Although several logistics and transportation providers were fortunate enough to celebrate growth trends in 2010 and are reporting positive financial forecasts for 2011, conservative and cautious business approaches will continue to serve as an all too common reality in next year’s logistics landscape.
However, volatile economic circumstances in recent years have taught logistics practitioners a critical lesson: Innovation is the key to our ability to endure and prosper.
It’s no big trade secret that to make an impact with potential customers, we must take on a unique approach to selling our products and services.
The challenge, of course, involves taking swift and decisive action to deliver on those ideas and innovations, particularly when financial or economic considerations act as a restraint.
To truly realize a competitive advantage in 2011, companies must tap into their organization’s capacity to engage and invent. Take a closer look at the fundamentals of what you do and how you do it in order to design a modified business strategy with customers and partners.
Companies are increasingly accelerating their growth through continued innovations in the development and delivery of products -- such as less-than-truckload ground services -- across a variety of vertical markets. Industries that will continue to thrive at the forefront of our customer portfolios in 2011 include government and home delivery.
Alongside that noticeable shift in traditional commodity types, global expansion and brand visibility in overseas markets is a growth engine for our industry.
As the supply chain community prepares to welcome the successes ahead of us in 2011, midsize forwarders will increasingly face the challenge of establishing a healthy international trade position through strategic overseas partnerships and investments in key markets such as Europe, the Pacific Rim and South America.
Because today’s logistics companies no longer can specialize in just a few niche services in the international marketplace, conducting business on a global scale will require logistics providers to take on more sophisticated, diverse and consultative roles with our customers.