Across our industry, the pressure is already on to drive innovation. Tomorrow’s logistics networks will be, on the one hand, more global — and on the other, more decentralized. They’ll be able to achieve faster deliveries by consolidating more inventory closer to the customers that demand it. Predictive technologies will help us lay the groundwork for these new, more sophisticated networks. Artificial intelligence will help us unlock these insights from worldwide customer data so that we can optimize inventory outlays.

Some of the new technologies that will be critical in the coming years — already having a disruptive impact — include blockchain, cognitive analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. These have the most potential to produce game-changing new applications for supply chain.

As we move toward the idea of an autonomous supply chain, we will need to make great leaps forward in end-to-end visibility and traceability. Recent studies have shown that today’s execs are already investing in new technologies in order to make their processes more agile, predictive, and responsive.

Today’s shippers and supply chain professionals already know that we’re in the middle of a paradigm shift. As both customer choice and distribution patterns complexify, competition will grow ever fiercer. The firms that don’t continually enhance their agility will suffer. But driving innovation in today’s supply chain departments is a tough order. According to the majority of today’s top professionals in the industry, the primary obstacle they encounter is internal resistance to change.

So how can we drive change in our own companies? Many of the answers will come from the next generation of supply chain professionals.

There’s a dearth of logistics-specific scholarship opportunities in today’s academic environment. But today’s shipping industry is a rapidly changing one — and one where innovation is key. It’s never been more important to support young minds with a passion to change the landscape of logistics. That’s why LJM Group is proud to support the next generation with our Movers & Shakers scholarship, designed exclusively for logistics and supply chain students. Staying ahead of market trends and keeping costs low is already a constant struggle, and we consider it a corporate responsibility to support those who are willing and eager to conquer such a challenge.

Applications for the 2020 Movers & Shakers Logistics/Supply Chain Scholarship will open in August to qualified students pursuing academic paths in transportation, logistics, or supply chain management.