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Global logistics? You ain’t seen nothing yet…

[ November 25, 2013   //   ]

The global logistics market may have been transformed in the past 20 years but there is no let up in the rate of change, says a new by book by John Manners-Bell, CEO of industry research firm Transport Intelligence, the market leading supplier of research and analysis to the global logistics industry.

Logistics has evolved rapidly over the past two decades from an industry populated by multiple, fragmented and independent transport and warehousing functions, to one dominated by diversified conglomerates.

However, according to Manners-Bell’s Global Logistics Strategies: Delivering the Goods, the dynamic nature of the industry means that there will be plenty more change in the coming years. A powerful mix of demand and supply side factors means that further re-structuring is inevitable.

The book identifies the shift of the economic balance of power towards Asia; increasing supply chain risk; e-commerce; further mergers and acquisitions; near-shoring/re-shoring and even ‘3D printing’ as just some of the issues which logistics providers will need to contend with.

Manners-Bell says: “Twenty years ago nobody would have dreamt that the German Post Office would be a market leader in the international express, contract logistics, road and freight forwarding sectors or that China would be so important to the world’s logistics industry. It is likely that in another 20 years the market environment will be just as unrecognisable.”

Even to many people within the industry itself, the global logistics and supply chain industry is a confusing mix of sectors and sub-sectors, in which economic, technological and legislative factors all play a part.

Ti says that its latest publication wiill help to cut through this gordian knot by giving the reader a clear understanding of how the industry has evolved and its prospects in the short, medium and long term. It explains how each sector works and why decisions are made, and is as essential to the seasoned veteran as the novice or student.

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