Logistics was one of the hardest hit sectors during the COVID pandemic. With severe supply chain disruptions, felt by both businesses and individuals alike, the industry was brought into the global spotlight like never before. Companies had to innovate just to stay alive, but many are now seeing the benefit of their enterprises. Jim Stenman has more from Dubai. 

The movement of goods – facilitated through a complex network connecting all corners of our world – and perhaps until recently taken for granted.

JIM STENMAN, Dubai: "The disruption of global supply chains was a major issue at the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic and while things are slowly but surely going back to normal, the industry itself is increasingly embracing digital transformation."

Manufacturing has grown more complex in recent years – take the popularity of Apple's iPhone – it typically uses components from 200+ suppliers in over 40 countries. According to the World Bank, the logistics industry is responsible for up to 25% of GDP in some developing countries – which means increased efficiency could spur economic growth.

PRADEEP DESAI, Chief Technology Officer, DP World: "There's excellence in digitization that has been attempted in various other sectors, specifically in the B2C sectors that has not yet made its way into the B2B sector."

Dubai's logistics giant DP World – which has global network that spans 69 countries – is looking to change this, through a newly launched platform that aims to disrupt the global logistics industry.

PRADEEP DESAI, Chief Technology Officer, DP World: "To get something from point A to point B there's nearly 10-15 different entities involved. Each of them non digitized, each of them don't talk to each other."

And the company could be in a unique position. Its Cargoes platform has launched in a handful of countries in the Americas as well as India with connections 10-15 additional countries where it digitizes each step of the logistics process – which in the case of Dubai – means goods in some cases can clear customs in just seconds. But DP World is far from the only logistics company turning to digital transformation in the UAE.

MARIUS CIAVOLA CEO, Tradeling.Com: "We have a special focus in digitizing both the logistics as well as the payment solutions."

Having launched just before the height of Covid-19 pandemic, Tradeling connects global and regional suppliers to the UAE market and uses tech such as artificial intelligence to streamline the entire trade process, which it claims happens at record speed.

MARIUS CIAVOLA CEO, Tradeling.Com: "Customers do not need to worry when their goods are going to arrive. The embedded digitized solutions that we have on the platform take care of that and keep the customer informed in each and every step of their order."

While digitization may not transform the logistics sector overnight, it allows businesses to better harness data in order to boost competitiveness & efficiency, which perhaps is particularly handy as the world grapples with an on-going inflation. Jim Stenman, CGTN, Dubai.