Reflections on 2023 by our CEO Rob Schuurbiers
As we are approaching the end of the year, I find myself reflecting on the past year and honestly, 2023 feels like a year of interesting contradictions.
At Simacan, we are literally ending our 10th anniversary year on December 31st. With closing the door of our familiar office on the Valutaboulevard for the very last time and moving into our new office in Amersfoort from January 1st onwards. This move is partly because we have noticed that since the Covid-19 pandemic, hybrid working has become the ‘new normal’; we simply need fewer office workspaces. Because of this hybrid working I would have expected quieter roads. However, traffic congestion seems worse than ever before. Perhaps a contributing factor is that during the pandemic, people traded the collectiveness of public transport for the safe bubble of their cars. And apparently, are not returning to public transport. Another factor could be the policy of blocking off traffic lanes when there is a vehicle in the emergency lane. Ensuring a safe(r) workplace for emergency services. This undoubtedly adds up to the impact of traffic flows.
In terms of sustainability, 2023 also seems contradictory. It's nice to see in the past year sustainability and zero-emission are really becoming tangible. Almost all of our customers have incorporated electric or hybrid vehicles into their transport operations. And charging plazas have been realised at several logistics centres. In contrast, in The Netherlands, solar panels are being barred because of grid capacity problems!
And I am very curious what the recent Dutch news about a mandatory truck licenses for heavier electric vans will mean for the process rate of electrification for home delivery operations.
On the tech front, artificial intelligence is the trend of 2023. Tools like Chat GPT have definitely found their way into our daily work processes. It's quite astonishing to see how much time these developments save. Even in SaaS services for logistics, we see the term AI coming up more and more often. But I do ask myself the question "when can you call something AI?". Can our Simacan algorithms that predict driving times - depending on date and time - be called 'AI'? Or the chatbot that helps you? Perhaps we at Simacan are too modest in our expressions that we are not yet riding on this AI hype. At the same time, calls for regulation of AI are growing. And fears of privacy violations because of AI are increasing. Interesting food for thought over the holidays.
I look forward to continuing to build a sustainable and collaborative supply chain in 2024. Together with our customers, partners and, of course, my Simacan colleagues! I wish everyone happy holidays🎄
Rob Schuurbiers
CEO Simacan