Digital technologies are revolutionizing many industries, including the maritime sector. The more digital technology becomes available, the more that business digitalization becomes the norm. What was science-fiction technology a decade ago is now outdated.
Asides from making businesses better and more efficient, digital processes are changing the core fundamentals of how companies work. The old “paper-based” methods can’t keep up with the current pace at which the world is evolving.
Even the maritime sector- which has always been known for slowly adopting new technologies- has realized the importance of this change. Everything from customer-supplier management systems to blockchain-based solutions is being adopted at a wide scale.
If you’re a business owner who hasn’t digitalized their business processes yet, you are missing out. The following are six reasons why digitalization is a must for any business that wants to succeed and remain competitive.
Reason 1: It’s Where the World is headed
Some things in life are optional, other things are mandatory. Digitalization has become one of these mandatory things that any business has to do. Sticking to the old ways isn’t only hindering your business’ growth, it’ll leave you isolated. It’s like speaking a language that nobody else speaks.
As more companies adopt smart digital solutions, you need to do the same to be able to work with them. You can’t use old-fashioned corresponding methods to communicate with an autonomous vessel, which will become the norm in the near future.
While such changes will not happen overnight, they certainly are already happening. The Yara Birkeland – the world’s first fully autonomous cargo ship- will make its first trip in 2020. Unless your business is ready to handle the requirements of similar technologies, you’ll find yourself offering services that are no longer relevant to the market needs. And that’s why you need to keep up.
Reason 2: Fewer Human Errors
Making mistakes is a part of what makes us human. The higher the human factor in your business processes, the more mistakes you’ll get. No matter how much training you provide for your staff, this is something that you can’t avoid. Human mistakes are inevitable.
The effect of these mistakes can vary from minor to disastrous, depending on the industry that you are in. Unlike humans, machines don’t make “mistakes”. They don’t sleep or forget no matter how long they work.
Despite the efficiency of machines and being more mistake-proof, skilled human workers are indispensable. That’s why combining a skilled human staff with digitalized business processes allows you to reduce human-caused errors to a minimum and help your business perform better.
Reason 3: Better Scalability
Scaling a business can be difficult. This is especially true if you are a business with many small details that need to be taken care of. When that’s the case, scaling isn’t only expensive, but also difficult, as you need to find people with the right skills.
When you digitize your business processes though, scaling works differently. Since most of the work you do is digitalized, you can easily scale your business to accommodate more clients.
Not only is scaling your business easier in this case, but it’s also better in terms of quality. Hiring new staff members is a risk by itself since you cannot guarantee the performance of every single one of them. This results in varying service quality and your business reputation can take a hit as you scale.
The more you digitalize, the fewer variables you have and the lower risk you assume.
Reason 4: Lower Operational Costs
Businesses with digitalized processes are cheaper to operate. This is one of the many benefits that come with using modern technologies. When you digitalize and automate as many tasks as possible, your monthly operational costs will drop.
The savings you will make depend on how labor-intensive your business is. For example, if you have a port management agency, digitalization can help you operate with fewer agents. It will also allow your existing agents to get more done in less time.
In the competitive world of port agencies, this level of efficiency can mean the difference between thriving and being out of business. Despite the initial setup cost of any digitalization process, the savings that a company makes over time outweigh these costs.
Reason 5: Better Business Insights
Another benefit that comes with digitizing business process is better insights. Gathering information from different connected digital systems is much easier than doing the same thing with traditional systems.
The insights that you get about your business opens the door for different types of improvements. You can easily know what processes need to be improved, which ones are working well, and direct your resources accordingly.
This big-picture view is essential for success. When you’re developing a long-term strategy for your business, you need to be sure that you have solid facts to work with. Working with facts instead of assumptions significantly increases the effectiveness of any business strategy.
The best thing about collecting data with digital business solutions is that it’s relatively easy. Once you have the right tools set up, you’ll see your business as you’ve never seen it before.
Reason 6: Improved Workflow
Manual workflows are full of redundant tasks that are pulling your business down. Asides from taking unnecessary time to complete, these tasks also make collaboration more difficult. Teams that don’t work well together rarely see any success.
Digitalization allows you to improve your workflow and make your team work together more efficiently. Collaborating on tasks is easier with digitalized business processes. Your team can easily coordinate work and see what everyone else is doing.
Things like tasks distribution and progress tracking are easy with the cutting-edge solutions that are available today.
You will also free up more of your time to put your mental effort where it matters most. Instead of having to worry about replying to a thousand emails, and making dozens of phone calls, you’ll start to focus on running your business.
Conclusion
Business digitalization has many benefits. When done right, it can make a business more efficient, more sustainable and more profitable.
With a solution like Abraxa, full digitalization is no longer a difficult thing to achieve. Our solutions scale with your business, so you can focus less on the technical issues, and more on growing your business.