Obviously, the new reality is not only social networks, phones without buttons and genetically modified products. High technologies penetrate into all spheres of our life, and logistics is no exception.
The future of this market is hard to imagine without innovation and technology. 10 years ago, in order to organize transportation and draw up a route, you had to be patient, overlaid with paper maps and cut off the phone (sometimes in the literal sense) in order to get information. Now in 90% of cases, Google Maps, a few lines in the messenger and a drop of patience are enough.
What technologies will have the greatest impact on the logistics services market? According to market experts, these three technologies will have a significant impact on the logistics sector in the developed economies of the world.
3D Printing
At first glance, the connection is not obvious. How can 3D printing technology affect logistics? The development of this technology, and its availability allows decentralized production of simple parts. That is, there is no longer a need to send the simplest parts to the other end of the planet.
3D printing is something that can be effectively adopted in various industries. Online gambling is one of them. Platforms such as Cookie Casino might use 3D printing to design new games and offer customers an improved experience. Of course in logistics, it would be even more useful.
Many are confident that the further development of 3D printing will significantly change the logistics flows in the world, reorienting the work of transport companies to deliver other, more unique things and devices, the production of which will continue to be unique for a particular region.
Unmanned Vehicles
So far, there are many questions about drones, and it is obvious that the time of their active implementation today depends not so much on the perfection of technology but on the development of infrastructure.
The progress is gigantic. A few years ago, only the armed forces of superpowers could boast of unmanned aerial vehicles. Now a drone can be seen in the hands of a schoolboy. Just recently only the most perfect optimists and dreamers spoke about unmanned vehicles, but technologically this is already a reality. Most car manufacturers have introduced adaptive control technology into mass-produced cars. As mentioned above, the further development of the topic is hampered by the lack of a legal framework for the use of robotic vehicles on public roads and the unpreparedness of these same roads.
Internet of Things (IoT)
The technology of the interaction between machines and the external environment, which was identified back in 1999, is now becoming more and more in demand.
In logistics, the Internet of things will allow you to maintain communication between sites and control processes, productivity, energy costs, and track stocks of resources and materials. In addition, IoT technologies will help to control the safety and efficiency of labour.
Other Things to Consider
What else will change in logistics in the near future? We will have a look at some implementations below.
Robotic Warehouses
Of course, we are not talking about a fully automated enterprise. Essentially the fact that the introduction of the latest technologies will be more prevalent is a fact. One of the options is augmented reality technology. With its help, the warehouse staff will receive and process more information in less time with a minimum of errors.
Blurring the Boundaries
The development of automated services for choosing a carrier may not have turned out to be explosive, but work in this direction is underway. Experts agree that sooner or later it will get a decent implementation.
Variation of Delivery Methods
Today, more than 30% of logistics companies are ready to offer their customers 5 or more delivery methods. In 2008 there were no more than 16% of enterprises ready to offer the consumer such a variety.
