Article produced by Sara Dowsett for and published by CILT May 2010
The future of logistics
In the UK, the Logistics industry is mature and a world leader, driven forward by the need to overcome harsh challenges and legislation, and capable of inspirational innovation in the quest to stay ahead in a highly competitive sector.
The UK logistics industry is worth in excess of £7bn per annum, employing one in twelve of all workers in the UK – that’s some 2.3m people employed across 200,000 logistics companies.
We may not be a major force in the world of manufacturing any more, and as we move from a net exporter to a net importer, our economy becomes driven increasingly by the high street. We have truly become a nation of shop keepers, more so now than in Napoleon’s day. Therefore, we have a real demand to store things, retrieve them efficiently and move them around the country safely, quickly, economically and ecologically.
We still have to eat, we still need healthcare and we still fight wars, three areas of the economy that have remained relatively bullet proof to whatever the recession has thrown at them; the logistics industry underpins all three of them.
The wealth generated by this vital part of our lives is immeasurable to the UK plc, yet we are constantly striving to be recognised by central government as an economic force. This shouldn’t be the case. (Source: Peter MacLeod – Editor Logistics Strategy).
In the next 12 months Logistics will face challenging objectives:
• Improve customer service
• Seek alternative markets/revenue streams
• Decrease total supply chain costs
• Improve Supply Chain efficiency
• Reduce finished goods inventory
• Reduce space/facility requirements
YOU WILL NEED THE RIGHT PEOPLE SKILLS TO HELP YOU SUCCEED
|