The logistics industry plans to take advantage of the e-commerce boom

The logistics and freight sector in Latin America underwent a radical transformation after the Covid-19 pandemic, when the fragility of supply chains became apparent and when there was an explosion in e-commerce.

Now users and operators are looking for new ways to track cargo movements, better organize their processes and optimize transport times.

BNamericas spoke to Ignacio Oliveira, Director of Transport for DHL Supply Chain for Peru, Argentina and Chile, about the challenges this transformation has brought and the solutions that will help address the economic uncertainty.

BNamerics: What new demands has the rapid growth of e-commerce brought to the logistics industry?

olive: E-commerce has changed logistics, it no longer sends goods from point “A” to point “B”. The pandemic accelerated everything and we switched from a B2B model to a B2C model.

Above all, visibility technologies have been developed. Today, we have e-commerce customers in Chile and the rest of the region, and these are clients to whom we provide warehousing and transportation services on a daily basis.

BNamerics: What specific processes accelerated after the start of the pandemic?

olive: Today, customers demand a lot of insight into the status of their orders, and for that we have tools like My Supply Chain, which allow us to know where each product is, where it is in the process. We have integrated this into GPS, which allows customers to know where their goods are and also to notify their customers.

It is the increased demand for visibility from the end customer that is one of the biggest changes.

BNamerics: What obstacles can appear in front of this transformation?

olive: For now, I don’t see any obstacles in the short term. We know that the price of fuel increased in the last half-year, but we have strategic partners who are working on it, and today tools are being developed that allow trucks to better locate and not drive as many times with the same goods, therefore, more productive and add value to our customers.

What I see in the future is growth. In November we enter the high season, while December and January are the time of large quantities. We work a lot with our clients, but I don’t see any risk in this regard in the medium term.

BNamerics: How can DHL Supply Chain solutions help strengthen chains in a scenario of high geopolitical and economic uncertainty?

olive: We strengthen the supply chain by strengthening our work teams. Our priority is to train transport experts, after that we have strategic partners who are our suppliers and with whom we have many years of experience in working together to provide distribution networks throughout Chile.

BNamerics: Which DHL supply chain services will be most attractive to the industry?

olive: We have FTL (Full Truck Load) and LTL (Less-than-truckload) solutions, next business day, service logistics, emergencies, critical parts, e-commerce, temperature controlled, etc.

But I think customers today demand a combination of these solutions.

More relevant will be those related to health and parts sales and continuing to strengthen the last mile, because what has happened is that the way of consumption has changed and people expect to have goods at their doorstep. , your home [prontamente].

BNamerics: Between Peru, Argentina and Chile, which country presents the best opportunities for improving transport logistics?

olive: The three of them have different challenges.

Peru has a very special geography, since it is divided by the Andes mountains, and we operate there from Tumbes to Tacna.

Argentina is bigger, although more concentrated in cities like Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Mendoza or Santa Fe, and there we cover from Jujuy to Ushuaia, especially with LTL products.

There are 4,500 km of routes in Chile, but 63% of distribution operations are concentrated in Santiago.

Each of them has different problems and different strengths. For example, Chile is one of the countries that has most developed its electromobility sector, which is ideal for charging vehicles.

Generally speaking, the environment is a very important issue for the region. When we talk about the environment, we mean what we want to leave to our children and grandchildren, and a fundamental change in logistics is essential.

Everyone is talking about electromobility, we already have electric vehicles, there are many customers who are looking for cleaner logistics, but I wanted to clarify that green logistics is not just that.

This also means making good routes, good waste management, good tire tracking, how many kilometers are driven per day, etc. This is logistics that manages your carbon emissions well, and we as a company have a goal of zero emissions by 2050.