Digital Transformation Drives Growth in Key UK Industries: Part 2 of 2

In our fast-paced evolving economy, technology is constantly evolving and creating new opportunities for companies to grow and thrive – especially since COVID-19 hit, pushing a shift towards digital ways of working for businesses.

We’ve looked at the increasing importance of digital transformation for achieving sustained growth in four evolving industries.

In part one of our digital transformation series, we highlighted the key developments in the Cyber Security Software Development and Biotechnology industries.

Here in part two, we focus on how the Telehealth Services and Third-Party Logistics industries are using technology to evolve and drive their growth.

Telehealth Services

The Telehealth Services industry delivers health-related services and information through telecommunications technologies. The level of digital transformation within telehealth services has shot up in recent years, driven by advancements in technology and changes in healthcare regulations and accelerated by response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

There are three key trends driving digital transformation for telehealth services:

1. Virtual Visits:

• Technology has improved, making it easier for patients to connect with their healthcare providers from the comfort of their own homes. This includes advancements in telemedicine software – it now offers features like real-time video conferencing, secure messaging and virtual health record access.
• Have become more widely accepted by both patients and healthcare providers. Patients appreciate the convenience and accessibility of telehealth services, while healthcare providers recognise the benefits of virtual visits (e.g. reducing costs, increasing efficiency and improving patient outcomes).

2. Artificial intelligence (AI):

• Is speeding up diagnoses and improving treatment decisions. AI's predictive power helps healthcare providers anticipate patient outcomes and identify possible drug interactions, paving the way for a new era of smarter and more effective healthcare.
• Algorithms can efficiently read, comprehend and learn from anonymised, aggregated and medical datasets. When patients give consent for companies to use their health information in this way, AI tools can help make decisions about triage, causes of symptoms and future health predictions.
• Chatbots have made it easier for patients to schedule appointments, get answers to basic questions and receive triage information. With the ability to automate routine tasks like appointment reminders, chatbots have freed up valuable time for health workers to focus time on patient care.
• Algorithms assist the health sector with virtual diagnoses. One key example is computer vision algorithms that help analyse medical images and help diagnose skin conditions, while natural language processing algorithms assess patients' symptoms and make recommendations for treatment.

3. Wearable devices and sensors:

• Fitness trackers and smartwatches can be used to monitor patients' vital signs and physical activity levels. This data can then be relayed to healthcare professionals to detect potential health issues early and provide effective treatment.
• Can be used to monitor patients remotely, providing healthcare providers with real-time data about their health and wellness.
• Can be used to monitor patients with chronic conditions (e.g. diabetes) and provide real-time data about their condition. For instance, patients with chronic health conditions usually consist of a smart hub that allows the patient to enter vital signs data and automatically receives data from various devices, like blood pressure readers, pulse oximeters and blood glucose monitors. This data is then transmitted to a clinical or non-clinical monitoring service where the patient's health is monitored and any alerts are addressed by the appropriate service.

Third-Party Logistics

Third-party logistics (3PL) providers afford clients’ outsourced logistics services. 3PL companies provide integrated supply chain management solutions which include procurement, fulfilment, warehousing, distribution and value-added ancillary logistics services, such as customs brokerage and supply chain system consultancy.

The level of digital transformation in 3PL has flourished alongside expanding demand for quicker, more efficient and cost-effective supply chain management.

There are four key trends driving digital transformation for 3PL:

1. Robotic process automation (RPA):

• Is programmed to automate the manual tasks involved in processing and fulfilling orders, such as order entry, invoice generation and shipment tracking.
• Is used to automate the scanning and labelling of inventory, as well as to manage the movement of goods within the warehouse.
• Helps automate the process of selecting and booking carriers, taking into account factors such as transit times, delivery dates and carrier capacities.
• Assists in monitoring carrier performance by tracking delivery times and accuracy.
• Can boost efficiency, improve accuracy and reduce costs.

2. Blockchain technology:

• Allows for the creation of a decentralised, shared ledger that tracks all transactions and movements of goods within the supply chain. This provides greater visibility into the entire supply chain, from the origin of the goods to their final destination.
• Uses cryptographic algorithms to secure transactions, making it nearly impossible for data to be tampered with or altered. This increased security helps prevent fraud, counterfeiting and other supply chain risks.
• Can automate and streamline many manual and administrative processes, reducing the time and cost associated with these tasks. For example, blockchain can be used to automate the tracking and settlement of payment transactions between multiple parties, reducing the time and cost associated with manual reconciliation processes.
• Enables the creation of an unalterable record of all transactions within the supply chain, making it possible to trace the origin and movement of goods in real-time. This helps ensure compliance with regulations and improve product quality control.

3. Drones:

• Are starting to be used by 3PL providers as a new and innovative way of delivering packages and goods.
• Offer advantages over traditional ground-based delivery methods, including faster delivery times and lower delivery costs. Furthermore, drones can reach remote and hard-to-access areas that are difficult for ground-based delivery vehicles, making them ideal for delivering goods to rural and remote regions.
• Can be applied for “last-mile delivery”, which refers to the final stage of delivery that takes the package from a transportation hub to the final destination. This can be a time-consuming and costly process, but drones can improve speediness and efficiency.
• Are used within inventory management and stock tracking. When drones scan barcodes and QR codes, 3PL providers can quickly and accurately track the location and status of inventory in real-time, improving efficiency of supply chain operations.

4. Artificial intelligence (AI):

• Can be used to analyse shipping routes, predict demand and allocate resources in real-time, resulting in improved efficiency and cost savings.
• Helps businesses identify potential problems with their supply chain and equipment before they occur. Through the analysis of historical date and the monitoring current conditions, AI algorithms can detect patterns to predict when a failure is imminent, allowing companies to address the issue before it becomes a problem.
• Can automate manual processes, such as order processing and invoicing. With the help of machine learning algorithms, these tasks can be completed faster and more accurately, freeing up staff time.
• Is being used in 3PL for predictive analytics, which involves using data and machine learning algorithms to make informed decisions about future events. For instance, AI can predict demand for certain products, helping companies plan their supply chain more effectively.