is needed to bring this digital transformation to our customers.
While aesthetically pleasing, professional‐grade products have been the backbone of our success. We are now having to evolve and reexamine our people, processes, and products through the lens of technology. Developing and manufacturing inspirational vehicles requires Porsche to leverage our supply chain partners in every way as we desire to be world leaders in sustainable cutting‐edge supply chain excellence. As an example, together with Porsche AG, we not only adopted SAP's enterprise resource planning applications for just‐in‐sequence delivery of parts but also went a step further to partner and co‐innovate with SAP on creating digital transformation solutions. On a global level, with our venture capital unit Porsche Ventures, we are also seeking strategic investments into future technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, and virtual and augmented reality. Our strategic investment portfolio already includes over 50 innovative startups, such as “Gapless”, which builds the world's first blockchain platform for car management. Executives throughout the business community need to be out there learning about these new technologies to be able to understand the complexity and potentially disruptive impacts that they may have on their industry.
Throughout my career, I have seen technology quickly upgrades our production facilities, marketing capabilities, and products. However, there has been little change when it comes to the logistics of moving our products. As vehicles are produced in a limited series and made up of more than 20 000 individual parts, distribution and logistics is an integral component to the success of Porsche globally as we strive to get the right product to the right person at the right price whenever they so desire it. We consider logistics as an opportunity to differentiate ourselves from our competitors. For example, when we distribute our sports cars, we are transporting a number of factory‐new models from Leipzig to Chongqing via rail instead of ocean. This strategic logistics decision allowed us to shorten our delivery time by three weeks and allowed us to fulfill customer demand in Southwest China much more quickly. Sensors on board the train allow us to increase supply chain visibility by giving us real‐time location throughout the journey, and we are also able to monitor the humidity, shock, and temperature levels. The data generated by these movements allow Porsche to further improve our logistics process and is a good example how the Fourth Industrial Revolution will change logistics to improve performance and customer satisfaction. With IoT sensors, a new world is opening up where we have abundant possibilities for new analysis and potential ways to automate to create more efficient and sustainable processes. It is exciting to think about all the areas where Logistics 4.0 will enable new business models and advanced value streams. In order to bring these new opportunities of leveraging technology, we must avoid speculation and stop using overused and distorted terms that jeopardize all the great progress being made.
From CEOs to operations clerks, there is a need to understand these cutting‐edge technologies in the context of today's market, the maturity within the logistics and supply chain community, and technological interdependencies. This requirement is what makes this book so important. It demystifies an area that is clouded by hype and misinformation and provides a remarkable overview of the industry and its transformation. The book provides the reader a working vocabulary and knowledge base to give them a deeper understanding about current industry activities and support their upskilling efforts. After reading this book, I am confident that it will inspire them to think deeply about how technology will influence their job in the near future.
Mac Sullivan and Johannes Kern have managed to assemble a stellar lineup of practitioners and academics that share an impressive multifaceted perspective on this often‐overlooked topic. This book contains learning points for everyone active in logistics and supply chain management, from students to seasoned experts. By offering different sections focusing on people, technology, and platforms, the authors have enabled the reader to analyze the impacts through different domains as well. Whether you want to learn more about a specific technology or want to future‐proof your team by getting some tips on simplifying complexity, the book offers a wide range of content. Fundamentally, the book does a great job in creating readable content that will educate the reader in an area that is ripe for opportunistic companies and individuals. Help yourself by digging into this book as I challenge you to start your own evolution to be at the forefront of digitalization in the logistics industry.
Dr.‐Ing Jens Puttfarcken, President and CEO of Porsche China
Shanghai
Acknowledgments
Johannes and I were both finishing up our PhDs in Shanghai when we first met. Ironically, I was writing my dissertation on how technology will disrupt the logistics industry, and Johannes was writing his on how relationships still play a key role in the supply chain industry. Both of us came from the business world where Johannes is a supply chain consultant and I work in freight forwarding. We were both interested in academia as well though and coincidentally both taught classes at Tongji University. Recognizing that the supply chain and logistics industry needed a hybrid book that bridged the academic and business worlds to show the opportunities arising, we set about brainstorming what the book would look like. We were conscious of the fact that a lot of books that we used in our teaching were far too academic, while many of the nonfiction digital transformation books rarely touch on the intricacies of the supply chain world.
It was at this point in 2018, I met Tariq Samad in Shanghai as I hosted a group of his MS students who were specializing in the management of technology. After I gave a quick presentation on the future of logistics, Tariq shot me an email where he mentioned this series for IEEE and Wiley. Johannes and I met him on his follow‐up trip and pitched our proposed collected edition. From there, we continually worked on this project with our contributors over the past 18 months and are excited to be part of the series. We sincerely appreciate the opportunity and support that Tariq has given us throughout the process.
We want to give a big thanks to the staff of Wiley, Mary Hatcher, Teresa Netzler, Victoria Bradshaw, and Louis Vasanth Manoharan for being of tremendous help guiding us along this multi‐year process.
Walter Simpson has been with us for the past year on this project, and there is no way that we could have gotten as far as we have without his help. He has put in so much effort in coordinating, editing, and writing. We are proud to have him on the team and are excited to see his career progress.
Our more than 30 contributing thought leaders on this project who are based all over the world and come from very diverse backgrounds all share the passion for knowledge and a desire to build a stronger logistics industry by leveraging technology. We want to thank the contributors for their tireless efforts as they took time away from their work, families, and spare time to make valuable contributions to this project.
Lastly, we also want to thank the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) and Descartes Systems Group for allowing us to use their glossary of supply chain and logistics definitions.
Mac Sullivan and Johannes Kern
I want to thank my beautiful wife, Rebecca, for holding down the fort while I spent hours away from the family to work on this project. I want to thank my parents, Page and Billy, for their investment in my education as they had to give up some luxuries in life to make that happen and for cheering me on throughout this writing process. To my father‐in‐law, Binfu, who watched the kids and helped us out during the past 2 years as we worked on this project, I say a big thank you. I would like to thank my boss and mentor, Jeff McDonald, for taking a chance on me years ago and bringing me into this crazy industry. Johannes, you have been a guiding light throughout this project, and I was lucky to have met you as you provided the structure and diligence needed to see this through.
Mac Sullivan
In addition to all the great people mentioned above, I would like to extend my thanks to Mac Sullivan who
