"The tightrope walk to Digital Logistics is getting bigger." - Patrick Köpfli, Managing Director Prologist AGYour industry is undergoing major changes. How do you manage the balancing act with digital logistics so that you are equipped for the requirements of e-commerce, for example?Patrick Köpfli: Balancing act and change - that's right. Retail is in a state of upheaval. New, intelligent technologies are fundamentally changing customers' everyday lives, their needs, the way they shop and their expectations, and the opportunities for interaction and service. We and also our customers are in the process of change. The market is dynamic, at the mercy of a wide variety of factors and constantly in flux, which also triggers continuously increasing competitive pressure. This affects all types of logistics, value chains and integration possibilities at customers. In order to be able to serve specific task areas - or even business models - from a logistics perspective, we need some kind of basic understanding of the various supply chains.
What does "understanding the supply chain" mean for you and for your customers?The most optimal supply chain is defined by maximizing process efficiency, perceived customer satisfaction and maximizing capital commitment. And: The more topics emerge as a result of the change, the greater the tightrope walk to digital logistics, to an effective supply chain. To get the focus right, we need to look at what the different value chains look like - ours and our customers'. We want to learn more about their processes as well as their customers and suppliers: What do they look like today? What character do they have? What framework conditions are they subject to? How should the chains of services be structured for the future and what do possible steps towards this look like? The better we understand both the big picture and the many small pictures, the more we have the possibilities to integrate, shorten and optimize with our logistics services.
So from logistics specialist to management consultant?Not necessarily. We simply want and need to understand what additional benefits we could offer customers with our integrative logistics processes. We need to understand the strategic goals of the company and the specific needs. From this, we want to derive our optimal supply chain and offer those responsible a customized solution. With this process, we are already on the path to the best solution, and thus have a stable basis for setting up specific business configurations on a selective basis - i.e. for trade of various kinds, for example. This also includes seamless e-business processes.
What are your very current challenges on the part of your clientele?From a sales perspective, some changes are imposing themselves. Cross-channel has just been anticipated, and already omni-channel commerce is just around the corner. In the process, the sales channel is moving into the background and customers expect data consistency - across all topics and channels. This, of course, has a huge impact on our integration capabilities. After all, omni-channel commerce demands complete data integrity, collaboration capabilities as well as the coordination of information, goods and value flows. Along this chain, we are confronted with these challenges everywhere in customer processes and can integrate to a greater or lesser extent. Some of our customers are affected by "smart" and "e" and require selectively relevant services from IT and logistics. These include IT and telecoms, but also retail companies and industry in various forms, such as Swiss Air Lines, IBM, Base Logistics and SMEs. Some others are in the middle of the transfer to digital logistics and demand well-rounded integrative processes.
What are the specific logistics requirements for e-business?The motto is "Smart". Logistics will also change via smart and e-commerce, i.e., with the changes brought about by consumers and the economy. But let's ideally start from the end customer and his shopping behavior: To see why, for example, the smartphone is changing commerce, we need to understand the Internet usage of the Swiss population per se. We know that around 90 percent use the Internet today. Purchasing is becoming increasingly important, and so is obtaining information about offers, quality and prices of products.
And how does this change logistics in concrete terms?Logistics is given new tasks with e-commerce. They can also arise here because logistics has to carry out new processes that were previously only carried out by stores (returns of goods, sales, end-of-season returns). I will mention a few topics that must not be forgotten in connection with logistics:Adapt logistics processes to the respective e-commerce business case or create new onesCreate overall device, input and output management (with interfaces to customer systems)Budget initial and follow-up expenses for operation and maintenanceCreate multidevice-capable delivery documents and data structuresPlanning the space available in the warehouse after consultation with purchasing and the online areaReview personnel planning, adapt and, if necessary, reorganize (24 x 7, all year)Draw up contracts in line with the new ecosystem (overall supply chain, all service providers)Organize return logistics (customer, logistics warehouse, manufacturer)
And what does the future hold for logistics?The future is already partly a reality today. New e-commerce and future store concepts are being developed, and have even already been implemented. Many companies are increasingly focusing on expanding their online stores, digital marketing strategies are at the top of their agenda - and yet they are losing touch with their customers. Because they are already one step ahead of them. Companies need to rethink in order not to be overrun by the current developments in their customers' shopping behavior. If you see the logistics of the future as a center, as a central platform, all conceivable devices are lined up on the outside: from smartphones to stores, mobile, print, feeders, call centers, all home devices, video games, refrigerators, restaurant storage rooms. Likewise, all systems such as ERP, warehouse, customer management and third-party companies are seamlessly integrated.You can go one step further, then we are at the recently presented initiative "Industrial Data Space" from Fraunhofer IML with a logistical assistance system that simulates a production flow. Or via the "Coaster", a tablet for controlling logistical processes, there the human interacts with a "ProductionPad" to plan and control a fictitious production. The demonstrator shows how humans will be integrated into the manufacturing of the future and thus become part of Industry 4.0. Or the "3D World" tool lets an employee monitor and control a virtual global supply chain using tracking and tracing technologies. Or - relatively simply - virtual reality goggles provide insight into the view of a warehouse worker. This is how change via technologies will continue to keep us on our toes.proLogist
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