On the Future Stage of Echelon Asia Summit 2019, we will dig deeper about the prospects for e-sports athletes in the region

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When it comes to e-sports, Asia is that one opponent that the global e-sports community need to beware about.

While the industry has gone through a long history in Southeast Asian countries, it has recently touched a new milestone when China was crowned gold medal winner in the first of six e-sports demonstration events taking place at the 18th Asian Games in Indonesia.

Various governments in Southeast Asia have begun running state-sponsored competitions in preparation of the upcoming Southeast Asian (SEA) Games 2019 in the Philippines. Major tech companies such as Go-Jek have also begun investing in e-sports through its investment arm; more and more e-sports startups in the region were also raising significant funding, as their ability to compete with similar platforms from US and China were finally proven.

With all this exciting development, it is no wonder that Asia is considered as the next red hot arena for e-sports athletes. But what are the available opportunities for e-sports athletes in the region? How can they tap into it? What are the remaining challenges that they are facing?

To answer your burning questions, e27 has prepared a panel discussion called E-sports: Why Asia’s newest cool kid on the block has become an arena for professional athletes on the second day of Echelon Asia Summit, held at Singapore Expo on May 23-24.

Also Read: Singtel to back Singapore’s SEA Games e-sports team

The session will feature the following speakers:

Alan Chou, CEO, meta.us

As CEO of social marketplace platform for competitive video game and e-sports community meta.us, Chou has more than 10 years experience in the gaming business with over a dozen AAA game titles launched and credited.

Prior to meta.us, he was Director of Publishing for Southeast Asia at Blizzard where he led the team to 5x growth in revenue four years

With a strong background in building businesses and leading teams, Alan enjoys the challenge of pushing boundaries and in his own words “creating something from nothing”.

Benjamin Rynjah Goh, Regional Brand Manager, AirAsia

Goh started off his career in the finance industry before moving into advertising from Bloomberg TV Malaysia to BBDO. After two years at BBDO, he moved to AirAsia where he began by working on the branding operations in Singapore but has now shifted to managing the sport portfolio for the group.

Handling key sponsorships with organisations such as the UFC (professional e-sports team), Team Mineski, The KL2017 SEA Games as well as the recently concluded AFF Suzuki Cup, Ben also works closely with individual athletes that the brand use as ambassadors –from Roberto Carlos, Azizul Awang, to Tai Tuivasa– activating them in Malaysia, the region and beyond.

Also Read: DailySocial moves forward with launch of Hybrid, an Indonesian e-sports news platform

Rai Cockfield, CEO & Co-founder, BITREP.me

Prior to BITREP.me, Cockfield served as Director – Asia Pacific at global live streaming giant Twitch. For more than two years, he was responsible for expanding Twitch’s APAC Community of Broadcasters and Viewers. Combining previous community building and international operating experience, he developed an initial growth strategy for Twitch through content expansion, international product development, sales, corporate expansion, and infrastructure development.

The role had enabled him to develop his passion for supporting the rapidly growing community of digital content creators and “fall back in love” with popular game titles in his youth such as Street Fighter.

Prior to joining Twitch, Cockfield had lived in several countries in Asia and North America and has worked in various sectors from wine e-commerce, C2C marketplace, and even real estate developer.

Jason Ng, Vice President Strategic Partnership, Garena

Ng has worked in Garena for almost a decade, starting off Senior Project Manager in 2010. He has been holding the Vice President, Strategic Partnerships title for two years.

Prior to joining Garena, he had experienced working at several government institutions, starting as Senior Manager at Ministry of Manpower, Singapore. He was also a Consultant at Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore.

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RWDC develops cost-effective biopolymer material solutions, which are naturally produced by bacterial fermentation of plant-based oils or sugar

Singapore-based biotech startup RWDC Industries has raised US$22 million in the third tranche of its ongoing Series A round of funding, led by early-stage investment firm Vickers Venture Partners and US-based Eversource Retirement Plan Master Trust — its first institutional investor.

Others who participated in the round include cross-border VC firm and existing backer WI Harper Group.

This is a follow-up to the US$13 million that RWDC raised in the second tranche of its Series A round in October last year.

Founded in 2015 by Wee and Daniel Carraway (CEO), RWDC develops cost-effective biopolymer material solutions. In particular, RWDC produces medium-chain-length polyhydroxyalkanoate (mcl-PHA) biopolymers that are designed for use across a broad range of applications.

Also Read: This Indian startup makes cutlery using sugarcane waste

PHAs are linear polyesters naturally produced by bacterial fermentation of plant-based oils or sugar and are widely recognised as the only commercially viable biodegradable bioplastic. RWDC claims its PHA is fully biodegradable in soil, water and marine conditions (i.e. all potential end-of-life scenarios), fully biodegrading within weeks with no toxic residue.

The fresh investment will primarily be used to increase PHA production capacity in Georgia, USA, as well as to support its R&D efforts into prioritised applications. The company expects its first commercial batch of PHA straws to be available in the market in 2019.

The PHA resin formulated by RWDC for these straws is designed as a drop-in replacement of Polypropylene that can be used on existing extrusion machines.

“The world finally recognises the urgent need to build a green and sustainable future. Plastic waste pollution in our oceans is a real threat to societies and global growth. RWDC’s biopolymer materials are fully biodegradable, durable and functional. Our goal is to replace single-use plastic and create meaningful impact. We are very proud to partner with RWDC’s team, creating awareness to replace plastic use, while also raising the standard for the smart cities of future generations,” Peter Liu, Chairman of WI Harper Group, said.

Governments around the world are beginning to legislate more aggressively on plastic waste, with the EU leading the way with a new directive on single-use plastic articles. However, current responses focused on ‘Reduce, Reuse and Recycle’ are inadequate to alter the growth trajectory of plastic waste, risking serious consequences.

RWDC believes a better solution is to replace single-use plastics with PHA.

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Photo by John Cameron on Unsplash

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Adyen will support the airlines in providing payment experience for customers across the globe

Singapore Airlines announced today that it has partnered with Adyen, the global fintech platform that assists companies for digital payment. With the partnership, Adyen and the airlines will seek to provide enhanced payment experience every time customers book flights online or in-app.

Furthermore, the partnership will include the use of Adyen’s direct credit card acquiring capabilities which eliminates the need to run payments across multiple third-party platforms. The airlines will leverage on Adyen’s RevenueAccelerate.

The solution taps on Adyen’s global, cross-industry data network to block fraudulent transactions, leaving the genuine travelers unobstructed. With this approach, Singapore Airlines can identify legitimate customers.

“At Adyen, we have seen that payments data can be the jet fuel that powers global expansion for airlines. Payments data remains a valuable resource for companies who seek to understand their customers better and improve revenue. We aim to provide just that for Singapore Airlines, to give their customers a great booking experience from the get-go,” said Warren Hayashi, President of Adyen, Asia-Pacific.

Also Read: Japan plans to increase internal security in crypto exchanges

Singapore Airlines said that since working with Adyen, it has enjoyed “an increase in authorization rates, flexibility on fraud risk management, and richer data insights”. ,
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New Acting CEO Juliana Jan has been with Cradle Seed Ventures since 2004

Cradle Seed Ventures, the venture capital (VC) arm of Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd, today announced the appointment of Juliana Jan as Acting CEO.

The appointment is effective immediately from April 15, 2019.

CSV will continue its operations in the interim period under Jan’s stewardship.

Jan is set to replace Dzuleira Abu Bakar, whose service ends after two and half years as CEO.

She has more than 15 years of experience in senior management experience, including a decade of involvement in venture capital funding as well as in market research and grants.

Also Read: MaGIC pulls top talent from Cradle to be new boss

The new Acting CEO has been with Cradle since 2004 and is very passionate about helping entrepreneurs and startups.

“We are fortunate to have someone of Juliana’s caliber and experience stepping up to lead CSV,” said Razif Abdul Aziz, Acting Group CEO of Cradle, in a press statement.

“We are at a critical moment and need someone who is able to continue implementing our key strategies and take advantage of market opportunities ahead. Juliana is a technology visionary with a proven track record of execution. She has the right operational, management and leadership skills to provide the necessary stewardship and governance necessary to ensure the confidence of CSVs portfolio companies and partners,” he added.

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Image Credit: Cradle Seed Ventures

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eBay and Amazon wouldn’t be where they are now if Pierre Omidyar and Jeff Bezos had just ‘stood still’

The e-commerce scene has evolved and grown exponentially since the first wave of product and service-focused online marketplaces, and of course, the ubiquity of the smartphone.

They’ve paved the way for technological innovation within online marketplaces and inspired many startups to launch their own.

There are still great opportunities for online marketplaces to enter new verticals and disrupt legacy industries. New and emerging startups have entered almost every niche or vertical, but only a small percentage make in the long haul. In fact, certain niche markets, more than others, are saturated with competitors.

The fact that innovation occurs at a virtually unprecedented speed in the Internet era makes the future of your own marketplace even more daunting. Who knows, one moment your marketplace could be thriving, and the next, without any warning at all, it could be obsolete, just like MySpace or Friendster.

In such a competitive landscape, what can the entrepreneurs of today learn from online marketplaces that managed to beat their competitors and make it big? What has enabled them to stay at the forefront of e-commerce?

Anticipate the future, but do your research

You may see what others don’t, or you may have an idea of the next big opportunity, but nothing will make that idea more focused and viable than research.

In the early 90s, many people knew that Internet businesses would be the next big thing, but Amazon founder Jeff Bezos took it a step further by researching the top 20 mail-order businesses in the U.S. He identified one key product — books — which suppliers already had electronic lists for and would benefit most from being sold through the Internet instead of mail-order.

Also Read: RHL Ventures launches US$24.3M sector-agnostic fund to invest in Malaysian startups, SMEs

Bezos entered the online market with this original focus, and following Amazon’s initial success, Bezos was able to expand the site’s offerings, which brings me to my next point..

Never stand still

Bezos could’ve been satisfied with Amazon’s US$20,000/month book sales, and eBay founder Pierre Omidyar could’ve been satisfied with just selling collectables, but they weren’t.

Sure, eBay and Amazon were already big back then, but they really became household names when they broadened their product categories.

Not only did they expand worldwide, but they also began acquiring companies that would complement their core business. eBay bought PayPal, which facilitated its online payments. Amazon bought Zappos, which enabled it to establish itself as a major player in the footwear category. These examples are only two of these marketplace giants’ strategic acquisitions.

Another success story of the dot-com bubble, Alibaba, has beginnings in its B2B platform. Today, Alibaba operates a number of China’s most successful sites, including China’s largest C2C marketplace Taobao; Tmall.com, the country’s largest B2C marketplace; and Alipay, a third-party online payment platform.

In short, when building a marketplace, stagnation is your worst enemy, and innovation is key to long term success. After all, there’s always room for improvement.

Focus on the users

The user experience is everything. It determines whether or not customers will come back to your site and how passionate people will be about what your brand. The most successful marketplaces have these few things in common:

1. Personalisation

Features such as “Follow”, “Recommended for You” and “Related” are a great way to keep your offerings relevant to the user. eBay even has geo-targeting to make sure the items that show up on a user’s page can be shipped to their location.

These features let the customers be involved in choosing what they want to see. The more relevant it is, the more likely the user will find value in your marketplace, and the more likely the user will visit your site again.

2. Speed

Part of creating a positive user experience is to make it as fast as possible for the users to find what they’re looking for. This can be done through minimising the time it takes for a webpage to load, and by making the site search-oriented — either by using a search bar, search autocomplete, or suggestions of popular categories.

3. Allow feedback and reviews

Give the users as much information as possible to help them make informed decisions before purchasing an item or service. Displaying ratings and reviews from other customers usually does the job.

Sites such as Booking.com send out emails to solicit reviews from customers, and the feedback helps other Booking.com users to see how reputable the provider is so they can choose the best product or service experience.

Also Read: Will Asia’s booming digital economy lead to an inevitable rise in cybercrime?

In addition to boosting bookings, this provides extra value to the customers.

4. Fast and efficient communication

Give your customers assurance by sending them e-mail updates and confirmation. Amazon leads in this category as it offers real-time package tracking. Early startups may not be able to afford this luxury, but you should still cover the basics, including a dedicated customer support team and confirmation emails and updates.

Social media and newsletters are also effective ways to communicate general updates and promotions to your customers.

Be persistent

To make it to the top, you have to be persistent. As in Amazon’s case, it could take years before your marketplace can finally become profitable. Take the time and effort to test out what works and what doesn’t, and most importantly, never give up on your vision.

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This article was written in collaboration with Clarissa Santoso, a Content Strategist for Arcadier, a SaaS company that powers next generation marketplace ideas. Follow Arcadier on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn for news and updates on the sharing economy.

e27 publishes relevant guest contributions from the community. Share your honest opinions and expert knowledge by submitting your content here.

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Aruna aims to help fishermen in Indonesia improve livelihoods through better market access and fairer trading opportunities

The Alipay-NUS Enterprise Social Innovation Challenge, which was jointly launched by Chinese e-payment giant Alipay and the National University of Singapore (NUS) entrepreneurial arm NUS Enterprise, has named Indonesian fishery startup Aruna as winner of the event’s grand final round.

Aruna is a platform that uses digital technology to help fishermen in Indonesia improve livelihoods through better market access and fairer trading opportunities.

The startup aims to “dramatically” reduce transaction cost by connecting fishermen and potential customers, helping fishermen raise selling prices by as much as 20 per cent while buyers can pay up to 15 per cent less.

The startup has served 1,701 fishermen in 16 provinces in Indonesia.

In a press statement, Aruna CEO Farid Naufal Aslam said that the startup is “very excited” to win the awards.

Also Read: Fishery platform Aruna raises seed funding, aims to reach out to more fishermen in Indonesia

“This is the first time we have won international recognition for our work. We will next work on further growing our team and help more fishermen out of poverty,” he said.

Aruna will receive a total of S$60,000 (US$44,000) as grand finals winner while the other eight finalists from Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia will receive S$10,000 (US$7,000) each.

These nine startups will also be given support from NUS Enterprise, Alipay, special partner International Finance Corporation (IFC), and other supporting partners to further develop their ideas.

In addition to the cash prize, the winner and all other finalists will benefit from the 10×1000 Tech for Inclusion programme, jointly established by IFC and Alipay.

The training programme aims to support the cultivation of 10,000 technology experts in emerging markets from both public and private sectors over the next 10 years.

Since its launch in October 2018, the 10×1000 programme has conducted preliminary surveys to optimise its training modules and has hosted a number of training and exchange activities.

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Image Credit: Alipay-NUS Enterprise Social Innovation Challenge

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Our three winners ranged from a phone repair service to a sharia compliant fintech startup

See you at Echelon! If you are stoked to see these companies pitch for their championship, register for tickets here.

Three kings are set to descend on Singapore for Echelon Asia Summit 2019 after being crowned the judges choice winners for TOP100 Kuala Lumper.

Our winners this year were Pod, MyMy and iFull.

The regional champions  three have managed to clinch a free exhibition booth space in the TOP100 Zone at Echelon Asia Summit 2019.

Also Read: These fantastic Echelon speakers are set to tackle this crucial ecosystem challenge

On top of that, the companies will also get to enjoy:

• A pitching slot on the TOP100 stage on day one of Echelon
• Intimate investor meetings and inclusion to Corporate business matching
• Five starter tickets to Echelon Asia Summit
• Access to the TOP100 Tour in Singapore

At Echelon, they will be but one of many competitors pitching for over S$100,000 worth of prizes.

Let’s meet our three winners!

iFull

Phone repair is real pain in the you-know-what. For simple fixes, it is either extremely difficult to find a repairperson or the official outlets charge and arm and a leg.

iFull wants to fix this problem. It connects people to phone repair shops and helps people book a time/place to get their phone fixed.

iFull operates in the Malaysian states of Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Kedah. The company also runs a training academy to help people learn how to become technicians.

MyMy

MyMy is a fintech company that wants to be a challenger bank for ASEAN. The company wants to help people without easy access to banks (think islands) get a digital account in no time.

As part of their plan, the company sees a shariah-compliant version in the near future too.

Pod

This app is meant to help people save money by providing “lifestyle nudges” to facilitate the process. It has created a semi-automated expense recording and an AI-driven bot to help the individual adjust how they use their money.

What is interesting, is it has partnered with local merchants to provide rewards to people who use the platform.

The qualifiers

For seven other startups, the dream is not over. They have qualified for TOP100 at Echelon and have an opportunity at the grande prize! The qualified companies are as follows:

• LAPASAR
• Urban Mobility Asia
• High Vibe
• Toku World
• Advanx Health
• NEXPlatform
• PB Grocery Group

Also Read: As TOP100 qualifiers draw to a close, we are giving away more FREE tickets to Echelon Asia Summit 2019!

See you at Echelon! If you are stoked to see these companies pitch for their championship, register for tickets here.

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Photo by Mega Caesaria on Unsplash

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Ariya Banomyong announced the decision on facebook, calling his time there “my greatest experience.”

Today, Ariya Banomyong, the Managing Director for LINE Thailand, announced that he would be stepping down from the role he has held for 3.5 years.

The main role for Banomyong was to lead strategy, build partnerships and steer the company into more business opportunities.

He expressed his pride in transforming the public perception of LINE from a “cool service” to a quality employer.

“I am not bragging… All this, and so much more, is not my work… but my team’s work. I may be the one on the stage, in the news, but behind me, with me, next to me, is my team. We have built this together, we have been in the trenches together”” he wrote.

Also Read: Listen to these expert speakers at Echelon to know whether blockchain is just a hype or not

For LINE, based in Tokyo, this is a significant position for the company. Thailand is easily the company’s most important market outside of Japan.

“LINE has truly committed itself to Thailand, not just in talk, but in practice, investing in the market, acquiring startups, investing in startups, supporting the Thai ecosystem,” said Banomyong in his post.

Prior to his time at LINE, Banomyong was the Country Head of Google Thailand and before that the Chief Commercial Officer at TRUE Corporation.

He considers himself a marketer at heart and wanted to leave behind a legacy of truly localising LINE to the Thai market.

Banomyong is also the grandson of former Prime Minister Pridi Banomyong.

Read his full resignation post here:

Also Read: These fantastic Echelon speakers are set to tackle this crucial ecosystem challenge

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Some startups had 15-year-old founders while others targeted marginalised groups and youth-trends

Three months ago, The Start, a pre-accelerator programme organised by StartupX was kickstarted to catalyse the growth of early-stage startups. For these startups, most of whom had just completed a hackathon, it was a 12-week alternative to returning to their nine-to-five jobs and truly actualising their semi-validated ideas.

The pre-accelerator was also supported by Temasek, which saw this partnership as an opportunity to galvanise the ecosystem.

Under three months of close mentorship and constant refinery, the cohort of 10 startups have finally graduated from the programme and took to the demo day stage to share their tractions and growth.

One of the most impressive startups to present at the demo day was the cohort’s most junior team.

Bridge

Bridge, founded by four 15-year-old students, is nothing short of being a product of prodigy. Tired of the old “you’re too young to have a debit-card son” situation, these kids set out to bridge the financial parent-student conflict by creating an e-wallet app that digitises pocket money.

The app is able to mitigate both student’s desire to make independent financial decisions, and parent’s distrust over said desire. It does this by equipping students with the tools to pick up better financial literacy while allowing their parents to keep a careful eye on their expenditure. A perfectly poised take on holding on, yet letting go.

Bridge’s cashless payment system has already attracted attention from Favepay and Grabpay, and will test its beta app in Raffles Institution this month.

According to Rafael Soh, Bridge’s Co-Founder and CEO, a “pressing yet ignored” fact of today is that less than 10 per cent of Singaporean teenagers aged 13-16 have debit-cards, while more than 89 per cent of them own a smartphone. This demographic not only represents a huge untapped market potential, but also speaks volumes about a culture that stigmatises a child’s need to learn financial responsibility early.

Therefore, arbitrating the financial strain between parent and student seems like a right move by instilling better financial wit in the next generation of economic drivers.

Interestingly, e27 also saw a familiar face on the demo day stage. StaffAny, our TOP100 Singapore champion, will be making its debut at our Echelon Asia Summit on 23-24 May.

StaffAny

StaffAny started out with a cash poor, idea-rich situation, and has definitely come a long way from humble beginnings. Its app provides a unique workforce management system that accommodates employees with multiple jobs and uses real-time deployment.

Killing the need for your scribbly spreadsheets, StaffAny is a revolutionary mobile app that combines operation systems and HR management to engage and manage hourly workers.

Aided with the rising gig economy, 70 paying locations have already adapted StaffAny’s technology into their management systems. Some notable companies include Killiney, Yah Kun Kaya, and KOI.

Wearing his company logo proudly across his shirt, Janson Seah, Co-founder and CEO of StaffAny shared that the startup was already experiencing a 25 per cent month on month growth and had plans to regionalise.

Janson also attributed part of his success to his entrepreneur buddies from the programme who have “helped each other along the way” and “frequently share leads”.

This comes from StartupX’s effort in making their pre-accelerator programme an opportunity for all startups to scale and grow together in healthy competition and cohesion.

According to Durwin Ho, Managing Director at StartupX, these startups are supported by a curation of the programme’s “community of mentors, networks, and resources to help them get to the next stage”.

Speaking of networks, the graduates of the pre-accelerator programme form quite a remarkable one.

Let’s meet the rest of the teams!

Outside

Outside is a community tasking app that believes in solving everyday problems with everyday people. It leverages geolocation technology to allow users around the vicinity to complete other people’s tasks.

What’s fun about Outside is that it’s like a task-based pokemon-go whereby the rewards are actual cash.

The app has already had 500 downloads and 60 posted tasks. Co-founder Nicholas Lim has also previously shared Outside’s entrepreneurial journey with e27.

Mindpalace

Mindpalace sees itself as the next best thing to teleportation — virtual reality. It allows long-stay residents from nursing homes to indulge in virtual travel, keeping their minds active and slowing dementia effects.

Founder Eugene, says that Mindpalace will put the AGE back in AGENCY and provide a meaningful way to enjoy life’s decrescendo. It’s even been approved by PM Lee and has been endorsed by SGH and NTUC nursing homes.

KpopKart

As Kpop’s ‘Hallyu wave’ continues to take the world by storm, a deluge of Kpop fans remain deprived of a central, easy-to-access K-pop marketplace. This is where KpopKart comes in to play. It provides a centralised e-commerce site for K-pop fans to purchase fan-made merchandise.

Launched two months back, the company led by CEO and Co-founder Vera Sun, has already bagged Unicon’s Grand Champion title and sees expansion into J-pop and C-pop in its horizons.

SG Assist

SG Assist is a crowdsourcing mobile app that takes care of ‘urban unsupported’ members of society. These include people like live-alone elderly, single parents, and unwell individuals. It does this is by linking these residents with trained and trusted community respondents in their hour of need, granting a commodity of time ambulances cannot guarantee.

The app is already being used in two major districts in Singapore and plans to expand to China, Malaysia and Thailand in the future.

Master

Master’s catchphrase, “the app to remember”, has two meanings. One, that it has great market potential in transforming Singapore’s pressure-cooker type education system, and two, that it literally helps students remember and retain information better. This is done by integrating machine learning with textbook content to customise learning for every student, at an accessible and low cost.

Master plans to revolutionise the way of studying and adapt its technology into our classrooms, helping students excel more effortlessly.

The Kint Story

Much like the Japanese Kintsugi, The Kint Story sees value in old clothes and prides itself in contributing to the circular fashion economy in Southeast Asia. Since their launch in January, Founders YuShu and Elisa have earned the title of ‘Thrift Queens’ in Singapore and continue to curate and sell pre-loved clothing on their platform.

The Kint Story mainly caters to millennials who seek alternatives to fast-fashion, or simply want to look unique.

Veport

In Indonesia, many drivers spend up to 160 hours per year servicing their vehicles, given the poor traffic conditions. Veport is an AI-powered vehicle services marketplace that will offer busy drivers price and service provider comparisons and valet services.

The app has already attracted more than 1000 interested users and looks forward to alleviating the 137 million vehicle owners in Indonesia. “The Go-Jek for vehicle services”, envisions Priscilla Artistotles Co-founder of Veport, who hails from an automotive background herself.

HomeyDays

HomeyDays relies on VR technology to provide online property walkthroughs to help overseas renters make informed decisions before moving to Singapore. Their main target markets consists of international students and inbound professionals staying in Singapore.

Their app has already received the support of more than 1000 foreigners on WeChat and aims to become a renowned co-living provider in major Southeast-Asia cities by 2029.

The Demo Day was a true celebration of milestones and we look forward to hearing more from these 10 startups in the future!

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The fifth generation of cellular internet connectivity is set to be the supercharged gateway to a smarter and more connected logistics world

With the promise of unstoppable data download and upload speeds, broader coverage and more stable connections, 5G, the fifth-generation cellular technology, is set to transform mobile connectivity as we know it.

5G is already expected to revolutionise supply chains around the world as it becomes more available to different markets over the next few years.

More companies are shifting toward a data-driven mindset in their decision making — to predict future performance and optimise operational efficiencies — which will require the collection and analysis of a large swath of data, some in real-time.

Exponentially faster data speeds and reduced latency will give rise to a more responsive network to support this transformation, while also paving the way for more Internet-enabled smart devices to be integrated along the logistics supply chain.

This will all render logistics processes faster, safer and more reliable.

Here’s a look at what 5G means for logistics in five ways.

1. Logistics, digitalised

With more smart devices — from temperature-monitoring sensors to autonomous vehicles — latching onto the finite frequencies of older cellular networks, mobile network operators are running out of usable radio channels on current spectrums.

But the issue of limited spaces for more devices on the network will soon be a thing of the past, as 5G is able to connect more users than its predecessors. In fact, for every meter of coverage, 5G is able to support over 1,000 more devices as compared to 4G at speeds of up to 10 gigabits per second (10Gbps), or 100 times faster.

With faster speeds, lower lag times, larger areas of coverage and a comparatively smaller power appetite, smart devices can communicate faster with one another at speeds that are even closer to real-time. This will catalyse the use of time-sensitive Internet of Things (IoT) device applications and open up opportunities for new use-cases in logistics and beyond.

With IoT forecasted to open up a US$1.9 trillion opportunity in logistics, 5G is one of the key enablers to facilitate data-driven analytics and decision making with big data and artificial intelligence.

2. Minimising supply chain risks

It is easy to track the exact location of your parcel or pizza order while in the city today. But, having the same level of visibility for goods in international transit remains a challenge due to the scale and widespread nature of the delivery mission.

Nearly 90 per cent of logistics and shipping providers feel that the lack of supply chain visibility is one of the biggest challenges in the industry today, according to research by Moor Insights & Strategy. In fact, they admit that there is no access to visibility for least half of their supply chain.

Also Read: Listen to these expert speakers at Echelon to know whether blockchain is just a hype or not

But IoT is here to transform this aspect of logistics. Portable Internet-connected trackers that monitor in real time the location and condition of the goods throughout the entire supply chain can eliminate such information “black holes”.

The wide range of low-energy benefits of 5G will pave the way for new globally utilisable tracking and condition monitoring capabilities for parcels and devices, according to DHL’s latest Logistics Trend Radar report.

Some of these smart devices include battery-operated tracking devices that can be securely attached to containers, trucks, boxes or on the goods itself, monitoring the location, temperature, humidity, light, shock and other key metrics. Electronic locks can also be Internet-enabled to deter and report acts of tampering and theft.

All of this means high-value consignments will be less susceptible to being meddled with during transportation, thanks to better real-time monitoring.

3. Autonomous trucks on public roads

Technological disruptors are ramping up initiatives in self-driving systems — not just for cars, but trucks too. This is set to revolutionise the way road freight is done, marking the shift from labour-intensive processes to a lean and efficient operation.

With its extremely low latency, 5G is a key enabler for autonomous trucks on public roads where every millisecond matters. This is because 5G data can be transmitted with a lag time of only one millisecond, which is 50 times faster than 4G. The less time it takes for an autonomous truck to make a decision, the safer the roads, and the more reliable the deliveries.

Ericsson, Einride and Telia have recently teamed up to produce a sustainable, reliable and safe transport system through their autonomous, 5G-powered trucks. Dubbed the “T-pod”, the fully-electric driverless truck has been introduced into a logistics facility in Jönköping, Sweden, as part of an intelligent transport ecosystem.

While currently deployed in a controlled environment, the eventual aim is to bring the autonomous trucks onto public roads in the future, setting a new benchmark for the logistics of tomorrow.

DHL is also testing autonomous delivery within its own fleet of electric StreetScooter vehicles, which could also receive a boost from 5G connectivity.

But for autonomous trucks to be adopted in a big way, the challenges of government regulation, infrastructure, social acceptance and safety concerns must first be overcome.

Only then will the benefits of the autonomous driving revolution come into play.

4. Faster and safer port operations

The Port of Livorno, the gateway to Tuscany since the Italian Renaissance, has become a test bed for a new 5G-enabled innovative digitalised platform.

To create an intelligent transportation system, sensors, cameras and devices are connected to a network to form an integrated communications system. Intelligent unmanned ground vehicles are able to automatically load and unload as well as broadcast their cargo inventory information so that they can gain access into controlled areas.

The key is this: the backbone of the system rests on a fast, reliable and high-bandwidth connection that is possible only with 5G’s speed and performance.

The digitalisation efforts here are opening a slew of possibilities. Syncing IoT and Artificial Intelligence with good connectivity, as the port shows, helps to create a lean, secure and effective operations environment.

5. Augmented reality (AR) applications

Sophisticated AR applications used in logistics, such as vision picking, will be significantly enhanced if supported on a 5G network.

With a reduced lag time allowing instantaneous updates on cargo movements, it will improve the user experience for the AR applications, which can visually indicate the latest changes. This reduces chances for error, and boosts the efficiency of the staff managing warehouse operations.

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Besides order picking, 5G-powered assembly and repair processes in the warehouse can also speed up due to the shorter time needed to transmit information to AR-enabled devices.

For instance, teams equipped with hands-free AR glasses can rely on the software to display step-by-step instructions for the assembly or repair through the lenses in real time, saving valuable training time and additional manpower costs.

When 5G realises its full potential, gone will be the days of losing cargo, misplacing parcels and incurring losses due to human error, mismanagement and inefficiencies.

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This article was originally published on Logistics of Things. 

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