Digitalisation of logistics sector

Event report

[Read more session reports and live updates from the 2nd Western Balkan Digital Summit]

Mr Nebojsa Jevtić (Senior Advisor for Transport, Head of the Centre for Vocational Training in Transport at CCIS of Serbia) pointed out that the logistics sector is one of the slowest sectors to digitalise, but that it is also a sector with a lot of potential in this regard.

Mr Vuk Mijanović (Manager of Operational Excellence Logistics at Nelt Group) named the regulatory framework as the biggest challenge for the digitalisation of logistics. The biggest issues in this regard are the identification of sender and receiver, and the interpretation of bylaws. Further challenges that the Nelt Group faced were in employees adapting to the new digital process and the integration of systems that are tied into the track-and-trace system.

Mr Boro Jakimovski (Vice Dean for Science at the Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering, Skopje) spoke about his experience in digitalising the national health system of North Macedonia and the Zegin apothecaries. He stated that implementing blockchain technology in the logistics sector has potential but also has its challenges. On the one hand, blockchain can become a trust highway of distributing documents in the future on an internal, local, national, international level, on the other, challenges are the number of transactions and how fast they are.

Mr Milos Miletić (Sales Development and Logistics Project Solutions Manager at Milsped) spoke about the software his company is employing to eliminate paper-based and manual communication. He also spoke about the possibility of using this software in their entire supply chain. Miletic also stated that paper-based documentation is still necessary in commerce, and hence the implementation of blockchain in logistics is still a way off.

Mr Dimitrije Stojanović (Vice President of Supply Chain and IT at Delhaize Serbia) spoke about Delhaize Serbia’s efforts to automatise processes. A lot of preparatory and administrative work in logistics can be automatised, Stojanovic said, pointing out that this causes fears about the future of employment. In his view, people won’t remain jobless as technology requires a lot of educated personnel. He stated that big retailers buy logistics solution for big IT companies, but that small, vulnerable economies (SMEs) need logistics solutions to survive as well, which they could buy from local IT companies. He concluded that the processes of automation and digitalisation should begin in all companies for businesses to be sustainable.

Mr Marko Jovanović (Manager of In-Store Logistics at Mercator S) stated that modern retail is inconceivable without an efficient supply chain. He emphasised that new work models are important because they will lead to a flexible supply chain. Jovanovic believes that the future of online retail is decentralisation: the places from which goods are delivered are becoming decentralised, and retailers need to adjust to this. 

By Andrijana Gavrilović