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The Irish Magazine for the Materials Handling, Warehousing & Logistics Sectors The Irish Magazine for the Materials Handling, Warehousing & Logistics Sectors

A series of surveys by the Logistics Hall of Fame in cooperation with the Schunck Group has taken a look at the current risks facing the logistics industry and how companies are preparing against them.

It is not only global political events that put pressure on supply chains. Companies need to protect themselves comprehensively, and above all against cyber threats.

Logistics is a volatile business worldwide. More than ever, current trends and global political developments are creating new challenges and putting pressure on supply chains. But which risks are decisive and demand a rethink for the future? The first report as part of a new survey series, which the Logistics Hall of Fame has initiated together with the Schunck Group, shows a clear result: The ongoing shortage of skilled workers, cybercrime and supply chain disruptions are causing the most problems for the logistics industry currently.

According to the respondents, the biggest risks currently confronting the logistics industry worldwide are the shortage of skilled workers (71.8 percent), followed by cybercrime (64.1 percent) and, in third place, supply chain disruptions (48.7 percent). The picture is similar when it comes to the specific risks to the individual company. Here, the shortage of skilled workers also occupies first place in the individual risk ranking (62.5 percent). However, supply chain interruptions (47.5 percent) rank ahead of cybercrime (45 percent).

Political risks (43.6 percent) and climate change (18 percent) followed as general dangers, as did political risks (37.5 percent) when respondents were asked about their own companies. In contrast, business interruptions, the outbreak of a pandemic, market changes and loss of reputation played a lesser role.

“Topical issues such as supply chain problems and a shortage of skilled workers dominate the logistics risk ranking, but logistics executives have also realised that data-driven business models in logistics offer more and more gateways for cyber criminals to infiltrate logistics chains, reroute flows of goods or paralyse operations,” said Thomas Wicke, Managing Director of the Schunck Group. “However, the fact that cyber-attacks can become a problem for companies of all sizes is often forgotten or ignored. Even for small companies, damage in the millions can quickly occur. That’s why it’s important to be well protected against the effects of the risks,” Thomas continued.

To fight the risks, the management executives surveyed specified a number of ongoing measures, including early employee retention activities, comprehensive training programs, work on top employer branding, and the formation of task forces to motivate in-house staff and recruit external forces. “Existing measures can be supported by suitable solutions that pay off in retaining employees and increasing employer attractiveness,” he added, describing the possible approach. To protect against cybercrime, companies said they consciously invest in IT security, regularly hack themselves to detect security vulnerabilities, purchase monitoring systems, and secure processes and install regular backups.

The survey, which involves an executive C-level panel of selected managing directors, board members and entrepreneurs from the Logistics Hall of Fame network and the Schunck Group, will be conducted quarterly in the future on changing topics. The survey shows the current mood in the logistics industry and is not representative of the industry as a whole.

After an intensive test programme on a dedicated Cargobike route at the IAA Transportation at the Hannover Messe, Mubea with the Cargo, Riese & Müller with the Transporter2, and Nüwiel eTrailer scooped the main awards for International Cargobike of the Year 2022. Presenting the trophies, VDA Managing Director Jürgen Mindel emphasised that cargobikes play an essential role in the transport chain on the way to climate-neutral logistics.

The IAA Transportation organisers, the VDA, in cooperation with the Radlogistik-Verband Deutschland (RLVD), was also a partner for the side-event, which was initiated in 2019 by German trade magazine and International Van of the Year publication LOGISTRA from Huss-Verlag. In addition to the appraisals, the show also took the Last Mile Delivery sector into account, with various cargo bike manufacturers exhibiting. Many of them offered test demos as part of the exercise, with around 7,500 test rides having taken place in and around the show grounds. Many of the manufacturers were also participants in the 3rd National Bike Logistics Conference in Hanover, which was held alongside the IAA Transportation 2022.

RLVD board member and adjudicator Martin Schmidt highlighted the contribution that cargobikes could make to the fabric of urban logistics, not in competition with each other, but as an intelligent, climate-friendly, high-performance and space-saving complement to vans and urban delivery trucks. He said that the aim was to work together with all those involved in the transport chain to make logistics more environmentally friendly.

The competition attracted a record participation of 27 candidates, which underlined the high speed development and innovative spirit of this aspect of the clean and green delivery sector, which is still in its infancy.

Logistra‘s Department Head of Test+Technik and initiator of the awards, Johannes Reichel thanked fellow members of the judging panel at the award ceremony, which included bicycle logistics experts Thomas Schmitz from Radlader in Mainz and Martin Schmidt from Cycle Logistics in Berlin, together with cargobike design specialist Satish Kumar Beella from the Hague University of Applied Sciences.

THE INTERNATIONAL CARGObIKE OF THE yEAR 2022 AwARD wINNERS:

LIGHT CARGO BIKES 1. Riese & Müller Transporter2 2. Urban Mobility Craft L 3. Gleam Escape

HEAVY CARGO BIKES 1. Mubea Cargo 2. tricargo Lademeister 3. Rytle MovR3

CARGO BIKE TRAILER: 1. Nüwiel eTrailer 2. wuppdi 3. Carla Cargo