Research from global supply chain technology leader, Manhattan Associates, has revealed a majority of Australian supply chain leaders expect new technologies to reduce freight costs by 2030.
The research report, The Road Ahead: Unlocking the Future of Transportation Management, showed 81 per cent of those surveyed said they expected the use of AI and digital technologies to reduce freight costs by at least five per cent, highlighting the growing expectation of digital innovations’ role in business.
The findings of the research report point to an industry rapidly modernising to keep pace with expectations for speed, capacity and sustainability.
“Transportation has evolved beyond simply moving goods from one place to another,” said Manhattan Associates Vice President, APAC, Raghav Sibal.
“It is about how fast, how efficiently and how sustainably businesses can operate. Australian organisations recognise the urgency of modernising their transport operations to stay competitive.”
The research was conducted by Vanson Bourne, which surveyed 1,450 senior decision makers with responsibility for or knowledge of their organisation’s transportation management operations, working within transportation, logistics, supply chain, IT or finance functions.
Respondents were chosen from the manufacturing, retail, wholesale, consumer goods, grocery and food & beverage sectors and the survey interviewed respondents from North America, Latin America, Europe and Australia. All respondents came from organisations with at least US$750 million in global annual revenue.
Manhattan Associates said that transforming supply chain systems is a critical priority in Australia with the research showing that 100 per cent of local supply chain leaders believing their current transportation management systems (TMS) will struggle to keep pace with growing demands for speed, capacity and cost reduction over the next five years.
As a result, many organisations are responding by deploying data-led tools to improve forecasting accuracy and optimise decision-making, the report said.
Sixty-four per cent of businesses say they are already using predictive analytics or AI-driven forecasting, while 59 per cent have integrated these tools within their broader supply-chain-planning systems, it said.
“The collapse of several long-standing transport operators this year shows how quickly the industry is changing,” said Raghav Sibal.
“Leaders recognise that resilience won’t come from adding more trucks or warehouses but from building smarter, more connected networks that can adapt when disruptions hit.”
Integration is emerging as a crucial focus, the report found, with 63 per cent of Australian businesses report real-time connectivity between their TMS and other supply-chain systems, enabling smarter transport planning, greater responsiveness and tighter cost control.
Warehouse and inventory-management systems were cited as the most valuable integrations for increasing efficiency.
Additionally, sustainability remains a strategic priority, the report found.
Over half (53 per cent) of organisations report full compliance with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), and 44 per cent expect significant improvements in transportation sustainability by 2030.
This growing emphasis on accountability and carbon reduction highlights the link between responsible operations and long-term business performance.
“Visibility, unification and intelligence are becoming the foundations of the modern supply chain,” added Sibal.
“Australian businesses are making steady progress, but continued investment in smarter systems and connected technologies will be essential to strengthen resilience, control costs and meet evolving customer expectations in the years ahead.”
Read the Manhattan Associates report here.
Read more news relating to Australia’s freight costs.
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