CII IL Monthly Digest: A Newsletter from the CII Institute of Logistics

Edition - 6 December 2022

About CII IL We create avenues for the industry to gain more insights into emerging trends, industry-specific problems of national importance, and global best practices in logistics & supply chain management. We enable the industry to cut down transaction costs, increase efficiency, and enhance profitability. We are committed to sensitizing the industry about macro-level issues and helping find solutions to them.

Snapshot of the Month News highlights from the world of supply chain and logistics that appeared in media over the last one month

INDIA The PM Gati Shakti master plan for multimodal connectivity, launched by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in October 2021, is picking up speed. Railway Minster Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw informed the Parliament this month that his ministry will develop 100 Gati Shakti Cargo Terminals in the coming three years under the initiative’s GCT (Gati Shakti Cargo Terminal) policy. The policy aims to increase railway cargo traffic through the development of freight terminal infrastructure and other measures. He has also been appointed as the first Chancellor of Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya (University), Vadodara by President Smt. Draupadi Murmu. The University was granted central status by the Union Cabinet in July 2022. Financial Express reported that the government is on a concerted drive to build skilled manpower resources for Gati Shakti. Thus far it has identified over 100 HEIs (Higher Educational Institutes) across more than 30 states for the training of manpower for the handling of the various multimodal connectivity projects planned under the Gati Shakti initiative. Business Standard noted that the $1.2-trillion PM Gati Shakti can give India a competitive advantage, especially with the large economies and multinational companies increasing adopting China-plus-one policy. ET Prime reported that the Road Transport and Highways Ministry has taken a decision to track and review the progress of the master plan on a frequent basis. The Union Minister in charge of the sector Shri Nitin Gadkari, addressing an industry association’s annual convention in mid-December shared the vision that the logistics cost would be reduced to about 9 percent by the end of 2024, which will help boost India’s exports. Supply Chain and Logistics Excellence Awards (SCALE) Awards, instituted by CII Institute of Logistics, were presented for the year 2022 to the winners on 9th December, in Mumbai. The Supply Chain and Logistics Excellence (SCALE) Awards build the image of India's logistics sector by celebrating and recognizing excellent, exemplary and eminent companies. This year 180 companies across the supply chain showcased the logistics excellence practices and Indian solutions being implemented. The Award, further strengthened with Resilience and Sustainability Index asthe criteria, is a step toward encouraging the industry adoption of global standards. Enhanced logistics and supply chain excellence is expected to contribute to India becoming a preferred industry destination. CBRE Group, a leading international commercial real estate services and investment firm, reported this month that India’s industrial and logistics sector attracted total investments of $144 million during the first three quarters of 2022, across greenfield and brownfield assets. Global investors led the tally with a share of over 60 percent. The report said that occupiers of industrial and logistics real estate continue to increase investments across segments such as e-commerce, 3PL, and manufacturing. As per the report, the warehousing and logistics sector requires at least $20 billion of new investments by 2030 to for incremental growth in tier-2 and tier-3 cities. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Shri Pushkar Singh Dhami has said that the center’s logistics policy should be implemented in the state to boost the state’s industrial development. He was addressing a group of industrialists operating in sectors such as agriculture, horticulture, and food processing at the Agro Food Processing Conclave 2022. This was also a time when the FIFA world cupfever had gripped the country. Dhaval Thanki, VP of APAC & MEA at LogiNext, listed in a Times Of India article the big business lessons that Chief Supply Chain Officers (CSCOs) could learn from football. Lessons included strategies like "assign tasks based on skill" and "the final third". Results of a Freightwalla survey, published in CXO Today, revealed that 84 percent of India’s MSMEs believe that digitization could help improve cross-border logistics management. At the same time, over 55 percent said that human intervention was needed along with digitization to solve grievances. Real-time track-and-trace and supply chain financing were among the most sought-after features and emails were the most preferred digital mode of communication followed by WhatsApp messaging. The integrated logistics service provider Mahindra Logistics opened a 'net-zero facility' in Aruna Industrial Park situated near Hyderabad, Telangana. Mahindra Logistics CEO Mr. Rampraveen Swaminathan informed the press that the facility has a sustainable warehousing architecture that provides for resource conservation and green cover. The facility, built in line with the company’s sustainability standards, is a part of its countrywide solar-powered warehousing network. IT major Wipro signed a 5-year strategic agreement with Mazda Motor Logistics Europe for delivery of managed services for the latter’s industry applications and drive automation. Amit Maheshwari,the Founder and MD of Softlink Global, writing for the Financial Express, highlighted the significance of SaaS solutions for modern logistics management, especially for the MSMEs. He stated that the relevance of SaaS has progressed to ensuring supply chain transparency. INTERNATIONAL More women are breaking the proverbial glass ceiling in the US' and Europe's logistics sectors, as per a Supply Chain Digital report. The article cited two recent events to signal the trend. The Ports of Stockholm – oneof the world's largest passenger ports and one of Sweden's largest freight ports – has appointed Magdalena Bosson as its Chief Executive Officer who will take charge on 1 January 2023. In the second instance, the Inside Business 2022 Women in Business award, has gone this year to a logistics professional, TechaPacitto, the CEO of a U.S. logistics company IL2000. Lora Cecere, the founder of the U.S.-based research firm Supply Chain Insights, writing for the Forbes magazine, has advised supply chain managers to keep their "seatbelts buckled". Citing factors like global inflationary pressures, demand uncertainty, and disruptive weather events, Ms. Cecere stated that 2023 will offer new set of challenges that companies need to be prepared for. Logistics managers in the U.S. are anticipating delays in shipments coming in from China. CNBC reported that U.S. manufacturing orders from China has seen an unusual decline for this time of the year. The CNBC Supply Chain Heat Map data, created in collaboration with 10 of the world's top maritime and logistics providers, showed that orders were down 40 percent from normal. This is causing an unceasing drop in container freight rates from Asia, leading to new vessel utilization lows, said the report. Nestle, the world’s largest food and beverage conglomerate, will invest $107 million into decarbonizing the logistics of its bottled water brands, said a company press release. The Swiss food giant has pledged to reduce the carbon footprint of three international water brands: S. Pellegrino, Acqua Panna and Perrier. Some of the proposed measures include testing alternative transport modes, route optimization, and increasing the use of green energy. Mike Fitzgerald, VP Operations for Pure Storage, an American publicly traded technology company shared insights on how to build a shockproof supply-chain strategy. That ability to do so, he advised, could help a company meet market headwinds. Some of the strategies he detailed included supply-chain collaboration, balancing the tactical with the visionary, and making a commitment to reducing the company’s carbon footprint. DHL, a leading player in the global logistics industry, took delivery of new green vehicles, from Volvo Trucks for use in its UK-based operations.These trucks are electric-powered, can run for 120 miles (190.3 Kilometers) with an overnight charge, and carry 12 pallets weighing up to six tonnes. This was a part of DHL’s pledge to invest £64million into creating a green heavy fleet to help it meet the Group’s 2050 target of achieving net zero emissions across its logistics operations. The European Union legislators have agreed to enact a law which forbids export and import of goods linked to the destruction or degradation of forests in any part of their supply chains. The law will mandate companies selling products like coffee, cocoa and wood in any EU market to issue a due diligence statement for the same. Emerging use cases in manufacturing, transport, and logistics are demonstrating the real-world benefits of industrial 5G gets real, wrote Phil Young, Director for Policy, Research and Strategic Engagement at Digital Catapult, a British organization that drives early adoption of next-gen tech. Industrial 5G enables supply chain processes that require higher through, such as predictive maintenance systems, without the need for physical network, pointed out Mr. Young. Kuehne+Nagel has launched a logistics offering tailor-fit for the specific requirements of global semiconductor supply chains. The offer for air freight shipments, supported by a global network of "SemiconChain" certified locations, will provide full visibility to all industry stakeholders,helping them establish reliable and agile supply chains, and minimize potential disruptions, said a company statement. STAT Times has reported that the global drone logistics industry is estimated to reach a size of $53.3 Billion over the next decade, growing at an eye-watering CAGR of over 20 percent. The article highlighted several cases of the applications of drones in logistics. These include their deployments in last mile delivery, as well as the middle mile through the use of their heavy cargo hybrid vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) capability. Will connect again next month, with a comprehensive dossier of news, trends and events from the industry. Courtesy: Newsletter content developed by Mr. Aanand Pandey