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trailer world Issue Two 2014

Issue Two 2014 13 Title to the region in question. Now, as part of globalisation, it may be that a division of labour has become established in the econ- omy, and there are supply companies.” If an earthquake occurs in the same region today, this will have much greater effects on value-added chains. “As a result, com- panies are increasingly dependent on solid risk management and corresponding ser- vice providers,” said Kille. “For example, it is necessary to rely on suppliers in differ- ent locations and, in the event of a crisis, decide with sufficient rapidity that alter- native possibilities are going to be used.” Risks also always arise when companies do not pay sufficient attention to the com- petition and revolutionary innovations. Such innovations can for example involve products no longer being produced in the Far East, but once again returning closer to the consumer, or that Internet businesses set up their own logistics chains and bring their goods to the recipients in an entire- ly different way – maybe even fully auto- matically with robotic vehicles – or that many products do not actually have to be shipped at all any longer because they are printed locally in 3-D. Regional political conflicts can impact on the worldwide economy in the course of globalisation: “Every machine that is not bought there, is also one that is not transported,” says Kille. “There have al- ways been upheavals such as this. Now, they are not taking place with greater fre- quency, but they do have more influence. In the past, hardly anyone was interested in insignificant events in China. Today, they can have an impact.” Environment and climate The battle against climate change and ever scarcer natural resources are two of the greatest challenges of our age. One is causing a boom in renewable energies, the other is demanding products and produc- tion processes that make efficient use of en- ergy and raw materials, as well as recycling and environmental services. Awareness has changed: “The industry knows that sustain- ability often comes with a price tag at the beginning, but saves money in the medi- um term,” says Prof. Dr. Christian Kille. “In Germany, there are about 70,000 logistics companies – including a large number of haulage companies who often cannot afford to make investments in new trucks, for ex- ample, as a matter of course.” Kille believes that there will be greater focus on sustaina- bility in future when searching for subcon- tractors, and that these subcontractors will consequently also have to act in a more sus- tainable way. “In e-commerce, it can be ex- pected that sooner or later customers will no longer be uninterested in which forwarder has brought the products to their door,” says Kille. “A new consciousness is also emerging amongst consumers.” Kille believes that, in future, greater speed will be required if companies want to keep pace with technological developments. He thinks this applies in the B2C area espe- cially, where it appears that the clocks are ticking particularly fast. Keywords such as same-day delivery and just-in-time produc- tion are the locomotives of the business. “You’ve got to keep pace,” says Prof. Dr. Kille with conviction. “But it is not necessarily solely a question of speed, but also reliabili- ty.” This is precisely what could be at the heart of all future scenarios for the logistics business of tomorrow: The ability to inno- vate is essential as a means of safeguarding success. However, when it comes to imple- menting innovations, the industry should always think about solid work and a respon- sible approach to entrepreneurship. Under- standing transport and developing clever solutions against this background: That is the challenge for the future. (jg) »Economic efficiency and climate protection are central factors in the transport business. Consequently, the goal should be to increase efficiency throughout the entire transport process by technical innovations such as new propulsion systems, alternative fuels or lighter materials, at the same time as reducing pollution and noise emissions.« Martin Hombitzer, Director Sales Europe at BPW

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