Authors: Dr. Theo Notteboom and Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue

Seaports act as platforms within global supply chains and global production networks, which are highly dynamic as they react to changes in global trade patterns, consumer preferences, and developments in supply chain management and information technology.

1. Growing Complexity in Supply Chain Management

Supply Chain Management (SCM) is the coordination and management of a complex network of activities delivering a finished product to end-users or customers. The process includes sourcing raw materials and parts, manufacturing and assembling products, storage, order entry and tracking, distribution through various channels, and final delivery to the customer.

Ports serve as a nexus in supply chains as they support the interaction between global supply chains and regional production and consumption markets. Global supply chains have become complex, pressuring the logistics industry to simultaneously improve their costs, performance, and resilience to disruptions. Logistics services that still offer value may experience a debasement and become basic services, generating only a small margin. This is especially the case for physical added value.

Within supply chains, corporations interact with external suppliers, internal departments, external distributors, and customers. The successful management of a supply chain is influenced by a range of factors, including customer expectations, globalization, technological innovations, government regulations, competition, and sustainability concerns.

A. Customer expectations

SCM models evolve continuously due to influences and factors such as globalization and expansion into new markets, mass customization in response to product and market segmentation, lean manufacturing practices, and associated shifts in costs. Customer service expectations are shifting towards a demand for higher flexibility, reliability, and precision. In many industries, product innovation has become a significant competitive factor. This has led companies to compete and become the first to launch new products and technologies. As a result, average product life cycles and supply chain cycles, such as lead time, have decreased. These expectations can be assessed through a series of indicators, such as the Logistics Performance Index developed by the World Bank.

The number of products to be shipped and the shipment frequency increase, whereas batch sizes are becoming smaller. There is a growing demand from customers for make-to-order or customized products to be quickly delivered, with high reliability, and at the lowest possible cost. While costs remain an important factor in customer satisfaction, factors related to reliability are becoming central. The focus is on supply chain excellence and efficient customer service.

Skills shortages are a recurring concern in the logistics industry as the labor force is challenged to provide an increasing array of complex and diverse services. Logistics companies are trying to recruit sufficient talent to maintain the labor force and provide ongoing training to enhance productivity. Considering digitalization, including in logistics, the requirement for new skill sets will further intensify this shortage. Besides, the targeted labor force might be attracted by other, more high-profile sectors. The port and logistics sectors have difficulties competing for talent.

B. Globalization

One of the main driving forces of change in the port industry emerges from globalization and the structural shift from supply-driven to demand-driven economies. The supply-driven economy was based on economies of scale in production, standardization, and mass consumption of standard products. This approach was scrutinized as productivity increases linked to economies of scale met their structural limits, and diversified consumer preferences began to have an impact on consumption patterns. The outcome was a shift to a more demand-driven economic system, combined with global production networks on the supply side of the markets.

Multinational enterprises (MNE) are the key drivers of globalization. A shift has taken place from capital-intensive activities, such as the ownership and management of a large number of manufacturing sites, distribution centers, and sales outlets, towards less capital-intensive activities focusing more on developing a strong brand. Branding forms a key concept that involves a strong focus on customers and product innovation, whereas production is outsourced to a network of suppliers. MNEs increasingly develop long-term relationships with a limited number of logistics suppliers based on co-makership. As such, a large number of MNEs have adopted flexible multi-firm organization structures on a global scale.

The largest MNEs manage extensive networks of globally dispersed inputs where global sourcing is a major driver. However, at the customer end of the value chain, very few multinational enterprises operate globally, in the sense of having a broad and deep penetration in foreign markets across the world. Instead, they are regionally based on breadth and depth of market coverage, with most of their sales situated within their home leg of the triad, namely in North America, the European Union, or Asia. The broad geographic distribution of sourcing and production (back end) versus the less broad geographic distribution of sales (customer end) is reflected in trade patterns, supply chain management needs, and shipping requirements.

C. Technological innovation

The streamlining of supply chains through customization and standardization uses advances in data analytics and visibility, which collect information about the effectiveness of processes. This leads to opportunities to improve supply chains by adopting standardized practices that are effective in other sectors and tailored to a new context, such as a specific product or market. This takes the form of digitalization strategies involving data-driven decision support systems.

Greater attention is placed on more local and sustainable supply networks in which transport meets expectations regarding cost and environmental efficiency. There is constant pressure to transport goods at low costs and with minimal environmental impact. To this extent, shippers expect a level of synchronization between elements of the supply chain, in which operational efficiency is supported by achieving greater convergence between physical and digital processes.

Postponed and additive manufacturing (3D printing) is challenging existing business practices, including the demand for transport and logistics services, by shifting key considerations concerning production and distribution costs and lead times. A more significant share of manufacturing is likely to be regional, in factories designed for a specific market base, supporting a new role for logistics service providers that will offer production services and integrate them with their transport, storage, and distribution services.

D. Regulation and competition

The changing comparative advantages in economies like China, which are hindered by a higher cost structure across several manufacturing sectors, are prompting many supply chains to implement a “China plus one” scenario. It is expected that China will transition from an export-oriented towards a consumption-driven economy, which will have a major impact on global supply chains. Combined with manufacturing risks, such as time-to-market or responsiveness, import duties, the availability of a skilled labor force, energy costs, and automation, more sub-assembly and manufacturing will relocate to other regions.

More horizontal collaboration between transport companies and logistics service providers is required to deal with the need for shorter, more sustainable, and cost-efficient supply chains. This entails its own complexities, mainly where it concerns mutual trust concerning data-sharing protocols and the protection of competitiveness and core competencies.

Consolidation in the logistics sector leads to a smaller number of companies that are better equipped to deploy more efficient ICT systems. The data component leverages performant and proactive service providers to transform into companies with a new outlook on logistics services. Alongside an increasing number of traditional activities being outsourced, such as transportation, warehousing, and various types of value-added services, the presence of collaboration platforms encourages service providers to develop new types of logistics services.

The security of supply is becoming increasingly important. In particular, the resilience of the supply chain is perceived as a crucial element in addressing recurring supply chain disruptions, which are caused by both natural and anthropogenic factors. Supply chains have a growing level of redundancy built in. The outcome is increased supply chain visibility and data sharing among supply chain stakeholders.

E. Sustainability

The systematic use of greener alternatives for logistics was developed to respond to increasing environmental pressure, including through more stringent regulations and changes in consumer behavior. This impacts the way ports operate and how they are linked, which is associated with a re-engineering of supply chains in favor of modal shift and synchromodality. This results in the development of hubs and corridors along which new supply chain networks are developed. Corporations are adapting their business models to include sustainability criteria into their procurement and operations, which impacts the related supply chains through the setting up of Green Supply Chain Management strategies.

Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) is a business model that integrates environmental concerns into the inter-organizational practices of SCM.

GSCM has gained increased attention within the industry as a strategy for integrating environmentally sustainable choices into supply chain management practices. The growing visibility of GSCM goes hand in hand with public concerns about environmental issues such as climate change, new-renewable resources, waste disposal, and the emission of pollutants by the logistics sector. Adding a green component to supply chain management involves understanding the complex relationships between the sector and the environment.

The main idea behind GSCM is to reduce environmental impacts by focusing on a series of supply chain strategies known as the five ‘Rs’: Reduce, Re-use, Recycle, Remanufacture, and Reverse logistics. The fields of action in GSCM include product design, process design and engineering, procurement and purchasing, production, energy use and mix, and logistics (distribution and transportation). This perspective is commonly articulated around the concept of the circular economy.

An essential part of the success of the circular economy hinges on how logistics will enable the transparency needed to set up efficient and integrated, fully circular supply chain networks. In addition to the physical aspect of integrating supply chain flows to maximize circular economy opportunities, the end-to-end integration of supply chain processes is also crucial. Thus, the circular economy presents new opportunities for shipping and logistics service providers, challenging them to collaborate with industry stakeholders.

2. Improving Competitiveness

A. Operating margins and cost control

The developments in supply chain management are taking place in a logistics market that usually involves low margins. It can be characterized as a buyers’ market, giving shippers and cargo owners an advantage over the sellers of logistical services in price negotiations. Logistics service providers are usually price takers. The logistics tendering practices of shippers add to the pressure on operating margins. The buyer’s market stems from the law of supply and demand where downward pressure on prices is associated with supply increases amid a constant demand. Competition in the marketplace exists between sellers (i.e., the logistics service providers), who often must engage in a price war to entice buyers (i.e., shippers) to use their services. The resulting low margins force market players such as logistics service providers, terminal operators, shipping lines, and land transport operators to focus on cost control.

Although logistics costs differ between corporations, they generally include transportation, labor, storage, inventory carrying, and administrative costs. Logistics costs largely depend on the nature of the goods, with bulky goods usually having a higher cost structure. The possibility of achieving a lower cost base can be negatively affected by a broad range of factors, such as the volatility of resource and fuel costs and delays caused by complex regulations governing international trade, weather circumstances, or technical problems. In general terms, cost control entails specific actions over a variety of operational fields:

• Optimal use of resources. The underuse of key assets, such as conveyances (ships, vehicles) or warehousing facilities, directly affects the cost base and operating margins. By optimizing asset utilization, market players can improve their business efficiency since the same asset provides a higher return.
• Fleet size and service network size increase. Convey benefits from economies of scale and scope, particularly in the container shipping market.
• Consolidated shipments and cargo bundling. Reduce the cost per unit transported since economies of scale are applied to the cargo unit.
• Single integrated platform. An IT platform accessible to involved parties to avoid time-consuming and inefficient duplication of activities and processes across operations.
• Outsourcing vs. vertical integration. In some cases, cargo owners can save costs by outsourcing some of their supply chain operations. In other cases, extending the reach of activities through a vertical integration process can bring higher margins. Logistics service providers might use outsourcing to lower their cost base, particularly for functions that have limited margins that can be easy to replicate. This outsourcing strategy is not without risk, as value-enhancing activities could be outsourced.
• Supply chain visibility. Result in more efficient planning and lower operating costs by better managing mobile and fixed logistics assets. Although there is no way to predict or prevent disruptions in the logistics process, proper supply chain visibility provides better insight into such issues. Using real-time dashboards that refresh data automatically provides supply chain managers and financial executives with the most current and relevant information.
• Labor inputs for logistics operations. Labor Management Software systems combined with specific labor-related Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and incentive-based human resources practices help corporations efficiently manage and motivate personnel.
• Asset and process automation. For some corporations, logistics costs can be reduced by automating assets such as equipment, vehicles, warehouse management systems, and yard operations. Regulating, automating, and optimizing manual processes offer opportunities to reduce staff requirements, centralize operations to lower-cost areas, and create a more proactive approach to ensuring customer satisfaction.
• Collaboration and partnership with suppliers. Help reduce costs by allowing partners to focus on their respective comparative advantages over processes and markets. Suppliers can sometimes absorb direct logistics costs.

B. Cost leadership and differentiation strategies

At a more strategic level, logistics companies are challenged to design business models that ensure their competitiveness and growth. In an efficiency-oriented market environment, customers may choose to purchase from one company rather than another because the service price is lower than competitors, or the customer perceives the service to provide better-added value or benefits. However, these are broad generalizations, as efficiency-oriented companies in the logistics, port, and maritime industries aim at achieving competitive advantage by either cost leadership or differentiation. Cost leadership implies that market players try to achieve a competitive advantage by becoming low-cost logistics service providers. A differentiation strategy tries to provide specific services in market niches distinct from those provided by competitors, offering greater value to the client.

A corporation aiming to achieve a competitive advantage by reducing prices is likely to be followed by competitors, with the risk of lower margins across the industry and an inability to reinvest to develop services for the long term. Therefore, a low-cost or cost leadership strategy requires:

1. A low-cost base that competitors cannot effectively match.
2. A market segment in which low prices are important. Sustaining a low price advantage is challenging, and cost leadership is very difficult to achieve.

Cost advantages typically emanate from specific competencies driving down costs throughout the value chain, such as economies of scale and scope, market power, buying power, and gaining from operational experience (curve effects). It may be possible to substantially reduce operational costs by outsourcing provisioning or by carefully examining the missing capabilities and competencies in parts of the value chain. A large part of the logistics industry traditionally thrived on low-cost strategies. Conventional transport operators function as the last segments in outsourcing, delivering basic services (i.e. trucking) with little room for service differentiation. Margins are low and fierce competition combined with the high customer bargaining power prevents these operators from increasing their revenue base.

Differentiation strategies aim to achieve a higher market share than competitors (which yields cost benefits) by offering better products or services at the same price or enhanced margins by pricing slightly higher. Differentiation comes in many forms:

1. Uniqueness or improvements in services. Through R&D or by building on the innovative capabilities of the company.
2. Marketing-based approaches. To underline the value of services to the customer.
3. Competency-based approaches. It tries to build differentiation based on its competencies, which are difficult for competitors to imitate.

If the aim is sustainable differentiation, there is little point in striving to be different if others can imitate quickly. The most important resources and capabilities for a company are durable, difficult to identify and understand, imperfectly transferable, and not easy to replicate. Resources for which a corporation possesses clear ownership and control (e.g. patents) are among the most valuable differentiation factors.

Companies in the logistics industry can build sustainable competitive advantage by leveraging their core competencies. The prime resources of the company consist of physical assets such as equipment and locations, human resources such as the workforce, management team, experience and training, and organizational resources associated with the corporate culture. These need to be transformed into capabilities, often through the diffusion of corporate knowledge across offices. In time, new core competencies emerge, representing the fundamental strengths of the corporation.

While following a differentiation strategy, high margins might be achieved by offering tailor-made and highly complex services. However, this requires the corporation to understand what is valued by customers and to have a better sense and response to customer needs. As customer needs change, a corporation following a differentiation strategy may have to review these strategies continuously. A clear sign of an effective differentiation strategy is the continuity of good profit margins and the difficulty competitors have in keeping up.

A logistics company following a differentiation strategy might create an environment in which the actual or perceived cost for a buyer of changing the source of supply of a service is high. In these circumstances, the customer might depend on the supplier for particular services, or the benefits of switching to another supplier might not be worth the cost or risk. A port or maritime shipping company that offers unique and integrated tailor-made services to its customers has more chances of limiting the footloose behavior of that customer and, as such, increases customer loyalty. If a company succeeds in becoming an industry standard, other businesses typically have to conform to that standard to remain competitive.

In following a differentiation strategy, corporations have to choose between a broad differentiation strategy across a specific market or a focused strategy. New ventures often start in a very focused market. Maintaining a highly focused strategy might not be feasible in the long run, as customers might not be willing to pay a higher price. Therefore, corporations might opt at a specific moment to lower the price while maintaining differentiating features (i.e. a move towards a ‘normal’ differentiation strategy).

A hybrid approach might be advantageous as an entry strategy in a market with established competitors. The aim is then to acquire a market share and establish a foothold from which to move further. A hybrid strategy is often of a temporary nature as many corporations shift to a follow-through strategy after some time to increase margins.

3. The Role of Third-Party Logistics Services

Innovative corporations are taking a broader view of their business segments they seek to control and manage. As the ambition of global corporations often exceeds their capability and resources, outsourcing of logistics functions can be an important strategic option. Outsourcing enables a producer to transform fixed costs into variable costs, freeing internal resources for investments in core activities. Four basic forms of outsourcing can be distinguished concerning supply chain management:

• Outsourcing of the production of components. Large production units are replaced by a network of suppliers organized on a global or local scale (global sourcing and local sourcing). Global corporations increasingly develop long-term relationships with a limited number of suppliers on the basis of mutual trust (co-makership).
• Outsourcing of Value-Added Logistics (VAL). Implies that the production and distribution parts of a supply chain become truly integrated into one. For example, production companies in the high-tech industry increasingly outsource logistics services for their products to distribution centers located near the consumer markets. As such, a large part of the value creation in the supply chain is transferred to logistics service providers. VAL might even include secondary manufacturing activities like systems assembly, testing, and software installation.
• Outsourcing of transportation, warehousing, and distribution. Third-party transportation is already widespread, but warehousing and distribution activities have also become key outsourcing businesses. The observed outsourcing trend encourages logistics service providers to engage in supply chain management.
• Re-engineering of supply chain processes. It includes customer order management, procurement, production planning, and distribution to enhance performance typically results in collaborative networks with logistics partners.

Increasing customer demands drive the 3PL service industry (Third Party Logistics) forward.

A 3PL is an asset-based company that offers logistics and supply chain management services to its customers (manufacturers and retailers). It commonly owns assets such as distribution centers and transport modes.

The need for a wider array of global services and integrated services and capabilities (design, build, and operate) triggered a shift from transportation-based 3PLs to warehousing and distribution providers. At the same time, this trend opened the market to innovative forms of non-asset-based logistics service providers, leading to the development of 4PL (Fourth Party Logistics).

A 4PL is a supply chain integrator that assembles and manages organizational resources, capabilities, and technology with complementary service providers to deliver a comprehensive supply chain solution. The competence of 4PLs lies in selecting, linking, and bundling service providers and aligning concerned stakeholders in the supply chain.

Whereas a 3PL service provider typically invests in warehouses and transport assets, a 4PL service provider restricts its scope to IT-based supply chain design. Consultants and IT firms help 3PLs and 4PLs expand into new markets and become full-service logistics providers. Notwithstanding the emergence of non-asset-based 4PLs, the role of 3PLs in logistics markets remains strong. Hence, asset-based full-service providers increasingly develop their own IT control systems. Moreover, many logistics users prefer to keep control of the design of the supply chain in-house instead of being dependent on 4PLs, mainly to maintain their added value.

4. Functional Integration in the Logistics Industry

The logistics industry is subject to integration forms, aiming to improve its scale, scope, and market reach. Functional integration involves horizontal consolidation and vertical integration strategies creating a logistics market consisting of a wide variety of service providers ranging from megacarriers to local niche operators. Not only does the geographic coverage of the players differ (from global to local), but major differences can also be observed in focus (generalist versus specialist), the service offering (from single service to one-stop-shop), and asset orientation (asset-based versus non-asset-based).

A. Vertical integration

Globalization and outsourcing open new windows of opportunities for shipping lines, forwarders, terminal operators, and other logistics service providers and transport operators. Manufacturers are looking for global logistics packages rather than just shipping or forwarding. Global logistics is the dominant paradigm where most transport chains have responded by providing new value-added services in an integrated package through a vertical integration along supply chains.

The level of vertical integration has increased in the past decades. In a conventional situation, the majority of logistics activities were performed by different entities ranging from maritime shipping lines, shipping and customs agents, freight forwarders, and rail and trucking companies. Regulations often prevented multimodal ownership, leaving the system fragmented. With an increasing level of functional integration, many intermediate steps in the transport chain have been removed. Mergers and acquisitions among companies performing specific functions in the supply chains have permitted the emergence of large logistics operators that control many segments of the supply chain. The term megacarrier refers to a highly integrated logistics service provider, such as a 3PL or 4PL. These corporations can, in principle, meet the requirements of many shippers to have a single contact point on a regional or even global level, known as a one-stop shop.

Technology has also played an important role in this process, namely in IT (control of the process), intermodal integration, and synchromodality (control of the flows). Vertical integration increases competition between corporations with different core businesses. For example, a railway company getting involved in global logistics (e.g. DB Schenker) becomes a competitor of established logistics service providers. A shipping line entering the terminal operator business engages in a competitive relationship with independent terminal operators unless some form of partnership is formed. As such, vertical integration leads to overlaps in the activity portfolio of corporations, particularly when they share the ambition to become ‘one-stop shops’ in global logistics. While vertical integration serves as a business model in the logistics and transport market, external economic shocks and poor market conditions can swing the pendulum towards de-integration. For example, the financial-economic crisis of 2008-2009 forced several corporations to reassess their vertical integration strategies in order to secure enough liquidity for their core activities. In some cases, this led to divestment and a re-focus on core activities.

B. Horizontal integration

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) shape the contemporary business environment, not only between different types of corporations (vertical integration) but also between corporations involved in the same type of activity or core business (horizontal integration). Several waves of horizontal integration activity have resulted in a high market consolidation level in the logistics industry. Many of the top 3PL companies were involved in large-scale M&A activities.

M&A activity is not only driven by corporations searching for take-over candidates but also by the necessity to improve competitiveness and long-term survival. In addition, corporations that have decided to divest aspects of their portfolio are, as a consequence, looking for buyers. The logistics challenges emerging from mergers and acquisitions include the proliferation of customer service policies to multiple, overlapping distribution networks and infrastructure overcapacity.

C. E-fulfilment and E-commerce

The rise of 4PLs and related online players triggered a whole range of e-market business models with proper functionalities, often with mixed success. Acquiring critical mass seems to be the main obstacle. The e-business environment creates new distribution requirements in terms of e-fulfillment. The growth of e-fulfillment and e-commerce affected B2B (business-to-business) activity and boosted online transactions at the levels of B2C (business-to-consumer), C2B, and C2C. E-commerce increasingly shapes how people shop for goods. It has become an important tool for small and large businesses worldwide, not only to sell to customers but also to engage them with efficient delivery services. Information system quality, service quality, and user satisfaction are key in this respect. E-commerce offers more opportunities to reach out to customers worldwide and cut down unnecessary intermediate links, reducing the cost price. The vast amount of customer-related data allows e-commerce firms to achieve a high degree of personal customization and targeted marketing. Data integrity and (cyber)security are pressing issues for the e-commerce market.

The growth of e-fulfillment and e-commerce activity has large implications for supply chain management practices. Online markets and retailers have new strategies and distribution channels to fill orders and deliver products using specific distribution centers and networks that differ from traditional distribution channels and systems. Small companies usually control their logistic operation because they do not have the ability to hire a third party. Most large corporations hire a fulfillment service that takes care of their logistic requirements. However, since the 2010s, large e-commerce firms, such as Amazon and Alibaba, have developed a keen interest in controlling e-commerce logistics. The volume they command is starting to have notable impacts on port-centric logistics systems in a manner similar to the strategies pursued by major retailers.

5. Information Technologies and Digital Transformation

Outsourcing logistics activities in a wide variety of economic sectors has led to a surge in 3PL and the creation of very large logistics groups. Supply chains need to be supported by a wide range of advanced communication tools and robust, reliable, and cost-effective transportation networks to be set up and operated by IT-supported logistics service providers. Competition between logistics service providers is no longer focused only on services to the cargo flows. Advanced services in the management of information flows are key to gaining a competitive advantage. These advanced services are increasingly aimed at offering supply chain visibility to customers in terms of reliability through advanced tracking and tracing, environmental impact measurement (e.g. carbon footprint calculator), security risks, and related event management. In particular, modern IT systems are geared towards improving channel visibility in three core areas:

• Improved product flow visibility. Achieved through real-time information presented based on user needs with the ability to re-plan and re-direct product flows.
• Event management. Forecasts events with real-time information and generates proactive notifications, including delays.
• Performance management. Supported by quantitative carrier and asset performance data, performance accountability, and continuous performance improvement opportunities.

Supply chains are evolving towards an open global logistic system founded on physical, digital, and operational interconnectivity through encapsulation, interfaces, and protocol design. It aims to move, store, realize, supply, and use physical objects throughout the world in an economically, environmentally, socially efficient, and sustainable manner. It will require the standardization of internationally recognized consignment codes to communicate throughout the physical reality of the chain. The various transport systems and IT platforms are beginning to integrate horizontally and vertically to become an open IT infrastructure for the logistics sector. In other words, the globally independently developed logistics networks will have to be connected, enabling shippers to have an overall view.

The streamlining of supply chains and the advances in data analytics put increasing pressures on traditional freight forwarders. New technology can place freight forwarders at the risk of obsolescence as forwarding can rapidly go digital in its transactional form, with online sales, instant orders, and automated processes. This is particularly the case for the spot business and basic port-to-port transport, which are entry points for e-forwarding. At the same time, shippers get better information using Big Data solutions and e-marketplaces. This will result in higher rate transparency and better visibility of liner service schedules, shipment service attributes, overall performances, and equipment availability.

Intermediary forwarding agents are at the highest risk from new technology providers or business models unless they adapt, such as when offering supply chain visibility. Differentiation and cost optimization can be achieved through improved online customer experience and automation. Major freight forwarders and third-party logistics providers thus have the responsibility to develop innovative new booking and logistics platforms in order to mitigate potential threats coming from within or outside the logistics sector. New technology-driven companies, particularly those within the e-commerce space, are likely to enter or have already entered the transport and logistics arena, giving them a competitive edge or a chance to see a competitive opportunity to bring new models to the market.

Forwarders are challenged to opt for collaborative technology-driven networks, and freight forwarders need to recruit new talent outside of the logistics sector, including from IT-driven potential disruptors. Integrating new business approaches and models in the relatively conservative freight forwarding businesses requires new perspectives.

The small and mid-size shipper, spot shipment, and LCL (less than container load) segments have digitalized extensively through web-based forwarding services (from instant quote and booking, up to payment) as well as online sales platforms that dynamically push public and customer-specific rates. These platforms may only target and penetrate specific markets where a certain degree of automation can be achieved. Customer profiling and market segmentation will be at the core of the business model of these online sales channels. Large shippers will have access to more procurement options, benchmarking, and insight capabilities. Large exporters and importers will continue to tender their sea freight (port-to-port or port-to-rail ramp) and land transport directly with their core carriers and with their forwarders for some part of their volumes. This practice will be available to many at a lower transactional cost with more flexibility using tailored e-tools. E-forwarding and spot procurement will complement traditional contract-based procurement channels.

---

Related Topics

• Chapter 1.3 Ports and Container Shipping
• Chapter 1.4 Ports and Distribution Networks
• Chapter 2.4 Digital Transformation
• Chapter 2.5 Green Supply Chain Management in Ports
• Chapter 8.4 Containers

---

References

• Arvis, J-F, M.A. Mustra, L. Ojala, B. Shepherd and D. Saslavsky (2012) Connecting to Compete 2012 Trade Logistics in the Global Economy, Washington, DC: The World Bank.
• Mangan, J., C. Lalwani, and A. Calatayud (2020) Global Logistics and Supply Chain Management, Fourth Edition, New York: Wiley.
• Notteboom, T., Neyens, K. (2017) The future of port logistics: meeting the challenges of supply chain integration, ING Bank, 87 p.
• Notteboom, T., Van der Lugt, L., Van Saase, N., Sel, S., Neyens, K. (2020) The role of seaports in Green Supply Chain Management: initiatives, attitudes and perspectives in Rotterdam, Antwerp, North Sea Port and Zeebrugge, Sustainability, 12, 1688 https://doi.org/10.3390/su12041688
• Notteboom, T., Winkelmans, W. (2001) Structural changes in logistics: how will port authorities face the challenge ?, Maritime Policy and Management, 28 (1), 71-89
• Robinson, R. (2002) Ports as Elements in Value-Driven Chain Systems: The New Paradigm”, Maritime Policy and Management, Vol. 29, No. 3, pp. 241-255.
• Verschuur, J., Koks, E.E. & Hall, J.W. (2022) “Ports’ criticality in international trade and global supply-chains” Nat Commun 13, 4351 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-32070-0
• Waters, D. and S. Rinsler (2014) Global Logistics: New Directions in Supply Chain Management. London: Kogan Page.
• World Bank (2014) Connecting to Compete: Trade Logistics in the Global Economy, Washington, DC: The World Bank.