German Logistics Congress 2024 with a New Face

The 40th German Logistics Congress in Berlin has been opened! Until Friday, over 2,000 experts from supply chain and logistics are meeting in the InterContinental Berlin and Schweizerhof hotels for one of Germany’s largest economic congresses. Participants can expect a varied program over three days. This time, the focus is on Germany as a location and the energy transition, the shortage of skilled workers, efforts for more resilience in the supply chain, cyber security, and decarbonization.

(Bremen/Berlin) The Chairman of the BVL Board, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Thomas Wimmer: “The challenges in the logistics sector are not diminishing, while economic forecasts remain bleak. However, I no longer want to hear how Germany as a location is being disparaged everywhere. This can easily become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Let us leave the ideologically charged discussion behind and see how we can work together to improve things, shaping the global ‘turning point’ to our advantage – the economy in close cooperation with politics and society. For this, we need openness, trust, and the willingness to look beyond the confines of our own companies.”

2024: New Location and New Concept

The 40th German Logistics Congress also marks the end of an era: From the InterConti with its Marlene Bar, it will move to Estrel Berlin in 2024 – Germany’s largest congress hotel. The concept is also changing: In the future, there will be a division between conference and exhibition. The exhibition will be larger with more space for exhibitors, and there may be side events for specific industries or startups, as well as more digital networking opportunities. “We want to become significantly more international with both speakers and participants,” says Thomas Wimmer, adding: “We will continue to have the best congress program and C-level exchanges. And we want to show our pride in our economic sector more visibly.” More diverse ticket options are also planned, such as day tickets or cheaper expo tickets.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Thomas Wimmer, BVL, welcomes participants to the 40th German Logistics Congress © BVL/Kai Bublitz

Logistics Experts: 2024 Only a Slight Nominal Increase of 0.8%

Today, the logistics experts are publishing their forecasts for 2023 and 2024, which they developed and discussed at their autumn summit. The forecast for 2023 has been revised downwards due to weaker economic development. The current consensus estimate is nominal +2.5% and real -2.0%. In the “worst case,” a further reduction of the forecast by one percentage point is expected. The forecast for 2024 is on average nominal 0.8% and real -3.5%. These figures are based on the assumption that construction activities will continue to decline next year, demand in mechanical engineering will experience a slight decrease, the chemical industry and the automotive industry will stagnate, and demand for everyday goods will remain stable. Only the electronics industry promises positive impulses. A glimmer of hope could be seen in the second half of 2024 for household consumer goods, and the Christmas business could also stimulate the economy.

The logistics experts also formulate nine core measures that politics should implement to ensure that Germany remains at the forefront of logistics. The focus is primarily on infrastructure – both in transport, as well as in digitalization and electricity – which needs to be expanded according to the respective requirements with master plans from politics. Another factor is research funding to strengthen and maintain the innovative capacity of logistics.

Forecasting the Development of Logistics for the Following Year

The initiative Summit of Logistics Experts was initiated by Christian Kille and Markus Meißner in 2013 and aims to forecast the development of logistics for the following year, providing orientation and comparison opportunities for decision-makers from politics and practice. The patronage is currently held by Oliver Luksic, Member of the Bundestag, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport, and Coordinator of the Federal Government for Freight Transport and Logistics.

Title photo © Loginfo24