Most transportation and logistics leaders face a paradoxical situation. On the one hand, many continue to experience the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the war in Ukraine has added additional humanitarian and economic impacts that will further affect industry trends. On the other hand, the future and role of transportation and logistics companies remain uncertain. Organizations are asking several strategic questions: Is there still a role for us to play in 10 years? Or, will everything be driven by algorithms, designed from technology hubs, and run in the cloud? And, will we be relegated to just moving goods or people?

Added to this is an urgent impetus to address sustainability (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), 2022)—a shift that requires new ways of thinking and doing. Optimizing operations remains a top focus as customer expectations continue to rise and faults and disruptions still occur too frequently. At the same time, the pandemic’s impact on some transportation and logistics companies is more severe than others. The passenger transport segment, for instance, is struggling with significantly lower passenger numbers, compared to pre-pandemic levels. Meanwhile, the long-term impact of continued work from home models and how they will affect passenger transport demand remains uncertain. At the same time, supply chain disruptions persist due to a high volume of goods to move, container dislocations and workforce shortages.

Reducing costs and improving agility will be the driving forces of change as sustainability and digitization transform businesses. Given this combination of factors, we see a huge need for organizations to reinvent themselves to remain competitive. Those who do will survive and thrive, while others risk falling behind.

Due to the scale and complexity of change required, there is no one-size-fits-all approach. Your organization will need to develop its own unique approach to the current challenges—one that encompasses your mission, strategy, culture and organizational models, in addition to existing and new technologies.

This whitepaper introduces CGI’s transportation and logistics digitization framework to help you develop your own approach and roadmap to accelerate your transformation. It draws upon insights from the 2021 Voice of Our Clients and the work of our experts across the globe to share the levers for making digitization a reality in your organization.