In the light of uncountable problems created by COVID-19, breaks on domestic and international shipping and logistics is one of them. Terminals, CFSs, ICDs, and warehouses are feeling the heat. The World Trade Organization predicts that "world trade is expected to fall by between 13% and 32% in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupts normal economic activity and life around the world".  However, this can be a boon disguise, as we can expect to see accelerating trends in the logistics industry in terms of digitization. And this may be an upgrade from rerouting paths between trade points which was a standard solution hitherto.

While ocean and surface freight volumes plunge at a double-digit pace, because of COVID-19 shelter-in-place orders sapping global consumer and manufacturing demand, the pressure is on container lines to logistics managers to amplify the competences while trying to stay competitive and adapt to a new economic landscape. Analyst firm Gartner predicts that by 2023, a minimum of 50% of large global companies will be using artificial intelligence, advanced analytics, and the internet of things in supply-chain operations. In the same year, over 30% of warehouse workers will be helped, (and not replaced) by collaborative robots.

China, which used to the largest supplier of goods, saw a sharp fall in its manufacturing Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI) from 51.1 in January to 37.5 in March, which is its lowest since 2004, as the economy shrank 6.8% causing ripple effects worldwide. Later, in March, when the COVID-19 broke down in Europe, everything from cruising to the trading aspect of the industry soon turned to a standstill. Plus the pandemic shall negatively affect oil freight rates in the coming months.

According to an article posted on Maritime Getaway, the logistics industry is estimated to witness a cumulative loss of US$9 trillion to the global GDP, and the world trade has already faced a decline of 32 percent. The most massive impact will be on the delivery chain. With delivery being the most essential customer touch-points, time, completeness, and the condition of the distribution are critical factors for the customers, especially if the product is a raw material for the industries. Delivery logistics begin with the supplier's production planning, but the delivery dates match the production sequence. In the end, the customer decides what will be produced and delivered first.

However, the same visibility may not be offered to the supplier. B2B companies now expect to have the same level of visibility and delivery updates that consumers of e-commerce do. Companies currently have only 20 percent of visibility as opposes to standard 70-90 percent mandatory to deal with key points of volatility where revenue and costs lie at risk.

Digitization can mitigate the information divide that occurs between vendors, by assisting the integration of all types of data from vendor tracking systems, such as estimated time of arrival and storage location. Along with automation, it can further speed up consolidation. Also, by using logistics optimizers will now optimize the loading of the trucks considering various kinds of racks. Optimization can ease the mode of operations when applied to business models.

It can simplify the channels for the digitization of core business areas such as fleet monitoring, documentation, seamless networks of communication among shipping liners and port terminals, and the management of revenue. And lastly, put digital foundations by modernizing systems to enable shorter innovation cycles, agility, and quick solutions. For instance, Blockchain technology is being used to make the process of documentation more secure.

Moreover, employing cloud-based Electronic-Delivery Order (e-DO) services, will minimize administrative tasks and issue orders across multiple liner networks, by a considerable margin. This shall also lessen paper touch-points in a sector that is otherwise illustrated as much paperwork. Also, with excellent visibility, customers and suppliers can have the option to prefer greener alternatives too.

Digital twin applications use tracking data to create a rendered version of the actual supply chain that can be compared against in-the-field tracking devices. Using this approach, companies can run simulations and what-if scenarios to improve planning for more predictive outcomes. This will be hugely resourceful in delivering end-to-end visibility that comprises four critical kinds of data: timestamp; the location where it happened; condition (temperature, shock, humidity, and vibration), and contextual data points. As a result, industries like bio-pharmacy, manufacturing can hugely benefit from this.

Digitization and modern technologies are likely to play a crucial role in resetting the shipping and logistics network. With the opportunity for revenue growth, significant waste reduction, better tracking, monitoring, transparent information sharing, calculation of ROI in the early phases, and provision of value-added services, surely digitization is the future.