to perform; therefore, both are equally important and smart investments for the supply chain industry.