Advances in computing have driven international trade over the past decade. The World Trade Organization states that international merchandise trade increased over 50% between 2005 and 2015. The pace is accelerating, largely due to big data.
Santiago Chelala of the Inter-American Development Bank states that big data has allowed global marketers to tap into the devices of over 18 billion devices. Chelala states that a few years ago, brandsprimarily used this data to better reach customers in their own countries of residence. Today, companies like DHGate.com have expanded it to market to customers all over the world. Chelala has noticed big data has played an important role in driving trade between Latin American countries, North America and Europe.
Chelala isn’t the only expert that has noticed this trend. Amir Kohen of the World Economic Forum states that big data will continue to transform the global economy in the years to come. Here are some ways that Kohen predicts big data will shape trade.
Optimizing logistics
Few countries provide end-to-end manufacturing solutions before selling their products on the global market. They generally sell semi-finished products to affiliates in other countries first. These companies then implement value-added processes before exporting them to customers in other regions.
Every company in the global supply chain needs to understand its role and develop a model to fulfill it. Global companies can take the following steps to use big data to improve their logistics:
- Track the quality rating of suppliers.
- Make sure other brands in lower tiers of the supply chain funnel have a track record for delivering higher quality goods, because their contributions will reflect the parent brand’s own brand image.
- Minimize waste in the refining, manufacturing and other processes.
- Track turnaround times and compare them against industry averages.
- Address hangups with shipping and deliveries.
Kohen states that many factors are playing a role in improving with just sticks models, but big data remains one of the most important.
Predictive analytics for forecasting demand
Forecasting the demand of any product is a significant challenge for every brand. It is exponentially more difficult for brands that sell their products in multiple regions, because they need to forecast changes in demand and ROI in every market.
Big data is simplifying the equation for global brands. Firms such as General Electric currently use sophisticated predictive analytics models to predict changes in every market.
“Big Data and predictive analytics may take efficiency one step further by enabling companies to optimise logistics, forecast demand more accurately or better time their product launches. This will have implications for almost all sectors, from industrial products to entertainment. GE, for example, by sharing its customers’ blind data, has created a large database on industrial machines. According to the company, its monitoring centre is able to predict some 200+ equipment failures a month, thereby reducing unplanned down time,” Kohen writes.
Open new doors for innovation
Globalization has driven competitiveness in unprecedented ways. It is raising the bar for higher quality solutions every year.
Global brands need to embrace big data to become more innovative. There are a number of fields were a big data is helping pioneers discover new solutions.
Big data is changing global trade every
The global economy has undergone a dramatic shift over the last decade. The proliferation of big data has played a major role in the process. Savvy brands understand the importance of using big data to deliver solutions more cost-effectively, better meet demand, adapt to different preferences at the regional level and understand the needs of every customer across the globe.