February 20, 2023
Guessing future is hazardous business. This could be 2005 and you could predict GST will happen in 2006 !! You will be wrong by good 10 years !!
Still- as eternal optimists, we must look forward and bet on some promising horses. Here we go:
Prediction # 1: GST will happen but not much will change on ground
Consensus is that GST WILL see light of the day in 2016, but it will be a good 2-3 years before we see major shifts in supply chains. That will be by 2018.
Prediction # 2: Many start-ups will fold- but will raise standards
Hyperlocal logistics companies, Intra-city logistics aggregators, Trucking portals- will need to show traction. Many will not get much and fold. BUT will establish a new way of doing business.
Prediction # 3: It will be CLOUDY all year and will rain MOBILES
The shift to cloud based software as a service- typically with mobile as starting and ending point- will accelerate. Smaller logistics players will have a never before choice of high tech at low prices.
Prediction # 4: Device and automation will call shots
All major and smaller but ambitious companies will invest in automation, sensors, IoT. There will be many false starts- but trend will set in for next 3-4 years.
Prediction # 5: Green Supply Chains will move from rhetoric to compulsion
Delhi has lead the way- solutions may be debatable but pollution is now Agenda Number One and cars and trucks are the villains.
This will spread- as more cities will ask whether they live in a different country than Delhi- and why they too should not ban + fine \"poison spewing\" trucks.
Thus, more regulation, newer vehicles, better fuel- will be high on regulation agenda.