PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Supply Chain Management Institute recently did a study, Transportation & Logistics 2030, which looks at how supply chains will evolve over the next 20-plus years. The first volume of the study, the only one that has been release so far, is an analysis of the ramifications of energy scarcity and its impact on the design of future supply chains.
Here are a few key findings:
- Oil prices will increase and so will the use of alternative fuels, however neither are likely to revolutionise T&L - but the need to track, document and allocate costs for emissions just may.
- Patterns of individual mobility vary in different regions; however concerns about cost and carbon footprints will spur individuals to reduce holiday and business travel and consume more locally produced goods.
- Supply chain design, including the location of production sites, will need to take energy and emission costs related to logistics processes into account. There will be no reverse of globalisation, but many supply networks will be established at a regional level.
Volume 1: How will supply chains evolve in an energy-constrained, low-carbon world?, along with further details and methodology for the study, is available for download here on PricewaterhouseCoopers website.
