Building a fully connected future for logistics

DHL has released a new trend report, ‘Next-Generation Wireless in Logistics’, which offers a comprehensive look at the evolution of wireless networks and the future of the Internet of Things (IoT) in logistics. In a recent survey of 800 supply chain leaders conducted by DHL, 60 per cent of respondents stated that visibility of their supply chain is currently inadequate.

he top three key challenges among the respondents are achieving true end-to-end visibility, lack of a single centralised platform to drive IoT initiatives, as well as fragmented data collection from inherently heterogeneous supply chains. The top three priorities identified shaping visibility strategies – end-to-end transportation visibility, inventory visibility, and the implementation of supply chain data analytics. 75 per cent of respondents reported, they intend to implement at least one next-generation wireless technology in the near future to achieve their visibility goals.

“After having transformed asset-light industries, the digital revolution is now rapidly changing more assetheavy industries, from automotive and manufacturing companies to healthcare providers,” says Markus Kückelhaus, Vice President Innovation & Trend Research, DHL Customer Solutions & Innovation.

He adds, “Logistics will be both a major beneficiary of the IoT-enabled digital revolution and an enabler of it. Although some parts of the logistics industry are already smart and connected, next generation-wireless is set to usher in the next wave of IoT in logistics.” In a future where everyone and everything is online everywhere, three key things will become possible for the logistics industry:

While much of the forecast growth will be achieved using technologies that are already familiar to many of us, truly universal connectivity will require approaches that can offer new capabilities, including higher capacity, greater reach, faster speeds, better energy efficiency, and lower costs.

“Large-scale connectivity is an extraordinary technological and social success story. While IoT is not new in logistics, with 20 billion connected devices already in use globally, this story is still only just beginning. A myriad of technologies are simultaneously advancing at a rapid rate, which are also cost-effective and increasingly ubiquitous. They are now becoming more accessible which suddenly opens up vast opportunities for the development of applications and use cases at an unprecedented rate,” explains Matthias Heutger, SVP, Global Head of Innovation & Commercial Development, DHL.