There seems to be not a day that goes by that another set of data comes out looking pretty much the same as the data that preceded it a month earlier. It’s tempting to call it depressing, but I think any sense of depression in the industry has long since been replaced with weary numbness.
But one other thing is clear – the industry as a whole knows the heady days of yore are gone, most likely for good and the age-old ways of conducting business just don’t fly anymore in this super interconnected Internet world. Every single industry conference these days touches on many of the breaking trends.
It does show that the industry, at least in a small way, is embracing the change that is happening all around at an increasingly breakneck speed. Figuring out exactly how these new trends can be tapped by an industry notoriously slow at adapting is the real challenge. One industry resource well worth checking out is DHL’s 2016 Logistics Trend Radar. It is basically how DHL sees 26 key trends coming between now and the next five years and then between five and 10 years.
Th ere are of course some familiar faces in DHL’s list, which it breaks down into Technology Trends and Social & Business Trends. Within the next five years on the tech side of the equation DHL sees big data, low-cost sensor technology, cloud logistics, augmented reality, the Internet of things, robotics & automation all being key trends. Further out to a 10 year horizon it lists bionic enhancement, digital identifiers, self-driving vehicles, 3D printing, unmanned aerial vehicles and self-learning systems.
On the other, social and business side, DHL sees convenience logistics, fair & responsible logistics, de-stressing the supply chain, smart energy logistics, multi-purpose networks and shareconomy logistics as key trends in the near five term timeframe. Looking up to a 10 year period it sees grey power logistics, tube logistics and batch size one.
According to DHL artificial intelligence and personalisation are behind several of the most transformational trends of the 2016 report – including intelligent supply chains that use selflearning or ‘machine learning’ systems.
“Th e impact of data-driven and autonomous supply chains provides an opportunity for previously unimaginable levels of optimisation in manufacturing, logistics, warehousing and last mile delivery that could become a reality in less than half a decade despite high set-up costs deterring early adoption in logistics,” the global logistics giant said.
It added, on the social and business side that ‘batch size one’ and ‘on-demand delivery’ are set to have a big impact on logistics, on-demand delivery will enable consumers to have their purchases delivered where and when they need them by using flexible courier services. Th e ‘batch size one’ concept in which its envisaged that highly personalised products will eventually go head-to-head with mass production over the next 20 years, is an interesting area that hasn’t seen much discussion as yet.
“A batch size of one would lead to decentralised production and rapidly changing supply chains that will require logistics providers to be fast and flexible to react to changes in time and place of production,” DHL said.
I think its safe to say that all involved in the logistic industry would do well to heed these potential trends. As DHL notes, 15 of the 26 trends are likely to make an impact in under five years and as such “it is crucial that anyone involved in supply chain management and logistics understands these potentially game-changing developments and the implications for their own business or sector now.”
For more on DHL’s 2016 Logistics Trend Radar you can check out the Payload Asia website or go to www.dhl.com/trendradar.
