World trade is changing and, most importantly, it is rapidly transforming to face the emergence of a new generation of consumers, who demand personalized products and services, indicates a report by DP World, which points out that for retailers this Transformation implies a broad reorganization of its supply chains, while for general logistics it means an evolution driven by new technologies and concepts.

McKinsey estimates that the transportation and warehousing industry already has the third-highest potential for automation of any industry. And according to PWC, there is “no other industry where as many industry experts place greater importance on data and analytics over the next five years than transportation and logistics, 90% compared to an average of 83%.”

DP World classified five fundamental technologies and trends that will shape trade and logistics in the 2020s:

Hyperpersonalization: E-commerce is driving a fundamental change in the way individuals consume and their expectations regarding products. Consumer demand now expects these goods to be delivered right to your doorstep, at unbelievably low freight rates and at unbelievably high speed.

Over the next decade, when consumers enter stores, they will demand increasingly personalized offers. For retailers and wholesalers, this means shorter lead times, more turns, and much more sophistication in moving products from A to B. This means incredible control and visibility from the onboard boarding point to the port offload, visibility that already relies heavily on IoT capabilities.

New charging technologies: One of the most important technological trends at the moment is autonomous transport, both for long-distance and last-mile deliveries. Some of the biggest names in the tech industry and the biggest startups are investing heavily in it.

Google is not only betting heavily on its autonomous car subsidiary Waymo, but it also works on autonomous vehicles equipped with lockers to make secure deliveries directly to customers. Tesla has promised smaller capacity trucks they can be driven in autonomous convoys. In China, a wave of startups is focusing on last-mile autonomous delivery.

New forms of transportation are also emerging, such as the high-speed Hyperloop system and its logistics incarnation Cargospeed, which was created through a partnership between DP World and Virgin Hyperloop One. This next-generation technology provides systems enabled for fast, sustainable and efficient delivery of palletized cargo that can be moved to central areas to be dismantled to be delivered by last-mile drones, or directly to retailers and wholesalers of the future.

Automation: Storage centers and ports, facing significantly higher demands in the near future, will have to process and transfer more cargo exponentially, which requires a rapid transition to automation.

McKinsey estimates that almost all tasks - from the way pallets are mounted and unmounted, to transporting cargo through a warehouse and loading dock - will be automated.

In this sense, BOXBAY is an innovative concept that is intended to bring a new level of speed and efficiency to port logistics. Similar to elevators in a sky scraper, the system is built around a smart new High Bay Storage (HBS) - a rack structure where containers are stored up to eleven stories high, delivering the capacity of a conventional terminal in a third of the surface. Fully automated, it has direct access to each container, offering significant gains in terms of handling speed, energy efficiency, safety and a significant reduction in operating costs.

The efficient markets They are another trend associated with how markets are built around key logistics hubs. DP World's Traders Market project is a prime example of this approach. At some 800.000 square meters - with construction beginning this quarter - it is the Middle East's first smart Free Zone market for retail and wholesale industries and seeks to serve a region with a population of more than 2.000 billion people.

The market will allow merchants to benefit from lower supply chain costs and greater efficiency by using the world-class multimodal infrastructure available in Jebel Ali and Dubai.

Digital logistics: The industry is integrating into digital transformation, through new platforms and technologies that significantly improve the visibility of the supply chain and, therefore, efficiency. Emerging IO capabilities are enabling closer monitoring of goods in transit, especially useful for consolidated cargo and smaller, more urgent shipments that increasingly define the demand economy. In addition, the existence of the blockchain, promises to keep a solid record of transactions that can range from tracking the goods transported to registering commercial transactions and facilitating bank transfers.

IoT and blockchain are, of course, not logistics-specific, but they reflect broader technology opportunities that can significantly benefit the broader industry in the next decade.