AIVP DOC(k) - I order stuff, and it arrives. But how?
Channel: AIVP - Inspiring People of Port Cities
Date: 2019-10-21

Goods, trade and logistics.

Being able to purchase something with a click of the mouse results in the shipping of millions and tens of millions of objects, all packed in boxes. When you multiply that to the global scale, you can see that a large part of those goods are now transported by sea. 

The more you standardize, the less you are likely to pay, because the volume exported, imported, and consumed cancels out the fixed costs. We containerize goods exactly the same way we did 50 years ago, except that modern ships can now transport 22,000 boxes, 100 million pairs of shoes on a single boat. Whereas 30 or 40 years ago, it took dozens to ship the same quantity of goods. 

The three big revolutions have been containerization, the internet, and smartphones. So with your smartphone and the internet, you can load a container and get your glasses, your t-shirt, practically anything you want in real time. 

The final link in this complex logistical chain is the last kilometer in the goods’ journey, where smart and efficient new solutions are increasingly being developed. 

The last kilometer is essential, especially in urban logistics. We try to transport goods in the most eco-friendly way possible, as close as we can to their final destination. 

We are currently looking at types of transport that are both complex, with combinations of different modes of transport between rail, road, air, sea, river, etc. 

Perhaps in the future, there will be other modes that aren’t around yet, like hyperloops, with transport in tubes, and things like that. Also, maybe goods that are currently shipped from one place to another grouped together could be split into lots of smaller packages, to optimize the load of each container so that fewer are shipped empty. Because at the moment, there’s an imbalance in flows between production areas, which are mainly in Asia, and the consumer areas, especially in Europe. So there are hundreds or even millions of containers arriving full, and lots of containers being shipped back over there empty to be refilled. 

Speakers:
Carlos MORENO
Gonzalo MORTOLA
Yann ALIX
Nicolas CHAIX
Sylvain GODFROID
Bruno DELSALLE
Boyd Derek COHEN