Forces transforming transport and logistics into smarter sustainable systems

Abstract

Markets complexity has grown to some extent that modern transport and logistics (T&L) is difficult to understand what to focus on, being impacted by the global economy, compliance with CO2 emissions, competition, reorientation of business models, financial, and technology change, among others. So, it is important to identify what forces are transforming the T&L industry, which can be classified into five major pillars: Digitalization, Shifts in international trade, Enterprise-software-driven process changes, Changes in the market’s domestic commerce, and Machine-driven process changes. These forces are visible and impactful; thus, businesses should be reshaped by anticipating disruptions regarding changes in distribution channels, economic growth outlooks, and the impact of technology changes. These forces will make logistics networks change as much as their environments change due to climate change and CO2 emissions, using co-opetition to increase efficiency and adapt their business by building smarter sustainable systems to meet future challenges. Moreover, through three cases of study, it is seen how these trends are helping businesses not only to improve their operations, increasing performance, efficiency, and effectiveness, as well as to gain competitive advantage, but also to reduce its impact related to the climate change in compliance with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practices.