Predictive analysis is a powerful tool used by businesses to improve their operations, which is why predictive analytics is essential in the workplace. Essentially, it helps simplify business insights while playing a pivotal role in fast-tracking a company’s road to success.
Whether you need a forecast of the next day’s sales or want to determine which branch or distribution centre has the highest demand at a specific time, predictive analytics tools give you the head start you need for insightful decision-making.
Sit tight as we show you how predictive analysis works, its crucial role in thriving supply chain and fleet operations, and how you can implement this powerful tool in your business.
Examining data to identify trends, gain insights, and answer questions is what underlines data analytics. However, there is more than one type, each with its benefits.
Here’s everything you need to know about the different types of data analytics and where predictive analytics fits into the bigger picture.
So, let’s say you want to look at your fleet drivers’ productivity over the past business quarter. By enabling a descriptive analysis process, you can gain valuable insights that support smart decisions for improving future driver productivity. Descriptive analytics is a great starting point if you want to transform data into a powerful tool that provides actionable insights.
Also, being able to use basic statistical software like Google Charts or Microsoft Excel to identify different trends and relationships makes descriptive analytics an accessible, user-friendly tool.
Most fleet managers would want to determine what’s causing the premature ageing of fleet vehicles. After using descriptive analytics to identify trends related to untimely vehicle ageing, diagnostic analytics is the logical next step for pinpointing why these trends exist.
For example, insights on harsh-braking activity can indicate why tyres are prematurely worn out, giving fleet managers a solid basis for solving the issue and saving on costs for premature tyre replacements.
Concepts closely linked to diagnostics analysis like hypothesis testing, diagnostic regression analysis, correlation, and causation make the process more complex than descriptive analytics, but using algorithms and basic stats software like Excel makes the process more straightforward.
Want to take some guesswork out of budgeting for your fleet? Prescriptive analytics is an ideal tool for getting data-driven answers to those “what if” questions that may be keeping you up at night. Conducting prescriptive analysis allows your business to look at crucial factors like future revenue and maximise your budget by determining the best course of action. And the more data you have available, the better the results you’ll get from the process.
Machine-learning algorithms are a popular way to efficiently plough through large amounts of data and achieve refined, accurate results. By simply using phrases containing the words ïf” and “else,” as part of the analysis process, you can start gaining valuable recommendations based on your specific business needs.
One of the most challenging tasks for businesses is identifying the best course of action. In both fleet management and supply chain businesses, it’s critical to ensure your vehicles stay on the road as much as possible. By gathering a range of data, the predictive analysis process helps you forecast future events that may contribute to vehicle downtime so you can develop innovative strategies to avoid them.
There are different predictive analytics tools you can use to get the insights you need. Regression analysis, for example, determines the relationship between two variables, also known as single linear regression. In comparison, multiple regression refers to three or more variables. Ultimately, predictive analysis helps your business formulate solid, data-driven strategies and drives intelligent choices by supporting proactive decision-making.
If you agree with the expression: “why fix something that’s not broken,” predictive analytics will change how you think about running a business. The new and improved version evolved from “Why fix something that’s not broken” to “Why wait for something to break to start fixing it?” This updated perspective is more of a proactive approach that helps you really get behind the steering wheel of your business.
In the supply chain industry, predictive analytics supports many smart approaches, including determining ideal inventory levels, which in turn help minimise stock while still satisfying demand. For fleet-based companies, predictive analysis helps support proactive vehicle maintenance, enabling you to schedule preventive checkups. In both these cases, you’ll be able to make significant savings by cutting unnecessary costs.
What’s more, the use of predictive analytics tools in supply chain businesses has risen significantly, with the 2020 MHI Annual Industry Survey reporting a growth from 17% in 2017 to 30% in 2019 — a jaw-dropping 76% increase in only two years.
More and more companies are looking toward adopting this transformative technology, with 57% of companies not yet using predictive analytics planning on making this proactive change in the next five years.
So, if you want to find out how predictive analytics can be applied to improve performance in an organisation, you’re in the right place as we’re about to unpack crucial details about how this tool is used in the fleet and supply chain industries.
With statistics, algorithms, data, machine learning, and even AI, predictive analytics can anticipate future fleet management challenges, including safety, maintenance costs, problematic driver behaviour, fuel expenditure, and more.
Instead of picking up the pieces after a workplace mishap, having this powerful data at your fingertips enables innovative and proactive decision-making that helps you foresee and prevent these types of crises. Here are a few examples of how data-driven decision-making with predictive analytics can improve your business:
A fleet is also a significant component of a supply chain business’s optimal functioning; however, there are even more ways predictive analytics can make a notable contribution to providing valuable insights.
With access to detailed data analysis from different areas of business like orders, invoices, and delivery notes, supply chain businesses can make helpful predictions not only for their fleet but also for other crucial aspects of supply chain operations:
Considering how the adoption of predictive analytics technology in businesses is growing, little room for doubt remains regarding its efficiency.
What better way to understand predictive analytics than through its intricate functioning? The process can be broken up into three crucial steps that show how it makes its magic for fleet and supply chain ventures. Here’s an outline of how the process works:
When it comes to your business, each step that constitutes practical predictive analysis resonates with developing functional strategies and optimising your operations.
It's as easy as that — start creating guidelines and implementing changes directly linked to improved efficiency and reap the rewards. The sooner you start, the more data you'll have over time to finetune your processes and set them up for ultimate success.
Here’s why, if you haven’t invested in predictive analysis technology for your business yet, there’s no time like the present to get what you deserve from your business ventures.
No matter what industry you’re in, predictive analysis can take the guesswork out of planning and decision-making by providing dependable, data-driven insights.
Looking into how to use predictive analytics in supply chain management and other industries can leave you with many questions if you go at it completely alone.
Let Cartrack contribute to your success with a comprehensive telematics-based solution that offers powerful predictive analytics tools and insights. Here’s how you can start benefiting from accurate, data-driven insights today:
Cartrack’s predictive analytics-powered solutions allow you to prepare and anticipate a brighter future for your business.
Contact Cartrack and take control of your business today, tomorrow, and beyond.
