Innovation is everywhere—but not all innovation is the same. Clayton Christensen identified three broad forms: sustaining innovation, which improves existing products; efficiency innovation, which lowers the cost of mature offerings; and disruptive, market-creating innovation, which creates entirely new markets and classes of customer.

These distinctions matter because they help explain the rhythm of business cycles. In mature, slower-growth periods, organisations tend to focus on efficiency, control and protecting market share. In periods of expansion, disruptive technologies in communication, transport, production and power attract capital, reshape markets and reward organisations willing to experiment.

Fortune favours the brave

The current cycle is defined by disruptive forces. Yet many organisations are still governed by cultures and measures of success developed during the previous downswing—when efficiency and risk reduction were the priority.

That creates a difficult paradox. Businesses know they risk being left behind, but their structures often make them reluctant to take the risks required to adapt.

Amazon offers a familiar example. For years, it continued to invest heavily in innovation while competitors concentrated on stock buybacks and cost reduction. Its investment in robotics, fulfilment capability, delivery networks and customer experience created a platform that is difficult to replicate.

The lesson is not that every company needs an Amazon-sized innovation budget. It is that organisations need the courage to rethink how technology can enhance the value they create for customers.

DHL’s 20/20 vision: creating the future

DHL has taken a different but equally instructive approach. Its innovation centres, industry summits and innovation days bring together partners, customers, start-ups and emerging technologies to explore what the future of logistics could look like.

The company has worked with organisations across technology and industry to demonstrate collaborative robots, blockchain, autonomous vehicles, delivery robots, smart lockers and drones. These environments are not simply showrooms; they are places to test ideas, run workshops and turn emerging concepts into practical applications.

One example is Cellumation’s Celluveyor: a modular conveyor system made up of individually controlled cells that can move objects in multiple directions. By combining software, AI and computer vision, it can reduce the space required for complex material flows while making warehouse operations more flexible.

The important point is the partnership model. DHL provided a platform for the technology, a real-world testing environment and a route to market. Innovation becomes more achievable when established organisations help promising ideas move from the lab into operational reality.

DHL’s 20/20 vision: predicting the future

Creating the future is only one side of the equation. The other is understanding which technologies and trends are likely to matter, when they will mature and how they could affect a business model.

DHL’s Logistics Trend Radar brings together insights from its innovation centres, research, events and partnerships. It maps emerging technologies alongside social and business trends, helping organisations consider both opportunity and timing.

Tools like this are valuable because they turn vague awareness of disruption into a structured conversation. Leaders can identify which developments are relevant to their organisation, where they need to build capability and which partnerships could accelerate progress.

Facing the future together

Servitisation is one of the most significant shifts in this landscape. Digital tools now make it possible to access software, logistics capacity, real estate and vehicles as services rather than owning every capability outright.

Amazon has already demonstrated this model by making elements of its technology available to others. Logistics providers can go further by combining tools with strategic advice, implementation support, change management and operational expertise.

DHL’s Lead Logistics Partner approach illustrates the potential. Rather than simply providing a service, the provider works inside the customer organisation to understand current and future supply-chain needs, redesign networks and processes, integrate technology, create visibility and support continuous improvement.

This is supply-chain operation and transformation as a service.

A new partnership paradigm

The future belongs to logistics organisations that can look beyond the role of landlord, carrier or supplier. By helping customers design, upgrade and scale their operations, providers can become collaborative network partners and solution providers.

That requires new skills, a deeper understanding of the customer’s business and a willingness to invest in long-term relationships. But the reward is significant: customers gain access to disruptive technologies and transformation capability without needing to build everything themselves, while providers create more resilient, valuable and enduring partnerships.

In a turbulent decade, that shared focus on customer success may be what allows both sides not only to survive—but to thrive.

Source: Originally published by P3 Logistic Parks, July 8, 2021. Written by Sean Culey.