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In an increasingly competitive environment and an accelerated pace of technological and regulatory innovation, anticipating future developments is strategic for supply chain players. 

There are three obstacles to this.

The first is knowledge. Professionals have their heads in the sand and don't know where to start as the field of innovations has expanded so much: from the challenges of the energy transition to the evolution of urban distribution modes, from autonomous robots to the digitalisation of the supply chain, the subjects are vast and monitoring is therefore essential.

Secondly, it is not enough to detect an innovation, it is also necessary to define the right timing. You hear about RFID, blockchain or 5G, but beyond the fashion effect, is the theme sufficiently mature to invest and mobilise resources?

Finally, which operators can act on these issues? The operational phase must be secured. There is no point in making plans when you are working just-in-time!

Moreover, our organisations are often risk-averse for innovation. If they fail, are they prepared to compromise their career plans? Is management prepared to support this risk-taking?

For this reason, Open Innovation allows a company to think about its innovation and R&D by integrating external collaborations, through companies, partners and startups. Because the problems are multidimensional. For example, last-mile delivery involves regulatory issues, pollution, changes in business practices and technology.

Monolithic approaches are no longer enough: the chakras must be opened and exchanged together!

Start-ups have their place. Three criteria are used to select them.

1. They have to respond to a frustration that they have identified and qualified perfectly.

2. Provide a simple answer for the user.

3. Be able to deploy it on a large scale (scalability).

Delivery Academy, the startup that trains last-mile delivery drivers, is a prime example:

The frustration? Urban delivery is not always in line with a company's brand image. The job of delivery driver is devalued, which leads to recruitment problems;

The answer? To offer training courses, paid for by public bodies, which can be adapted to the needs of these companies and which provide a label guaranteeing a better customer experience;

Finally, this training can be provided on a large scale.

For robots, human resources or data, the equation of pragmatic innovation is the same. In order to help the Supply Chain actors in this prospective logic, SprintProject will have the pleasure to animate an exchange session between startups of its ecosystem and the members of France Supply Chain, on June 17th during the Supply Chain Day

Most studies show us that there will probably not be low-carbon energy for everyone in 2050. For maritime transport, which accounts for 3.5% of greenhouse gas emissions, alternative energies such as biofuels or e-fuels are slowly coming onto the market. They emit less carbon emissions but their environmental impact is not zero! Then, the maritime sector will have to compete for these new fuels with industry and other means of transport, mainly aviation. As a shipper, we therefore wonder about the sustainability, traceability and cost stability of such solutions over the long term.

It is time to find other solutions with the main point in mind: energy sobriety, which means either transporting less or transporting differently.

This is the raison d'être of the Shippers' Association for Decarbonised Maritime Transport created by France Supply Chain and the Association of Freight Transport Users (AUTF). Some fifteen shippers of all sizes have come together with a single common objective: to contribute to the decarbonisation of maritime transport by deploying cargo ships that use mainly the force of the wind, which is known as velocity propulsion. The objective, as stated in the specifications, is to reduce CO2 emissions by at least half compared to conventional transport.

At the beginning of February 2022, an initial call for tenders was launched for two weekly transatlantic routes between Europe and North America. Our objective is to introduce container ships, mainly powered by wind, from 2024. Each week, a load volume of 500 standard 20-foot containers will be transported. The price will be fixed, regardless of supply and demand. It will also be the same for everyone, regardless of the volume booked. ETIs will be charged the same price as large industrial groups according to the principle of mutualisation.

The model is both technologically and economically unprecedented. Because to respond to the climate emergency, all the levers of innovation must be activated.

[1] Groupe Avril, Bontaz, Coty, Gerflor, Groupe L'occitane, Groupe Rocher, La Fournée Dorée, Massilly, Michelin, Moët Hennessy, Nestlé Waters, Remy Cointreau

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 European regulations require a drastic decarbonisation of transport from 2025. Electric mobility is an essential lever for every company that commits itself to reducing its CO2 emissions. A 16T electric urban distribution truck emits 82% less CO2 than a diesel vehicle of the same capacity, considering the truck's entire life cycle.

At present, a battery-powered vehicle is the most suitable solution for urban distribution and medium-distance road transport, with well-established routes and fast charging points that complement night-time recharging if necessary.

From 2023 onwards, manufacturers will offer more suitable solutions for national and international transport. It is likely that a rise in the price of fossil fuels could further accelerate this transition.

The switch to electric vehicles for a company is often a small revolution.

There are many parameters to consider, such as the company's environmental objectives, the configuration of the site, the drivers, the type of transport, the routes to be travelled, the possibilities of recharging, the financing, the governmental aid...

This transition goes far beyond the purchase of a truck. Logisticians need to be supported by a team of experts in electric mobility, who will carry out an in-depth diagnosis, propose a complete solution, implement it on site and support the company over the long term.

With this in mind, Renault Trucks has been mass-producing electric vehicles for the past two years at its Blainville plant in Normandy, and plans to market two thousand electric trucks by 2022, ranging from 3.5 tonnes to 26 tonnes.) 

In order to provide the best possible support to each of our customers who make a commitment to electromobility, we have set up a dedicated team of specialists, with relays throughout Europe, to provide them with tailor-made advice and 360° support. This includes the entire ecosystem of the transporter, its customers, its depot... and of course the drivers, who are the best ambassadors for our electric trucks once they have had a taste of them. 

The important thing is to develop electric mobility for all, by involving all the players in the ecosystem.

Supply Chain functions are not yet fully valued by the general public and especially by young people. For several years, France Supply Chain has been developing tools and resources to encourage vocations and to show the different ways to access Supply Chain functions.

In 2020, a guide to higher education courses had already been produced by the LAB Richesses Humaines. It allowed to formalise the vast French panorama of the existing Supply Chain training courses for companies but also for students. It is now a reference. But skills and training programmes are changing.

This year, we are renewing the process by updating this guide with the brand new 2022 edition. Since 14 March, several training organisations have been contacted to collect information on the 140 courses identified. 

The exchanges with the heads of the courses will also be an opportunity to better identify the pools of future talents on the one hand and to reinforce the France Supply Chain network on the other.

If you are a training organisation and would like to highlight one or more of your Supply Chain courses, please contact us to appear in the next edition of the guide.

If you are a company, talk about it around you, to encourage even more vocations! 

Piotr Zborowski is the president of DB Schenker Poland. For the past ten days, he has been rapidly setting up a reception unit for the 90 Ukrainian employees and their families who want to cross the border. This unit helps them with accommodation, food, clothing and administrative matters. His initiative was supported by a whole ecosystem of Polish associations and volunteers.

In the Ukraine, one day after the Russian invasion, local DB Schenker employees were given salary advances so that they could withdraw the last available banknotes from ATMs. In Russia, where we have about 1,000 employees out of 77,000 worldwide, salaries are being paid even though the flow of goods has stopped for the time being, apart from pharmaceutical products.

What if it were us? Of course, these solidarity actions are not limited to those of DB Schenker, but they encourage us to question our own social responsibility and sometimes our individualism.

They also show that, in such a complex situation, it is urgent to act in real time and together, on the solidarity front as well as on the professional front.

Like other companies, DB Schenker France has set up a cross-functional crisis unit with the sales department, the legal department and its business experts... The current situation is so complex that we have to make arbitrations every day, such as authorising a subcontracted carrier, already in Ukraine, to unhook its trailer, leave the freight there and return to Poland with the tractor. It is up to us to coordinate the legal consequences with our customers, while pointing out that the priority must remain the safety of the employees.   

The latest information, that which is "real" and written, beyond the announcements in the media, is very difficult to decipher, particularly concerning sanctions. Industrialists, transporters and logisticians sometimes only have a partial vision of the current puzzle and the potential risks. Let's talk to each other, let's exchange ideas between professionals! Let's also talk to our teams to show that it has never been so important to give priority to the collective and solidarity. 

The Ukrainian conflict, before being an economic crisis and a supply chain concern, is first and foremost a human tragedy: it is war with all its horrors. Today, the Supply Chain's priority is to be able to deliver food and basic necessities to a suffering population.

Beyond this emergency mission, the war in Ukraine has several consequences for the supply chain. Even if the latter showed resilience during the Covid crisis, no one was prepared for a geopolitical crisis of this magnitude, progressively closing off access to a trade zone the size of a continent. 

Companies operating in Russia are exposed as employers, customers and/or suppliers. Some have opted to simply abandon all activity in Russia by freezing their trade flows, in order to protect their staff. Others have not yet taken this step, especially companies with distribution networks and large factories in Russia. They have to protect and take care of their employees and they are trying to continue to supply the shops so as not to penalise the local population, while respecting the economic sanctions.

In the medium term, the entire global supply chain will be affected. Companies have adopted a strategy of bypassing the war zones from the west via Scandinavia or from the east via China and Singapore, with the consequences of higher costs and limited and uncertain transport capacities. They have all created crisis units to reorganise their flows and decipher the economic sanctions, in particular to analyse products that may have a military use and be banned from sale in Russia. For those who continue to deliver to Russia, they do so ex works, prepaid goods. Insurance contracts no longer cover goods transported and means of transport in conflict zones.

From now on, in this even more "VUCA" (Vulnerability, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity) world, the main challenge for the Supply Chain is to be more resilient and to be able to adapt permanently to major health, climatic or geopolitical risks. Unfortunately, these phenomena will no longer be the exception in the coming years and will become a permanent feature of the international trade landscape. 

All Supply Chain players are trying to attract young talent, but the latter do not even know what Supply Chain is! At best, they vaguely confuse it with transport and logistics and ignore the role of its professions at the cutting edge of technological innovation or commitment to sustainable development.  

To create vocations, the most effective way remains the testimony. This is the purpose of the project launched by France Supply Chain with the My Job Glasses platform to put mentors (you!) in touch with young people aged 15 to 30. Whether they are still studying, have just graduated or have had a disappointing first professional experience, their professional horizons are often limited to the professions of their parents and relatives. The aim is therefore to open up the field of possibilities for them and perhaps change the course of their lives.

France Supply Chain is therefore asking its members to become mentors in order to create a trigger via 30-minute to 1-hour videoconference exchanges with a different young person at each meeting. All you need to do is to fill in your profile on the My Job Glasses platform beforehand. Teachers from numerous partner schools mobilise and prepare these young people for the interviews.

The key to success is that as many members as possible get involved. The approach has been tried and tested: at Saint Gobain Distribution Bâtiment France, 500 employees got involved to tell their stories, a way of raising awareness of the company and its activities, not to mention the potential for recruitment.

The platform also puts an end to many preconceived ideas. Young people do not feel legitimate to interview professionals. The first post-interview feedback from young people on the My Job Glasses platform is that the professionals are " normal and caring "! Just like the members of France Supply Chain.

Declarations of intent are not enough to save the planet. Effective action is needed. An essential lever is to adopt the same reading grid to align practices, measure or compare progress and enable the financial system to help companies that are committed to their green transition. And, consequently, avoid the greenwashing of overly marketing presentations!

This is the role of the European taxonomy. This classification identifies economic activities that have a positive impact on the environment. This regulation, adopted in 2020, is implemented in 2022. It has been designed for sustainable finance by allowing to orient the investments of financial institutions for which it will be more costly to finance companies that do not show significant progress in their transition. 

In particular, this concerns all listed companies with more than 500 employees and annual sales of more than 40 million euros. Since 2014, they have already had to carry out non-financial reporting. From now on, they will have to go further by specifying the proportion of their turnover, investments and expenditure in so-called "green" activities.  

Six objectives have been defined, ranging from climate change mitigation to the transition to a circular economy, from pollution control to the protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems. Two of them (climate change mitigation and adaptation) are active from 2022. Before the end of this year, companies must launch an introspection to identify their activities covered ("eligible") by the taxonomy.

In 2023, they will have to master four new concepts for reporting. For example, they will have to define whether their activity is mitigating or adapting to climate change and by how much of a percentage of the company's turnover. Another is the DNSH concept, which stands for "do not significantly harm", and which will indicate whether a green activity, while contributing to one of the two objectives, "does not significantly harm" the other.

The implementation of the taxonomy is quite complex. As of today, companies will have to set up a system to accurately report on their green and non-green activities.

Ultimately, this collective approach makes it possible to adopt a common language that can be understood by all: competitors, customers, suppliers, financial services, etc., in Europe and even beyond. Actions will then be better coordinated for more positive impact in favour of the planet.

At the end of 2021, Avril, a producer of vegetable oils and proteins (notably Lesieur oil), announced its intention to accelerate the decarbonisation of its supply chain. The focus is on improving the carbon balance of its road transport flows. The aim is to reduce CO2 emissions from these flows by 60% by 2025. As a result, by 2023, 50% of the group's chartered truck fleets will be running on Oleo100 and by 2025, 100% on Oleo100, the B100 energy. This 100% renewable biofuel is produced by the seed processing subsidiary Saipol from exclusively French rapeseed.

This approach is in line with Avril's raison d'être, "Serving the Earth", to reduce all its direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030. In transport, a thousand transport companies are involved, from logistics giants to very small businesses. All specifications now include carbon impact in their criteria, along with service quality and cost. This approach was initiated by the company Lesieur. Last July, as part of its membership of the FRET21 collective initiative, it announced its ambition to decarbonise all its transport flows by 25% within 3 years. In 2022 other companies in the group will follow suit.

To succeed in a mission of this magnitude, the notion of an extended supply chain, including subcontracting, is essential. The project concerns both upstream freight (transporting raw materials to industrial sites) and downstream freight (transporting finished products to its customers: farmers, processors or distributors).

Today, no carrier can afford not to have a decarbonisation ambition, but it is up to the principals to create a partnership with each one. The challenge is to make people understand that these actions do not only serve the Avril group but also the planet. The key point of our world without borders is mutual understanding.

A manufacturer wishing to repatriate its activities from Asia to France risks opting for other countries in Europe or the Maghreb. Is the reindustrialisation of France threatened by a lack of available industrial land and a scarcity of logistics platforms? 

The logistics real estate market is overheating with very strong demand (+34% between 2021 and 2020) but the deadlines for warehouse construction projects are either delayed or stopped: the administrative process is always more complex, from 12 months to 3 years. Then, appeals are almost systematic.

In Belgium, on the other hand, the authorities issue building permits within 3 months and subsidise logistics jobs. The Hauts de France region has also made logistics a strategic priority to develop local activity.

Let us not be simplistic or dogmatic. Some projects are borderline and poorly integrated into the local ecosystem and environment. Others are remarkable thanks to more local consultation. These are places of innovation where employees are proud and can develop their skills. French technology companies have proven their know-how: Exotec (order picking robot) was incubated in a Cdiscount warehouse before becoming a French unicorn with worldwide success.

But the trend is towards unmitigated logistics bashing. It is therefore necessary to help elected officials, citizens and associations to make informed decisions by highlighting remarkable projects (Cdiscount, Décathlon, Intermarché, Lacoste, etc.). Then by really measuring the socio-economic impact of warehouses. This is the purpose of the survey proposed by France Supply Chain.

Concerned by the ever increasing difficulties to create new logistic sites in France (lack of land, delay, zero net artificialisation, recourse ... that our European neighbours do not know), France Supply Chain is carrying out a survey whose objective is to characterise the link between reindustrialisation and logistics.

The results will make it possible to measure the economic impact of the impossibility of developing logistics projects in part of the territory

Take the survey