Decarbonisation, robots, big data, supply chain diversification, and alternative energy solutions will have the biggest impact in transforming logistics, according to the sixth edition of the DHL Logistics Trend Radar.

The Radar brings together 40 trends that will help shape the direction of businesses, societies, and technologies for the global logistics community in the next decade. The report is the result of an extensive analysis of macro and micro trends as well as the insights from numerous customer engagements and a large partner network including research institutes, tech players, and start-ups.

“The events in the last two years have shown us the importance of having robust supply chains and logistics. We are therefore seeing businesses transform logistics from a quiet, back-end operation to a strategic asset and value driver,” said Katja Busch, chief commercial officer DHL and head of DHL customer solutions and innovation.

“We believe that being successful in the future requires inspiration and innovation, open exchange, and intense collaboration. By sharing the 6th edition of the DHL Logistics Trend Radar, we again invite our customers and partners to jointly shape the era of logistics.”

Published every two years, the DHL Logistics Trend Radar illustrates the most important social, economic and technological trends for the logistics industry, tracking their evolution.

“The DHL Logistics Trend Radar is used like the North Star to navigate the future by our customers, partners, and colleagues and has now been in existence for nearly 10 years,” said Klaus Dohrmann, VP head of innovation Europe, DHL customer solutions & innovation.

“In this year’s edition, we introduced new trends that became more relevant to the logistics industry like computer vision, interactive AI, smart labels and DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging), while the many other trends are further clarified from the previous edition to offer more detail.

“For example, the fifth-edition trend Sustainable Logistics – which was the hottest topic of last year – is further split into circularity, decarbonization, alternative energy solutions, and other trends.

“Sustainability is definitely still a top-of-mind topic for our customers today but ensuring resilience in the supply chain is taking centre stage in the transformation of logistics,” Dohrmann said.

“The supply chain status quo narrative of efficiency and operational excellence is now being complemented by an understanding that the supply chain is an essential driver of tangible value creation.”