Logistics UK puts out call for expert help to solve transport problems

The plea was made by Logistics UK chief executive Kevin Green at the launch of the group’s Logistics Innovation Opportunities Map (LIOM) at its conference in Birmingham.

The LIOM sets out where developers can best deliver innovation to solve real-world problems. Speaking after the conference, Green said: “We call our report an Innovation Opportunities Map, but we could equally call it a Treasure Map: the challenges identified represent significant financial opportunities for the developers and entrepreneurs that can solve them.”

The LIOM is designed as a resource for technology developers, infrastructure providers, investors, policymakers and logistics businesses and rather than prescribing specific solutions, it identifies practical logistics problems that innovation can help solve.

Green said: “We want to tap into the entrepreneurial spirit and creativity that businesses thrive on to find solutions. There will be approaches that we are not aware of, which is why the report does not seek to specify solutions, rather it acts as an invitation to innovators to share their wisdom.”

The LIOM captures operational challenges looking at three use cases from across logistics. These include long-distance and depot-to-depot trunking, urban logistics and last mile and off-road, site-based and private-network operations.

With urban logistics, the LIOM cites challenges including identifying optimal locations for urban warehouses, competition for kerbside space and insufficient access to suitable public charging. For these areas, it highlights the potential for data-driven tools and systems such as bookable kerbside bays and shared charging infrastructure.

For each challenge, the LIOM identifies whether a solution would generate a direct commercial benefit such as better asset utilisation, a public benefit such as emissions reduction or a shared benefit such as workforce retention.

The report also identifies strategic insights to guide efforts to enhance the adoption of innovation in the logistics sector and groups them into three themes: focus on foundations, system thinking and understanding shared value and responsibility.