Companies seeking to improve their supply chains and navigate through the remainder of the coming years need to consider how the current emerging trends in logistics will impact their businesses.
FREMONT, CA: The trend of container usage for ocean shipments has transformed the shopping industry. Such changing trends help the industry evolve, particularly when logistics have become part of the just-in-time inventory system.
The past couple of years has encountered extreme challenges for the industry due to the pandemic and geopolitical and economic crises in some countries. As the circumstances have continued to adapt to the fluctuating global situation, the transformation effect will aggravate this financial year. While global trade organisations and governments work tirelessly to streamline trade dynamics and ensure seamless international trade, there will undoubtedly be some hiccups and new trends in the coming years.
A Sustained Rise in Freight Prices
With many factors contributing to the rising freight rate, ocean shipments observed high freight rates constantly throughout the previous year. For example, the changing consumer preferences and drastic surge in demand for goods worldwide during the previous years strained the logistics cycles across every sector.
Lockdowns affected procurement and other supply chain processes, highlighting a global demand and supply gap. Simultaneously, other factors, including container shortages and supply-side capacity-related issues, were responsible for high shipping costs. Moreover, it is anticipated that the internal trade costs, such as inland water transport and truckload rates, will eventually rise, increasing the overall shipping costs. The recent geopolitical tensions have created a huge demand-supply gap in the global trade market. The lack of exports from such economies and the rising prices of necessities like grains and fuels will ultimately reduce global GDP growth.
Logical and Logistical Challenges
The pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns imposed worldwide created an acute labour shortage in every major global port, increasing loaded vessels, cargo queues, and container shortages. As the world begins to adjust to the volatile situation, global commodity price increases and fuel cost increases have exacerbated the weak global trade condition.
Enhanced Delivery Timelines
Recently, several healthcare experts across the world have forecast that the pandemic will turn into endemic shortly. This would be a significant development as the pandemic-driven lockdowns and movement restrictions would be eased by governments. It is possible because of the worldwide efforts of the healthcare sector and the massive number of vaccinations administered.This is likely to streamline and accelerate the global supply chain, thereby restoring delivery timelines to pre-pandemic levels.
Rise of Automation
Despite various challenges, the world had expected to weaken technological advancement with the development of deep tech utilisation in logistics and global trade. Connected logistics are and will be crucial for sippers. It plays an essential role in exporters' cost-effective and timely shipment management.
Computer vision-powered tools in a connected logistics network to monitor inventory and loss or theft of goods during shipping are examples of digitisation improving shipping and other logistics processes. Similarly, IoT-based sensors can detect the pressure or temperature of cargo while on the go. Using technologies such as AI, machine learning, computer vision, connected IoT networks, and particularly blockchain, creatively and strategically simplifies shipping-related operations.
Logistics industry trends will significantly impact the industry in the future. Businesses can create a next-generation stack by leveraging their previous technology investments while developing big data, IoT, and omnichannel solutions, thus positioning themselves for the future. Companies succeeding in this landscape and beyond will adopt a combination of logistics industry trends, becoming better equipped and more resilient to supply chain shocks.
