What's next for the logistics industry?
The logistics industry is undergoing significant change.
Digital transformation is a major enabler, and is causing global logistics companies to implement new technology such as artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and automation, IoT and Big Data, among others into operations. This new technology has allowed firms to speed up processes and increase efficiency significantly.
By 2030, the logistics market is set to be worth around US$75bn, according to LogisticsIQ’s latest study “Next-Gen Supply Chain Market - Global Forecast to 2030.” This has seen a massive increase from US$32bn in 2019. The supply chain space today requires greater visibility and transparency in the data process, faster adoption of IoT, increasing investment in supply chain innovation as well as huge demand from e-commerce.
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That increased demand in e-commerce has enabled robots to enter warehouses, sorting areas, in addition to now being deployed for micro-fulfillment and last-mile delivery purposes. Across the entire logistics chain, from order intake to customer delivery, it results in faster order fulfillment, greater order accuracy, reduced damages and improved labour productivity. Large retailers such as Amazon, JD and Walmart use robots to pack and sort items for warehouse automation which significantly increases efficiency.
AI helps to address several key challenges in the supply chain. It helps to analyse complex data in order to forecast future demand, as well as being deployed in supply chain planning and optimisation, including demand forecasting, inventory management, warehouse management and fleet management.
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