Barcelona, September 6, 2024.-
Technology is another pivotal piece of the logistics and transportation puzzle. Companies must carefully consider new technologies that align with business strategy and cost-effectively deliver desired results. This year’s study provides insights into which technologies shipper organizations are adopting; drivers of their adoption decisions; and impacts of recent technology adoptions, according to information published by Logistics Management.
Technology adoption. The study (33rd annual study of logistics and transportation trends) found that 54% of respondents are using or implementing back-office automation, with another 19% planning to adopt it within 12 to 24 months. This focus on back-office automation represents a 16.2% increase in current usage from 2023.
These findings are consistent with the broader industry trend of technology investments to help streamline administrative processes and routine tasks. Participants also report the adoption of safety-related technologies (36.5% using or implementing) as well as predictive and optimization-related technologies to support improved forecasting (38.1% using or implementing) and route optimization (31.7% using or implementing).
Logistics and transportation operations seem more cautious when adopting more advanced technologies like autonomous vehicles (6.3% using or implementing) and warehouse automation (14.3% using or implementing).
Adoption drivers. Logistics and transportation operations primarily adopted technology to improve employee productivity (88.9%). Additionally, logistics operations desired technology to improve employee engagement and retention (73%).
It’s worth noting that the top two drivers are both employee-focused, reflecting intentional efforts by companies to improve employee performance and enhance the work environment. Only 39.7% of the study participants indicate that technology was adopted as part of an effort to reduce employee headcount.
Technology benefits. It appears that most companies are achieving their employee-focused goals. More than 84% agree that recent technology adoptions have enhanced efficiency, and 76.2% reported improvements in employee productivity.
Participants also report improvements in visibility (73.0%), quality (76.2%), speed (65.1%) of decision-making, and reduced operational costs (60.3%). Participants also indicate that technology adoption makes a positive impact on employee engagement (54%) and retention (50.7%).
Transportation & Logistics Software 