On March 11 th, the Guild of Logistics Operators at the MCCI held a round table discussion on the topic "Logistics: Current Development Trends”.
In her introductory remarks, Ms Svetlana Domnina, the Chairwoman of the Guild of Logistic Operators at the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry, noted that the past year has dramatically changed the work of logistics companies. The round table is the beginning of a broad discussion of how companies in the logistics sector are overcoming the difficulties related to the pandemic, sharing successful experiences in solving problems, and discussing possible perspectives for the industry.
The author of textbooks on logistics, the Doctor of Economics, Professor Viktor Sergeev, briefly spoke about trends in logistics today. Then, he addressed his questions to Mr. Anton Grechko, the Vice President of sales and marketing at “Kuehne + Nage”. Specifically, how the outsourcing market is changing, what prospects and solutions are available, what types of businesses are most actively moving to outsourcing.“It seems to me that 2020, with its upheavals, posed very challenging tasks that dictate difficult choices: what do I do for my business myself, and what I outsource for external management to someone I trust,” explained Mr Grechko.
Mr. Andrey Belinsky, the General Director of the “SSI Schaefer LLC”, recalled that until very recently, unmanned loaders seemed to be something like toys and few believed in them. “And today, one of our drones carries money to the Central Bank, where a completely unmanned technology has been implemented for transporting money,” saiid Mr. Belinsky. He added that the coronavirus had a profound impact on the industry, because, “the of fewer people in the warehouses provide for lowered risks and caveats. And our customers are preferring to distance themselves from the people, employed in a warehouse. "
Mr. Oleg Skovorodnikov, the General Director of the “DT Consulting Digital Transformation Agency”, recalled that “in 2020, the legal restrictions for the use of drones has been mitigated - a solution was found. It was realised in the US and China. Drones will definitely appear on roads, the question is on which roads and in which countries. But within five years they will be changes present.”
The topic of digitalization in the field of logistics was continued by Mr. Vladimir Novikov, the General Director of “FIT LLC”. He spoke about the development of digitalization processes in retail and network trade. “Digitalization is a tool for managing business processes in logistics, in supply chain management, very multifaceted and complex, because the scale of business is growing, the movement of goods and services is accelerating, with everything is becoming more customer-oriented,” explained Mr. Novikov.
He added that in this regard, many tasks arise related to analytics, involving business analysis. Artificial intelligence is increasingly being used. Mr. Novikov noted that there is one particular and specific characteristic that is becoming a feature in the supply chain management, which happens to be the involvement of governmental structure using diverse cloud technologies.
During the round table, various issues, related to the merging of technologies and the blurring of boundaries between the physical and digital spheres were discussed. After all, the use of digital technologies is fundamentally changing the way business is conducted, the production of goods and services of everyday demand, which significantly affects the supply chain of goods to a consumer.