SALES: DURING YOUR LAST MEASUREMENT PERIOD, WERE SALES UP OR DOWN? BY HOW MUCH? SALES / CUSTOMER BASE / PROFITS
Business is softer for 3PLs this year than in 2022, when high transportation costs, commodities shortages, and other challenges drove shippers to seek help from third- party experts. Among 3PLs who responded to the survey in 2023, 81% report that sales had increased in their most recent measurement period, compared with 94% in 2023. Thirteen percent of this year’s respondents saw sales go down, compared with just 2% in 2022. Eighty-one percent saw growth in their customer bases this year, and 13% saw them shrink. That compares with 90% who saw growth last year and only 1% who lost customers. 3PLs are doing something right, because many showed a profit in their last measurement period—82% in 2023 compared with 75% in 2022. But those gains are on the modest side. In 2022, 75% of 3PLs saw profits rise by 15% or more, while in 2023 that number is just 48%. Another 34% of 3PLs this year saw profits increase by 5%. The key is being selective on who to work with, then service them 110%. People do business with people and if you’re humble, human, and committed to their success, the business comes.
DOWN 5%
5%
NO CHANGE
6%
DOWN 10% OR MORE
8%
31% UP 20%
13% UP 5%
20% UP 10%
17% UP 15%
MOST IMPACTFUL TECHNOLOGIES
PROFITS: DURING YOUR LAST MEASUREMENT PERIOD, WERE PROFITS UP OR DOWN? BY HOW MUCH?
Artificial intelligence/machine learning 84% Autonomous vehicles 44% Internet of Things/Industrial Internet of Things 40% Blockchain 28%
0% DOWN 10% OR MORE
34% UP 5%
20% UP 10%
Wearable technology 23% Embedded sensors 21% Drones 18% Virtual reality 8% 3D printing 6%
DOWN 5%
3%
12% UP 15%
16% UP 20%
15% NO CHANGE
CUSTOMER BASE: DURING YOUR LAST MEASUREMENT PERIOD, DID YOUR CUSTOMER BASE GROW OR SHRINK? BY HOW MUCH?
From college instructors who wonder who’s really writing their students’ essays, to creatives who ponder if technology will help them work faster or steal their jobs, this year everyone seems to be thinking about artificial intelligence. That’s also true among 3PLs. When asked which technologies are likely to make the biggest impact on supply chain management, 84% of 3PLs include AI and machine learning in the list. Of course, these technologies already play a role in many supply chains, as advanced software reveals patterns in an operation’s data and recommends how to respond. While quite a few 3PLs (44%) expect autonomous vehicles to play an important role in supply chains, that’s a less popular opinion than in 2022, when 52% said AVs would have a major impact. Similarly, while 35% of respondents pointed to blockchain last year, that number dropped to 28% in 2023. Although 40% of 3PLs say the Internet of Things or Industrial Internet of Things will have a major impact, only 20% of 3PLs in the survey o¥er IoT/IIoT enablement (see page 76) . Perhaps that number will grow as more shippers discover the insights they can gain through this technology, especially when they pair it with AI and machine learning.
24% UP 20%
DOWN 10% OR MORE
5%
NO CHANGE
6%
22% UP 10%
8% DOWN 5%
14% UP 15%
21% UP 5%
78 Inbound Logistics • July 2023
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