Increasing complexity requires digitalization

"87% of companies in the logistics sector want to continue investing in digitalization in the future. The need to react faster and faster while complexity is increasing, whether due to Covid-19 lockdowns, container congestion or changes in purchasing behaviour, makes digitalization more necessary than ever. Holistic supply chain management solutions including real-time monitoring and evaluations, such as track & trace of containers or networked pads in the fleet service area, help here," says Thomas Spreitzer. He is responsible for business customer sales at Telekom Deutschland. "One thing is certain: the industry will continue to be a digital pioneer in the future. It is already demonstrating how versatile digital technologies can be".

Arrived in all areas of work

Whether in the warehouse, during transportation or at the desk: the logistics sector is now using digital technologies in almost all areas of activity or plans to do so within the next twelve months. Warehouse management systems (62%) and digital fleet management tools (61%), for example, are particularly popular. The same applies to digital signatures, which electronically document the transfer of goods with a certificate (26%). Digital solutions also support remote work in the area of administration and organization: communication technologies for smooth collaboration on the computer will be part of everyday working life for more than three quarters of companies after the pandemic.

Advantages for sustainability

Messenger services and video conferencing mean that logistics companies are also increasingly giving their employees the freedom to work from home (62%). The proportion of time spent working from home is expected to increase after the pandemic - by ten percent. This can have a positive impact on companies' carbon footprint. It eliminates the need to travel to work. Overall, environmental sustainability plays an important role for 70% of companies. With digital solutions, sustainability and profitability go hand in hand: they can reduce costs, speed up transportation and increase efficiency. A quarter of companies use their existing IoT solutions for predictive maintenance and servicing of machines. This can increase their longevity and thus save resources. Logistics is one of the first industries to exploit the potential of IoT.

Subsidies hardly strengthen investments

Investments in IoT applications are not the top priority. First and foremost, the industry wants to focus more on digital tools for collaboration and ensure greater IT security. Cybersecurity will remain a priority for almost three quarters of companies in 2022. To top up their budgets, companies could fall back on public funding. Only a quarter have used this option to date; 42% are unaware of this possibility. Companies that are aware of them but do not make use of them complain above all about a lack of orientation when selecting funding programs (31%). They also criticize the high level of bureaucracy involved. The programme is also often not a good fit for their own digitization project (22% each). Just under a quarter (22%) also need external support to find and apply for the right funding program.

The article appeared in materialfluss 6/22.