What are the emerging trends in logistics and supply chains?
Did you know that Amazon delivered nearly 2.5 billion packages worldwide in 2019? This fact, shared by Forbes, gives an interesting insight into the supply chain management system of the e-commerce business.
As businesses grow on a global scale, they rely more on well-organised supply chains and efficient logistics. Whether we are talking about big businesses like Amazon or smaller and medium-sized businesses, this can help to improve their efficiency and profitability.
In a global market, potential customers are not limited to your neighbours or those who are local to you, they can be people from all over the world. No matter how far away they are, every customer expects their products to be delivered quickly and without any issues.
Discover more blogs associated with the business programmes:
This is where supply chain management and logistics come into the picture. Chain management is concerned with streamlining business activities such as sourcing raw materials, making finished goods, and getting the product delivered, while logistics focuses on the planning and coordinating part of this process, ensuring the product moves swiftly and is delivered on time. Given their importance in all stages of the product life cycle, every business should focus on emerging trends in logistics and supply chain management.
Top trends in logistics industry and supply chain management
Supply chain and logistics are the backbone of any business. This is why as a business owner, it’s important to stay updated with the latest trends and information in the field. Here are some of the key trends to stay ahead of:
- Use of blockchain
Blockchain technology is used in various industries today. It has made a significant impact on the logistics and supply chain sector. With the help of blockchain, supply chain has greatly improved tracking and transparency, which leads to secure storage and the sharing of information without the involvement of any central authority.
- E-commerce solutions
The increasing demand for e-commerce solutions is one thing, but finding the right professionals to meet those needs is another challenge. Improving the skills of employees is also a crucial task that comes with growth.
To tackle this issue, businesses now turn to digital training solutions. These solutions handle the hiring, recruiting, and training process for onboarding new professionals.
- Automation of warehouse management
Warehouse management is a crucial part of logistics and supply chain strategies. The traditional ways of managing warehouses manually take up a lot of time and money. However, these old methods will likely be replaced by automated techniques soon.
In the coming years, we will see more robots, vehicles guided by computers, and automated systems for storing and retrieving items in warehouses, which will redefine the future of logistics and supply chain management.
- Agility in supply chain
In today’s fast-paced business world, technology is always advancing, and companies need to keep up to stay competitive. Being flexible and adaptable is crucial for companies and their supply chains in the digital era. To achieve this agility, logistics companies can use self-managed onboarding and effectively manage changes and exceptions in their processes.
Self-managed services let businesses have full control over their tasks instead of depending on outside help. If your business chooses to self-manage its integration solution, your team can start the onboarding process right away without any delays.
- Forecasting demand
Demand forecasting means predicting how many customers will want to buy a product or service in the future. Logistics companies can analyse different things like past sales, seasonal patterns, the state of the economy, trends in the market, prices, and competition to figure out how much demand they can expect.
This helps them get ready and make plans to manage their resources, like employees, materials, and schedules, in a smarter and more efficient way.
Demand forecasting is important because it helps prevent disruptions in the supply chain. For example, a company predicts that there will be a sudden increase in demand for its products. By knowing this in advance, the company can make sure it has enough resources ready to meet the upcoming demand.
Without demand forecasting, a logistics company might be surprised by a sudden surge in orders and not have enough resources to handle them all.
If you’re interested in becoming a logistics and supply chain executive or manager, check out the MSc Global Logistics and Supply Chain Management degree offered by the Berlin School of Business and Innovation (BSBI). BSBI is a reputed business school offering this programme in partnership with The University of Roehampton, London, which is an established institute that provides high-quality learning and has a distinguished history.
The programme will help students understand the supply chain management and logistics process. It also includes accounting and financial concepts that are relevant for decision-making in supply chain and logistics management. and logistics management. By developing a comprehensive understanding of these fields, students can better prepare for a successful career in supply chain and logistics management.
To learn more, click here.