How Logistics is Trending in 2023

What is the good, the bad, and the ugly of 2023? The truth is, there’s much more good than bad coming down the pipeline, and that’s saying a lot for the supply chain, which has been plagued (pun intended) with problems for 3 years now.

We wanted to go over what you can expect from 2023; what to get excited about and what to brace yourself for. With that said, here are the incoming logistics trends of 2023.

The Circular Supply Chain

What is the “circular supply chain?” It’s an effort towards sustainability. Also referred to as the “circular economy,” this concept emphasizes recycling and reuse at every level of the logistics pipeline. That looks like the following:

• Reusing packaging materials
• Repurposing materials into packaging
• Refurbishing and reselling products

Nearshoring

“Nearshoring” is another one of those industry terms you might have heard thrown around but might not have truly understood its meaning. To put it simply, nearshoring is the concept of moving your operations closer to your target market. This has several benefits:

• Reduces lead time
• Decreases shipping costs
• Lowers your carbon footprint
• Improves collaboration between operations and transportation

More Expensive Shipping

Here’s the “ugly” that we mentioned earlier. There is no way around it; due to inflation and worker shortages, shipping rates are going to increase again this year. It’s speculated that rates will increase by nearly 7%, so the bump will be felt by everyone. Here’s how you can offset the increase:

• Package your products efficiently
• Negotiate your contract with your delivery companies
• Work with a 3PL like us; we’ll use our industry connections and expertise to keep costs down

More Processes Will Go Digital

Believe it or not, transportation, warehousing, and logistics can still very much be an analog thing for many companies. It’s tough for many businesses to make the jump to digital—after all, their employees have more than likely mastered the analog processes they learned and adhered to for decades. However, going digital in today’s age is painless and increases your bandwidth profoundly. Here’s what going digital will do for you:

• Increase productivity while increasing precision
• Give you higher bandwidth for more tasks
• Reduce operational costs
• Increase maneuverability within a competitive market

3PLs like us are the ones pioneering these digital processes. We dedicate our time to refining and streamlining every aspect of warehousing, transportation, and logistics, which means we’re always investing in cutting-edge digital tools to make that easier.

A 3PL can revolutionize your process, making it easier and more robust at the same time. It’s a win-win situation for most business owners.

Are you interested in working with a 3PL in 2023? Maybe this year is the year that you give up trying to handle your company’s logistics yourself and defer to a reliable, highly-skilled, and instantly scalable 3PL model. Reach out to us today.