Quick Gains, Smart Moves: AI’s Low-Hanging Fruit for Transport SMEs

Despite the rapid proliferation of AI tools, many small and medium-sized transportation enterprises (SMEs) continue to face significant challenges in adopting and effectively implementing AI technologies. While the availability of AI solutions is growing exponentially, these organizations often lack internal knowledge, resources, and time to explore and leverage these tools to improve their operational, social, and environmental performance. However, to build AI readiness, it is essential that transportation SMEs begin experimenting with AI technologies and systematically embed their learnings into organizational practices.
The KIEM proposal Quick Wins Smart Moves addresses this need by exploring how transportation SMEs can: (1) increase their AI readiness in such a way that they become able to (2) identify improvement opportunities in their organization and (3) match them to existing AI tools. Consistent with the cyclical nature of the process of developing AI readiness, we will also investigate (4) the processes by which transportation SMEs adopt and implement AI tools, and (5) capture and embed the learnings in their organizations to further increase their AI-readiness. The outcomes will contribute to the development of practical tools and best practices that can be shared across the broader transportation SME community.
This initiative is a collaborative effort involving Breda University of Applied Sciences, Logistics Community Brabant, Twente Universiteit, and transportation SMEs Van der Heijden BV, Van Dorst Transport, and Kennis Transport. Together, the consortium will develop an AI readiness scan and tools to identify improvement opportunities within transportation SMEs. An intern will be tasked with exploring and evaluating AI tools specifically suited to the needs of transportation SMEs. In the second phase of the project, partner SMEs will use these insights to adopt and implement AI solutions, contributing to the development of tools and best practices tailored to the idiosyncrasies of transportation SMEs.