Logistics is the art of moving something from one place to another. It’s an important skill and often takes much more planning than it appears. There are frequent issues that can cost companies hundreds of thousands of dollars over the year.
Logistic companies are constantly striving to improve their procedures and safety measures, the less loss there is the better for their profits. But, as with any industry, there are new challenges every year that need to be adapted to.
Here’s the top 5 facing logistic companies in 2021.
1) Understanding The Supply Chain
One thing that COVID-19 quickly made clear was that shutdowns and lockdowns disrupted normal supply chains. Where the focus in the past has been on visibility, it is now clear that this isn’t enough during a crisis.
Many companies suffered because their supply links are only with the tier one companies in destinations. When these close or even fold the logistics companies don’t have the contact to deal with tier 2 or 3 businesses.
Understanding the entire supply chain and improving contacts across the board is going to be essential in 2021.
2) Care For Goods In Transit
It’s fair to say this has been an issue since items have been transported from one place to another. In short, the process of transportation causes damage. Logistic companies are turning to technology to help them overcome this issue. For example, wireless temperature monitoring is an effective way of ensuring goods have been maintained in the right environment while they are in transit.
This encourages care for the goods and ensures there is accountability when a problem arises.
3) Environment
There is little doubt that environmental issues are becoming more relevant for logistics companies. It’s no longer enough to provide a moving service. Logistic companies need to reduce emissions while using recycled and environmentally friendly materials. It’s an ongoing challenge as they balance costs with environmental concerns.
4) Spreading The Risk
Just as COVID-19 highlighted the issues with the visibility of supply chains, they also showed that many logistics companies are vulnerable because they only have one source strategy. This works well most of the time but causes instant issues when the supply chain is disrupted.
Suddenly the logistic firms are simply unable to deliver because their source is experiencing problems. Diversifying and using multiple sources will be essential in 2021. This will help to ensure the goods get where they need t to be regardless of what disruptions are going on.
5) Digital Data
Logistics companies deal in physical objects and have been surprisingly slow at integrating digital solutions. The result is a miss-match of systems. Digital tracking methods mix with manual systems to make an inefficient overall system. It also deprives the leaders of the information they need to make changes and improvements;
2021 will see a move toward unifying the systems and improving data flow. This will allow the introduction of new technologies to streamline the process, improving the efficiency and profits of logistics companies.
