Page 14 - Logistics News June 2016

logistics

The trend-betters:

stacking the odds

By Rick de Klerk

I’m very fond of DHL’s
continued exploration and

mapping of the logistics
market, in part because
they’re a company whose
eyes seem set firmly on

Tomorrowland.

The Trend Radar. Note
supergrid logistics at the

top. Height represents
distruptive potential

while distance from the
centre point represents

the timeframe to be
implemented.

SO IT WAS with interest that I read their latest while the rural logistics network decays.
report, the Trend Radar for 2016. It’s interesting Essentially, these cities – independent of the
to see the placement of the various trends
in terms of their disruptive potential and the nations that host them – will continue to invest
timeframe in which they’re likely to occur. in their own local development, absorbing both
people and income from the national economy.
There was one, however, that caught my
eye: supergrid logistics. The description was So, is the report reading the future? Another
both nebulous and airy given its supposed Trend Radar from 2014 states, “In 2013, decision-
disruptive potential (second only to unmanned makers and opinion leaders agreed that the
aerial vehicles). Supergrid logistics, they argue, concept of a Logistics Supergrid and related
is a combination of two factors – the growth topics such as Logistics-as-a-Service, Supply
of interconnected and highly efficient logistic Chain on Demand, and Logistics Marketplaces
channels and hubs that span globally and had the potential to become business operating
the concentration of logistic ICT services into models of the future.”
centralised platforms for better management and
co-ordination between parties. If this wasn’t a trend, it is now, because
the report originators seem convinced of its
It appears the origin of the term was from a inevitability and aren’t content to wait to find
2012 report, Delivering Tomorrow: Logistics 2050. out if they’re right.
This report is an intriguing work of science-
fiction that can be read as manifesto, with its All this might seem like a criticism of the idea
authors working hard to remove the unprofitable of supergrid logistics. It’s not. Rather, my point
‘fiction’ part. Presenting five possible scenarios is that ‘trends’ do not necessarily represent
based on feedback, the second scenario could organically developing best practices or a
be considered the most optimistic: one that sees growing industry standard – rather, it’s often
the concentration of logistic capabilities into the concerted effort of companies to shape the
megacities whose reach becomes transnational, sector where they operate. •
serving as central hubs with hyper-efficient
transportation networks between and within them Link to the full report can be found here:

http://www.dhl.com/en/about_us/logistics_

insights/dhl_trend_research/trendradar.html

12 June 2016 | Logistics News