What Does the ‘Great Reset’ Mean for Logistics?

You may be familiar with the term ‘Great Reset’, which was coined by Klaus Schwab of the World Economic Forum at the start of the COVID pandemic. But what does it mean for the logistics and supply chain industry? Find out in this video with John Manners-Bell.

Transcript:

Hello, I'm John Manners-Bell. I'm Chief Executive of Transport Intelligence, founder of the Foundation for Future Supply Chain, and also author of the book 'Logistics and Supply Chain Innovation'. So, what does the Great Reset mean for logistics? Before we start, we need to really define what we mean by the Great Reset. This term was coined by Klaus Schwab of the World Economic Forum at the outset of the COVID pandemic as a way of resetting the global economy with three key outputs.

So firstly, he wanted, and the World Economic Forum suggested, that the global economic environment should be producing fairer outcomes. He also believes that it should also be resulting in more sustainable outcomes. And on top of that, he needs all the economy and companies working within the assess environment to become more profitable.

So, three key outputs there. How does this relate to supply chain and logistics? Well, in terms of how we facilitate the Great Reset, he believes that technologies involved in the Fourth Industrial Revolution will really bring about these goals. And those technologies, as they refer to a logistics and supply chain, can involve, for example, automation, making supply chains more efficient, and because they become more efficient, then we can reduce the amount of carbon emissions.

Of course, the logistics industry is at the start of a transition from engines, which are designed for fossil fuels, to those which have become more designed for electric vehicles, and also hydrogen, although which of those outcomes occurs we have yet to see.

So, there are many ways in which the Fourth Industrial Revolution will change the logistics and supply chain. But the fundamental of this is that it will bring about fairer outcomes. It will bring back more sustainable outcomes, as well as more profits for the companies working in the industry.