Futorist and trend watcher Richard van Hooijdonk spoke at Empack 2017 in Den Bosch about the future of the logistics and packaging industry. "Everything we can repeat we are going to teach to machines and robots," Van Hooijdonk said. According to the trendwatcher, we are heading towards a future we cannot imagine.
"In Amsterdam, 40,000 parcels are delivered every day now," says Van Hooijdonk. "In 2020, that will be around 100,000 parcels a day. And assume that those packages are not delivered by people." According to Van Hooijdonk, almost everything in logistics and packaging will eventually be regulated by robots and machines. "I think that in 15 years' time there will be self-driving cars driving through neighbourhoods picking up parcels and delivering parcels 24/7. Surely that will be ideal. Those cars will be safer, faster, cleaner and cheaper. So I wouldn't see why this is not going to happen."
According to Van Hooijdonk, eventually all packaging and products will communicate with each other. If a product is almost broken, it will give a signal and a new one will automatically be ordered for you. Packaging as we know it will totally change, the futorist thinks. "I am convinced that our children really don't know labels or tags anymore. You can then scan the product with smart glasses or your smart mirror. A robot can tell you what is in the product. This can be much more accurate than and label where you only have a limited area to communicate something to your consumer. "
Black, brown and white bear
Many companies are afraid of the future and don't really know where to start, according to van Hooijdonk. "No one can imagine products being able to communicate with each other. It will be possible in a few years' time a smart fridge will present you with recipes from the products that are in the fridge. It is the youth that comes up with these kinds of things. No old hand on a supervisory board will come up with such an idea."
According to the public speaker, three types of people can be identified in a company. The first is the black bear. He/she is afraid of everything new and thinks the company will still be the same in 10 years' time. "So you should never get involved with that kind of people," Van Hooijdonk says emphatically. The second kind of category are the brown bears. They will not come up with a radically new idea of their own accord, but they can be convinced. They don't want to change, but if it has to be done then so be it. The last group is the white bear category. "That is the youth," says Van Hooijdonk. "They are no older than 25 and are open to everything. They want to change everything, because they see change as progress. Tie this group to your company and you will notice it automatically."
By: Editorial PackagingProfs
