The Future of Project Logistics

By Carly Fields

Breakbulk Europe 2023: Panellists at Breakbulk Europe granted three wishes for the future of project logistics requested more digitalization, greater transparency, greater co-operation and sharing of information on sustainability, flexibility, better EDI connections with logistics providers, improved proactiveness and mentoring of the older generation to the new to stem a loss of expertise.

The “genie” – session moderator Sven Hermann, managing director of ProLog Innovation – put the offer to speakers on the Planning for the Future of Project Logistics panel, taking place at Breakbulk Europe 2023.

Andreas Ulrich, global head of logistics and supply chain management at SMS group, opted for more digitalization, describing the need to create standard interfaces between logistics providers and project specialists. “I don’t want to use logistics providers portals and they do not want to use ours,” he said.

Monika Beckfeld, director of sales at Hansa Meyer Global, wanted industry stakeholders to co-operate more closely and share more information at an earlier stage on green logistics. “It is not a competition to be sustainable,” she said. “We can only manage if we are working as a team.”

Richard Long, senior recruitment consultant for shipping, maritime and logistics at Helm Specialist Recruitment, used his wishes to urge employers in the industry to offer flexibility and clear career progression, encouraging them to reach out to students at a younger age to attract them to project logistics.

Thomas Dahmen, managing director at Siempelkamp Logistics & Service, wished for EDI connections with logistics companies. “We are EDI connected to our customers, but we have no EDI connection with our logistics providers. We are going back to telefax – that is not the future! Where is the platform?” he asked.

He also urged the industry to be more proactive with information: “It cannot be, for example, that three containers have been left in the port and nobody knows about it – we need proactive information.”

Lastly, he encouraged the room to “keep the experts.” “In the audience, I see experts I have known for years. Let them pass their expertise to the younger generation because you need a really wide range of expertise and a wide range of experience and knowledge to get projects done.

“We are all going into retirement in the next 10 years, and we have to find a way to pass our knowledge to the next generation otherwise we are screwed.”

Watch our post-session interviews with speakers: