NXGN-130／Logistics 4.0 × New Business

Corporate Seminar

Logistics 4.0 and Business Design

Logistics has become a source of competitive advantage and new business

Digitalisation has turned logistics from a cost into a source of added value. Learn the technologies and opportunities of Logistics 4.0, then use the workshop to shape a new business that combines your company’s strengths with logistics.

Format: Lecture with a new business workshop
Audience: New business, digital transformation, business units and corporate planning
Duration: Half a day
Dates and capacity: Please contact us
Lecturer: Ariki Ono

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Does this sound familiar?

The potential of logistics is not turning into business

In the West, logistics is led from the top and decides who wins. In Japan it has long been seen as a target for cost cutting. Now companies from e-commerce, property and robotics are moving into logistics, and it has become a place where new businesses are born.

You have not fully explored the business opportunities in logistics

AI projects stall at the proof-of-concept stage

You cannot turn your company’s strengths into a logistics business

Logistics is shifting from moving goods to moving information. As infrastructure connected to society, it will give rise to new businesses.

Logistics 4.0

From moving goods to moving information

Logistics operations pass through five stages on the way to becoming infrastructure connected to society. Knowing where you stand now and where to aim next is the starting point for spotting opportunities.

Lv1
Fully manual
Operations that rely on people’s hands and experience
Lv2
Materials handling and equipment
Equipment makes conveying and sorting more efficient
Lv3
People and robots together
Robots work alongside people
Lv4
Fully automated
Operations run automatically
Lv5
Moving information
Infrastructure that moves goods and information, connected to society

What You'll Gain

Skills and insights you will walk away with

Seeing logistics as a source of competitive advantage

Understand how logistics creates added value and lifts profit, and why companies from other industries are moving in.

Linking Logistics 4.0 technology to business

Map the eyes, brain and hands of logistics, and the path from AI on the shop floor to AI for planning.

Spotting opportunities in logistics

Learn about growing fields such as future warehouses, urban logistics and logistics in disasters.

Testing new businesses small and fast

Prove value, not technology; cap trials at three months; and partner rather than compete.

Program

How the programme is structured

This seminar revisits logistics through its history and theory, and at the same time focuses on creating your company’s next business, starting from logistics.

Workshop

Develop a new business from your strengths combined with logistics

Lean Canvas

Summarise your business hypothesis on a Lean Canvas

Pitch

Present as a group and receive feedback from the lecturer

Chapter 01

From physical distribution to logistics

How Japan’s view of physical distribution differs from logistics in the West
Why companies from e-commerce, property, staffing and robotics are moving into logistics
An era in which logistics creates added value and lifts profit

Chapter 02

Logistics 4.0

Logistics 4.0 in four layers: planning, information infrastructure, execution and strategy
The eyes (IoT), the brain (AI) and the hands (robotics)
From AI that sees (image recognition) to AI that plans (optimisation)
Rebuilding logistics work with generative AI

Chapter 03

The future of logistics and its opportunities

Logistics rebuilt at three levels: the company, the region and the nation
The future warehouse: the automation market and the roles of WMS, WES and WCS
Shared urban collection and delivery, and logistics in disasters

Chapter 04

Building businesses in the digital age

Eight stages of creating a new business
Management, operations and technology each taking ownership
Prove value, not technology, and cap each trial at three months
The end of going it alone: from competition to collaboration

Chapter 05

New business workshop

Develop a business from your company’s strengths combined with logistics
Summarise it on a Lean Canvas
Present as a group and receive feedback

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a background in logistics?

No. We explain how logistics and its technologies work from the ground up, from the angle of business opportunities.

Is it relevant if we are not a logistics company?

Yes. It is designed for companies outside logistics that want to combine their own strengths, such as technology, customers or sites, with logistics to create a new business.

Can we run only the lecture or only the workshop?

A shorter lecture-only version of about 90 minutes is available. The workshop builds on the lecture, so it is not run on its own.

How long is it, and in what format?

It is usually a half-day programme combining the lecture and the new business workshop, adjusted to the number of participants and your goals.

Request

Interested in hosting this seminar at your organisation?

We are happy to tailor the schedule, capacity and format (in-person or online) to suit your needs. Enquiries from HR and corporate planning departments are most welcome.

Enquire about this seminar