In little over three months the logistics landscape has changed dramatically. Major players in the market have been taken over or are up for sale as the industry realigns itself to reflect the changes in the global economy.
The takeovers of Exel by Deutsche Post, ACR by Kuehne & Nagel and Bax Global by Deutsche Bahn epitomise this realignment – as does the decision by TNT to sell off its logistics operations and the proposal by DFDS to take over Frans Maas.
Globalisation is increasingly a fact of life with factories in western Europe closing as production moves east – either to the emerging eastern European states or to the Far East. Logisticians are under pressure to develop solutions that guarantee continuity of supply halfway across the world – and at the lowest possible cost of course.
As supply chains increasingly span the world, the challenges for logisticians to manage them effectively become ever greater. And these trends are having an impact right across the board – even in sectors that in the past would have been regarded as purely domestic. Domestically, of course, there are a lot of additional challenges ranging from the fact that there are now parts of the country that simply do not want distribution centres owing to the problems of recruiting and training suitable staff to constraints on operations as a result of the working time directive.
In such challenging circumstances, the opportunity to stand back and take an overview is always valuable. One such opportunity is Logistics Link South which was launched by Logistics Manager five years ago.
Since then Logistics Link, which takes place at Sandown Park on 7-8 February, has become not only a major industry exhibition but also an essential networking opportunity for logistics professionals.
All the Logistics Manager team will be attending and we look forward to meeting you there.
