Automation in logistics equipment is growing rapidly in the UK, driven by the need for efficiency, accuracy, and sustainability. However, several key challenges continue to slow down or complicate its adoption—particularly for SMEs, warehouse operators, and 3PL providers.

Running your warehouse operations through your ERP system can offer benefits like data centralisation and streamlined workflows—but it also comes with several downsides, especially for growing or complex logistics operations.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK logistics sector face a unique set of challenges that can hinder growth, competitiveness, and resilience.

The logistics industry in 2025 is undergoing rapid transformation, driven by technological advancements, evolving customer expectations, and global sustainability goals. Companies are leveraging new tools and strategies to build more resilient, efficient, and environmentally responsible supply chains. Here are some of the key trends currently shaping the logistics landscape.

A big change is coming to the UK’s roads and logistics sector, after the UK government greenlighted Longer Semi Trailers (LSTs) for general use on 30th May 2023.

Readers of a certain age may remember when schooling was based around the so called three R’s of Reading, wRiting, and aRithemetic, and since then various other sectors have developed their own 3R’s, including the Reduce, Reuse & Recycle mantra of the sustainability movement.

Sustainability is important to consumers, and change starts at the top. Because green credentials hold such clout, it's industries of all sorts that must face the challenge of redefining their day-to-day operations. For the logistics sector, storing and transporting goods across the country, round-the-clock, faster than ever, and with the least possible environmental harm is especially challenging. But it's not impossible. Take, for instance, warehouses. 

Supply chain professionals have been faced with mounting challenges this year. As we advance toward the holiday season, these challenges are starting to permeate some sectors and have a knock-on effect on the wider industry. But what's causing the dominoes to topple and how can businesses break the cycle of supply chain disruptions – either this year or in the future?

The normal approach to a skill shortage in a company is to hire someone or to train someone internally. This can be a challenge for many industries and business sectors to find people with the right skills, while training someone can take a significant amount of time. However, there may be an alternative, hiring someone or training someone is essentially having more of the same. This might be the most appropriate or possibly the only solution to some situations, but in others changing the processes, systems and methods employed within the warehouse or facility first might reduce or remove the skills shortage in the first place.

Black Friday however busy is just one day in your peak period. It might be the busiest day, it might be your peakiest peak but it is still one day and the responses you deploy to deal with one day or even a couple is not necessarily the responses you need to successfully negotiate and manage your whole peak period. However planning for peak will mean that Black Friday becomes a more “normal peak”.

As a warehouse professional you probably do not have much input into how marketing and sales work and generate the demand on your warehouse. This plan looks at the actions and areas within your control and areas where input from the rest of the business can help.