2010 has been the starting year for LogisticsMatter.com and April was the starting month. It all started on Twitter: After almost 9 months of sharing the best news stories and articles of interest on Logistics and Supply Chain with the world, @LogisticsMatter has seen it’s follower count rising steadily and as I write this we are at 1185 followers and counting, with over 2870 messages posted.
The top 10 most popular @LogisticsMatter tweets of 2010 (based on clicks on the posted links):
1. Young Freight Forwarder of the Year winner announced | http://ow.ly/3fsyN | #logistics #forwarding
2. The Power of Greening Supply Chains | http://ow.ly/2wFSP | #supplychain #green #sustainability
3. What is Social Supply Chain Management? | http://ow.ly/3o72L | #supplychain #socialmedia
4. UPS takes “Logistics” to the streets of Chicago and does a Flash Dance | http://ow.ly/2Qtw4 | #logistics #socialmedia
5. DHL invests US$61.2M in APAC http://ow.ly/1Q1a2 #logistics #3PL #SupplyChain
6. Downturn Highlights Supply Chain’s Importance | http://ow.ly/3ckYL | #supplychain
7. Lean, Green Manufacturing Intersects with Sustainable Supply Chain Management, Creates Value | http://ow.ly/3qF3O | #sustainability
8. 3PL News NVO Update – Ranking of Top 100 NVOs in July 2010 by TEUs | http://ow.ly/2up3p | #logistics #oceanfreight
9. Social networking as supply chain enabler | http://ow.ly/3k9tS | #supplychain #socialmedia
10. Is that an iPad in your warehouse? http://ow.ly/2h1ND #iPad #warehousing #logistics
The Word Cloud below has been created (thanks to the great people at Wordle) based on the 2870 tweets posted this year and depicts the trending words for 2010:
Click to Enlarge
For me the trending words for 2010 were Lean, Sustainability, Mobile and Social, and I expect all of these words to stay trending in 2011.
Lean: I am an avid fan of Lean in a Logistics environment. It just works. I expect more companies to embrace the Lean philosophy and improve their efficiency, effectiveness, and with that, their Bottom Line.
Sustainability: Large companies like DHL, Walmart and Unilever are increasing their sustainability efforts. There is a growing concern amongst consumers for our environment and the world we live in, so what’s good for the world, will be good for business. Therefor I think more companies will increase their sustainability efforts.
Mobile: Can the world get any more mobile? We can access the internet from anywhere on a variety of smartphones, which get smarter with every new release. Some of the latest models are equipped with NFC (Near Field Communication), and that is an innovation that can and will be used in logistics and supply chain operations. The release of the iPad sparked a worldwide Tablet frenzy and in 2011 we will see a lot of affordable Android and Windows Tablets. Some companies are already using iPads in their warehouse and the use of Tablets in logistics will certainly rise.
Social: There is no more denying Social Media. As the audience on Social Media Networks expands, so will the presence of companies vying for their attention. The use of websites like Twitter and Facebook has exploded in 2010 and the number of Blogs is expanding daily. Companies like UPS and FedEx are actively engaging their customers via Twitter and communicating through company Blogs (or Flashmobs on YouTube), encorporating Social Media in their Marketing and Communication mix. Even more interesting: Con-way Inc is using Twitter to update truckers on available loads, with it’s account @ConwayTweetLoad.
It will be very interesting to see how Social Media will be incorporated into the Supply Chain. 2011 will be the year of the Social Supply Chains for sure.
What were your trending words for 2010? And what do you think will be trending topics in 2011?
I wish everybody a happy and prosperous 2011!!
NEXT BLOG POST – Smart Phone? Smart Logistics!
PREVIOUS BLOG POST – Children see, Children do? (Lean Learned Little)
