The DHL Logistics Trend Radar 7.0

What does the future of logistics look like? Which new innovations could transform your business growth? The new edition of the DHL Logistics Trend Radar explores the possibilities…

The logistics industry is in an exciting period of transformation. The post-pandemic era is often called the “new normal”, but this climate is not static; it’s constantly shifting and evolving, driven by new insights and technologies.

To stay competitive, industry professionals must keep ahead of the logistics trends promising to transform their operations and elevate their growth. The DHL Logistics Trend Radar – now in its 7th edition – has become a recognized benchmark for strategy, innovation, and education for businesses of all sizes.

Harnessing key insights from thousands of engagements with stakeholders, internal experts, R&D partners, startups and customers, the radar provides an in-depth and unrivalled analysis of logistics trends, their impact, and opportunities – valuable insights you can leverage to support your business growth.   

For each of the 40 trends –17 social and business and 23 technological – the radar outlines the predicted time to adoption and their impact on logistics. This year, two logistics trends stand out the most: AI and sustainability.

AI in logistics: a limitless innovation

The relevance of AI in logistics has expanded significantly, as reflected in this edition, which highlights five prominent trends helping businesses to optimize their supply chain: Generative AI, AI Ethics, Audio AI, Computer Vision, and Advanced Analytics.

Computer vision, for example, can track assets as they move through the warehouse by reading their unique identifiers (like QR codes) – ensuring more on-time and accurate fulfilment rates. Meanwhile, advanced analytics is enabling mass personalization by analyzing big data to find patterns in customer behaviors and preferences – insights e-commerce businesses can use to deliver a more personalized service.

Elsewhere, AI is facilitating faster onboarding of logistics workers within global operations; developments in translation capabilities means it’s able to answer questions in multiple languages, quickly. Last-mile logistics are enhanced too, with AI route planning software analyzing traffic in real time to find the optimal routes for deliveries, ensuring end customers get their goods quicker.

In short, AI’s capabilities within the logistics sector appear limitless; promising big rewards for businesses willing to invest resources into it.

Spotlight on sustainable logistics

Sustainability has become an increasingly important subject within logistics in recent years, and now takes a central focus of the latest DHL Logistics Trend Radar.

The sustainability trend cluster spotlights two areas: Renewable Energy Infrastructure and Sustainable Fuels. These trends are essential to reduce carbon emissions and improve logistics efficiency along the supply chain.

Electric vehicles have earned their place on the radar, too. Fuelled by improvements in charging infrastructure and battery capacity, the forecast for the future growth of electric vehicles is staggering: the number of EVs will grow from less than 45 million in 2023 to 250 million in 2030 and 525 million in 2035.

With an increasing number of end customers expecting brands to demonstrate responsible environmental policies, the solutions available to them have never been so abundant.