Sponsored section
| Frank Appel, CEO, Deutsche Post DHL |
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The challenges of the 21st century with globalization, the growing influence of the World Wide Web, and accelerated climate change call industries, governments and executives all over the world for action. Logistics will be a genuine trendsetter for the economy of the future and could help the EU to recover faster from the crisis. Will the EU keep up with this challenge?
The majority of political, regulatory and legislative stakeholders still see logistics in the limited sense of goods transport, warehousing and special process solutions, rather than recognizing the macro-economic relationships. European policymaking does not yet provide the regulatory incentives to leverage the sector’s potential by completing the Internal market for road cabotage or rail freight or tackling road congestion by nondiscriminatory measures for all users of roads and not just for trucks like the proposed.This despite the fact that the logistics sector was the biggest in the EU in 2008 in terms of revenue, generating 950 billion euro – far ahead of the automotive and chemical industries. Logistics fulfills already a vital backbone function in supporting macroeconomic processes and the operation of markets, critical infrastructures and provision to consumers. Moreover, logistics companies will be the trendsetter for the economy.
Why? Let´s look at our Delphi study “Delivering tomorrow – Customer Needs in 2020 and Beyond”. It shows that issues such as sustainability, education and social responsibility will gain in importance. In the years to come, purchasing decisions will no longer be based solely on brand, quality and price. The environmental impact of products and services will play a major role. The demand of customers for “green” solutions calls the logistics industry for action. And the political decision-makers! The Delphi study predicts that companies will have to collaborate more often and more closely than ever before – beyond European or worldwide borders. But policies and regulations need to be adapted by adequate decision-making taking out unnecessary complexity. And the logistics industry as one of the major service providers for many industries will be the model that others follow. At its core, logistics is not environmental friendly and is at a high cost of energy. But it will be the key sector for driving green solutions in the future. Therefore the global logistics providers will invest more resources than ever before into establishing and operating shared networks and into “green” solutions.
In addition, logistics has long been a hightech industry, with important developments like RFID, GPS, satellite navigation or in turn driving eCommerce. In just a few years, the next generation of the Internet will lead to completely new business models and industrial processes. Not only will completely new global players emerge, but logistics companies will also be able to provide all or parts of more complex production, delivery and service processes than ever. The current financial and economic crisis will only accelerate this trend, with consolidation in all industries and increased outsourcing because of the intense pressure on companies to reduce costs. It is in this light that the competitiveness of the entire European industry is increasingly dependent on logistics. This will require a fresh, holistic view from European regulators and politicians how to treat the sector.
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What the Chiefs Say is a new public affairs platform designed for senior executives from leading organizations to voice their policies and priorities. In this first issue, business leaders present their expectations and concerns on the direction of European policymaking to the incoming European Commission and the new European Parliament. |
All contributions in this section:
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- Frank Appel, CEO, Deutsche Post DHL
- Peter Voser, Chief Executive Officer, Royal Dutch Shell plc
- Hannes Ametsreiter, Chief Executive Officer, Telekom Austria
- Marc Grynberg, Chief Executive Officer, Umicore
- Friedhelm Schmider, Director General, European Crop Protection Association
- Esa Härmälä, Director General, European Fertilizer Manufacturers Association
- Rick Wilberforce, President, EuroACE
- Gerard Hartsink, Chair, European Payments Council
- Jean-Pierre Houri, Director General, IFRA – International Fragrance Association
- Wouter Lox, Managing Director, EuSalt
- Isabelle Muller, Secretary General, EUROPIA
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