The Greater Impact of Covid-19 on Logistics
A supply chain is the backbone of an organization and logistics is one of the important segments. Logistics is considered as a support for commerce and trades globally which allows many industries to ship their products and services to their consumers.
The pandemic has impacted the logistics industry worldwide in a manner that no one could ever have thought of. During this many businesses were shut down which impacted greatly on the logistics industry, as many countries went under strict lockdown and cut their ties with other countries, and exports were also affected.
However, you know when something bad happens it creates difficulties for ones and provides opportunities to others. During these difficult times, we saw that many consumers were shopping online and there was a huge demand for products to be delivered and this created a huge opportunity for domestic logistics.
But it still has a huge negative impact in the field of petroleum, construction, and production sectors, which see the extreme reduction in the demands, it is due to many factors.
Current Challenges
We see that there are strict lockdowns implemented in some countries. Due to the closure of many businesses in many countries, for instance, IN America, Canada, UK, etc., there is a decrease in the production of goods, and now services of express shipping Singapore as well as in other countries are facing struggles to gather the data and make serious assumptions about the risks and potentials.
Even logistics companies are shutting down or are at the risk of bankruptcy as the payments are on hold by most of the businesses.
Small suppliers are now facing the bullwhip impact as many retailers and wholesalers are now canceling their contracts with logistics companies. Airline companies were also shut down their operations as they face a shortage of air passengers.
Lack of PPEs also put the logistics industry at risk as companies failed to provide safety to their employees. So these are some of the challenges we highlighted which the logistics industry is facing right now. But it can be improved after the pandemic is over.
More Inventory on Hand
You experienced in your business how important inventory management is, but it also creates problems when you hold more than your capacity, also within situations like this it becomes worse. This lean tactic during Covid-19 left the excessive inventory for manufacturers which somehow spoiled or wasted as they were delivered to the customers.
This situation was even worse for food items as they need cold storage, due to the current situation the shortage of cold chain storage has begun. Now you have to manage the inventory accordingly as the situation is going towards betterment.
Local exporters were left halfway
In Singapore, which is considered the hub of the supply chain or logistics, pandemics also greatly impact courier companies who deliver parcels, goods, and manufactured products from companies to consumers. Local exporters are facing many hurdles and difficulties in financial terms that they cannot even cope with in situations like this.
Governments in Singapore or your governments anywhere in the world need to provide incentives and relief so that they can do business with their current capacity. Left the exporters hallway is not the solution to this problem
Fluctuating Demand
You see that the consumers are now shifting towards online purchasing, maybe even you bought something for yourself online. E-commerce sales are booming, as everything has been bought online, this also creates a positive impact on logistics to deliver local products to the local consumers, but due to the increasing demand logistics companies are not able to meet that demand.
Companies have to move with the flow in these severe situations, but if they fail they cannot step up after the pandemic is over. Through careful planning and strategies logistics, companies can do a lot better and take advantage of this increasingly successful E-commerce industry.
What Needs to be Done?
While we are looking at the revival of the economy and many industries, at the same time we also have to consider the fact that after the pandemic is over there will be huge requirements of materials that enable the breakdown within the supply chain. Industry experts, organizations, and governments need to take steps that must be overwhelming at the time of revival.
Logistics companies can get the idea from many governments as they are lifting restrictions not once but in phases, the similar approach can be helpful in the revival of logistics or the entire supply chain management, and bring the demand back steadily and gradually.
Conclusion
Covid-19 has impacted many businesses around the world, and logistics is no different. As of now, the situation is becoming better and under control. It is time that we should take the correct measures with many factors in mind. One important lesson which this pandemic has taught us is that there is little usage of technology in these situations as said by Biju Kewalram and we quoted that “Technology does not make useful itself, we make technology useful”.
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