Contship and SRM present the third edition of the study on the efficiency of logistics corridors

Contship and SRM’s 3rd Study on Italy’s logistics Corridors Efficiency Reveals COVID-19’s Impact on Manufacturers’ Satisfaction Level on Logistics Corridor

Contship Italia Group and SRM – Studi e Ricerche per il Mezzogiorno (a center for economic studies and research and part of Intesa Sanpaolo Group), today publish their third study on the efficiency of logistics corridors for containerized cargoes.

First launched in 2019, the report continues to provide a data-backed insight for the supply chain industry by examining the current logistics experience and sentiment of 400 manufacturers based in Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, and Veneto – the three main Italian exporting regions that account for 40.6% of Italy’s GDP and more than 50% of Italy’s total export.

This year, the report maintained a focus on sustainability and extended its spectrum to the digitization and how companies responded to COVID-19.

Meanwhile, the report also dedicated a feature on a district located between Modena and Emilia-Romagna which is highly regarded for its ceramics production.

Key Findings:

1. The Quality Logistics Italian Index: renewed focus on Costs and Services
   The Quality Logistics Italian Index (QLI2) remains the backbone of the study. It evaluates the preference and satisfaction level based on 13 elements in 4 main categories – 1) Services, 2) Costs, 3) Infrastructure, and 4) Sustainability.
   COVID-19 brought unprecedented disruption to business and logistics sectors. Container shortages and spiking freight rates contributed to the decrease in satisfaction in cost, services, and infrastructure.
   The decrease in satisfaction also resulted in a slight increase in the importance of these categories in 2020. Despite a slight fall in the importance of sustainability, the disparity between the four main categories remained narrow, indicating that the importance of sustainability has not been neglected despite the operational challenges.
2. Sustainability continues to gain importance
   Around 37% of the respondents believe that their customers are highly sensitive to environmental sustainability, compared to only 19% in the last year’s issue. 52% of respondents believe that their customers will be or become highly sensitive to sustainability issues in the next two years.
   Among all sectors, more than 79% and 63% of respondents from the chemical and pharmaceutical sectors considered sustainability a strategic factor for their businesses and include it as a factor of internal governance.
3. Positive outcomes from COVID-19
   The COVID-19 pandemic has stimulated corporate investments in digitization and well-being in the workplace. More than 56% and 47% of respondents said they will prioritize their investment in a healthy workplace and digitization, respectively.
   Around 68% of respondents agreed that digitization is important or very important for a company’s supply chain management. Among supply chain areas, procurement of raw materials resulted to be the area where digitization can have the highest and most positive impact.

“Since its inception, Contship Italia has been working closely with our partner SRM on this annual project, with a goal to monitor the logistics efficiency of Italy’s three main manufacturing regions. The study also hopes to build up a data bank that helps trace and understand the strategic role of logistics in businesses with different variables,” Alessandro Placa, Marketing Manager of Contship Italia Group, said.

“We hope the key findings revealed in our third edition of our report will offer interesting data and insights to stakeholders and chart a path to build resilience and recovery through sustainability and digitization in a post-COVID world,” Placa added.

Alessandro Panaro, Head of Maritime & Mediterranean Economy for SRM, also shared: “Logistics and the maritime sector play a vital role in keeping our goods moving during the pandemic. The pandemic, in fact, fostered discussion on building a more resilient and competitive logistics system and corridors. We hope that our study increases public understanding on this topic and provides useful information on how we can improve.”