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Being United Equals Strength for Logistics Operators

By Mario Alberto Aguilar - Association of Logistics Operators of Mexico (AOLM)
President

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By Mario Alberto Aguilar | President - Tue, 09/28/2021 - 13:13

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Supply chains were impacted in a number of ways over the past year due to global instability. Logistics operators were obliged to integrate prevention plans for future crises, as well as improve communication channels with our suppliers and adopt new technologies to monitor the performance of the entire supply chain. Change is definitely one of the constants that we must consider in our plans.

This is also true for the Association of Logistics Operators of Mexico (AOLM), which I have represented for the past two years. Faced with a global crisis, the impact on our members and their customers was immediate. Therefore, we moved to put in place plans to move forward and ensure the continuity of the business, which forced the association’s board to develop emerging strategies and important alliances to continue providing value to its members.

For more than seven years, AOLM has been committed to working on behalf of logistics operators. This time, we have gone further by creating strong connections with the authorities and collaborating with private sector companies and other associations, chambers and consortiums. We have shared information and formed strategic alliances to contribute to best market practices by offering our direct and indirect clients world-class services, highlighting the importance of outsourced logistics operations.

During my time as president of the AOLM, I have always been guided by the principle that strength comes from being united. This was particularly relevant during the economic crisis resulting from the global health emergency where my main concern was to keep all members united and to safeguard our direct and indirect collaborators, as well as to generate strategies to attract new members to strengthen the association.

As a result of our prevention and planning, we can proudly say that we are members of international associations and we will continue to grow gradually until we become the logistics benchmark in Latin America. 

With the support and participation of every AOLM member, we represent major companies that provide outsourcing services and contribute to the generation of more than 50,000 direct jobs serving all sectors of the industry.

We are also allies of other national associations, providing proposals and solutions that contribute to the logistics operations of all our customers. This is reflected in the optimization of resources that provides efficiencies, resulting in a positive impact on the pocketbooks of all consumers.

Today, more than ever, it is clear that large corporations are taking over those companies that will strategically contribute to the integration of global solutions and with the help of technology will undoubtedly dominate international markets in different industries. A prime example of this is 5G technology, where world powers are striving to be the first to market by offering high-capacity technological solutions with the aim of automating as many operations as possible and thus slowly displacing human intervention. This is the case of unmanned and remote-controlled cargo trucks that avoid accidents, delays and cost overruns which may result from late shipments to production chains, known as just in time or just in sequence.

We will see more and more solutions every day based on a 5G network that is almost infinite and 100 times more powerful and faster than what we can imagine today. I can say that whoever converts the information generated by technology into structured data, trends and statistics, will consequently have the best solutions for future needs. It is no secret that whoever owns the information makes better decisions and anticipates the needs of consumers, even generating new needs that make consumers more dependent on technology. 

Outsourced logistics operations will be an important part of automation and data generation, so the more united and strengthened 3PL companies are, the better prepared they will be to adapt to the needs of the new global and multi-industry supply chains, combining the best practices of the market and consolidating increasingly efficient operations.

I am grateful to have led the AOLM over the last few years, which has undoubtedly been a professional challenge in the face of a complicated global situation. The crisis, in turn, has been very enriching as it has taught us that we can continue to be productive and, at the same time, work at a distance, encouraging our creativity and taking care of our work teams.

Photo by:   Mario Aguilar

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