It seems that the procurement of logistics services, especially those tailor made for each customer like warehousing operations is stuck in a bygone era. The technology industry as a whole has been on a roaring surge in terms of new breakthroughs and the speed at which it delivers its new-found capabilities. A prime example of that are the AI generative models which are poised to revolutionize and even upend numerous industries.
When it comes to procurement of logistics services, the case for revolutionized breakthroughs is hard to come by. Why is that the case? Is it because the tried and tested methods of the 90's are still the easiest and most effective to deploy across the spectrum of company sizes? Those methods are indeed effective and have an easier learning curve for those just joining the procurement organization. We all know what they are and thanks to them a company with four squares in their logo still reigns supreme on the NYSE.
But that isn't the focal point of this short article. Rather it's to find out what could be done on the technological front to address the large gaps in procurement capabilities of tailored logistics services like warehousing operations.
One of the issues is that information from the 3PL community isn't centralized in a common data repository available on-demand to those who are seeking it. If a company in FMCG industry is looking to establish their warehousing and distribution operations say in Dubai, is there one central depot of information about 3PL's capabilities in that geography which would help identify a potential match between the two? The answer is no. At least we have not come across such a platform yet.
It appears that the technological advances already made would be sufficient to facilitate an exchange of needed information to create such a platform. This would undoubtedly alleviate the time and effort in seeking available capacity and capabilities from a suitable 3PL in a given geography. It would also serve to benefit the 3PL industry since the platform would essentially act a as marketing tool to advertise their services and potential idle capacity.
It would be very interesting to see how this space develops in the coming future. We hope it will as it will serve the logistics procurement industry the technological leap it is due to receive.