Kenco Group: supply chain leaders invest in innovative retail technology solutions

New research by 3PL provider, Kenco Group, finds that supply chain leaders are adopting many new technologies, mitigating labour challenges and implementing sustainability strategies in new and interesting ways.

The company called on more than 100 US respondents to take the temperature on key logistics trends.

To diversify their tech stacks and optimise their operations, they are investing in various types of solutions.

65% have adopted or plan to adopt supply chain visibility technology by mid-year, 44% sensors and IoT, 42% robotics and automation, 34% 3D printing and 26% blockchain.

“The popularity of supply chain visibility tech is a consequence of the pandemic, when both shippers and consumers realised how important it is to know where their shipments are at all times,” says Felix Vicknair, VP of Supply Chain Solutions at Kenco.

“For other technologies, the onus is on the tech providers to demonstrate to users the benefits of their solutions and how they can help companies improve warehouses, distribution, transportation or other logistics considerations.”

Supply chain leaders are also trying many different ways to attract and retain talent in today’s tough labour market, with 85% saying labour shortages have negatively impacted their business.

The top ways respondents are trying to mitigate staffing challenges are raising wages (56%), offering flexible schedules (51%) and offering sign-on bonuses (38%).

“In addition to offering these incentives, my advice for supply chain leaders is to work on improving employee engagement,” says Vicknair. “It should come as no surprise that employees want to work somewhere they enjoy and somewhere they feel valued.”

There is also a recognition that companies need to consider their impact on the environment. In fact, two-thirds of respondents said their business has goals related to sustainability, reducing waste or shrinking their carbon footprint.

Using energy efficient warehouses and vehicles (45%), sustainable packaging materials (41%) and advanced analytics (33%) are the top three strategies respondents are considering implementing to support their companies’ sustainability goals.