Supply Chain
Technology Podcast

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Battery reliance, supply chain, Scania, sustainability, electrification, digitalization, cost efficiency, transport system, research methodologies, agile process, design thinking, infrastructure, hydrogen fuel cells, energy consumption, policy.

SPEAKERS

Scott Mears, Magnus Blinge

Scott Mears  00:07

Welcome to the Supply Chain Tech Podcast with Roambee. Scott Mears here, Global Field Marketing Manager at Roambee and one of the hosts of the Supply Chain Tech Podcast. We thank you for joining us today. In this episode, we speak with Magnus Blinge. Magnus is a research manager at Scania and a professor at Linköping University. He has an extensive background lecturing in universities and leading research projects. Scania is a major Swedish manufacturer focusing on commercial vehicles, specifically heavy lorries, trucks and busses. Today, we discuss the research Magnus is conducting on battery advancement and sustainability for Scania. In this episode, we dive into how much we rely on batteries in our supply chain, the challenges we face globally, and how Magnus is working to overcome these challenges. In his research, we also get some great insights into what companies could do today to push battery advancements forward and the importance it has on our supply chain and the world. Magnus truly gives us alternative perspectives and educational insight, providing supply chain heroes with the information they need to make more informed decisions. Thank you for coming on today, Magnus. We really appreciate it.

Magnus Blinge  01:28

Thank you. Thank you. Nice to be here.

Scott Mears  01:31

Yeah, no, it’s really exciting to have you on the episode today. So we actually met at Luxembourg. Funnily enough, first time I’d been to Luxembourg, a really fun place, an interesting place. And it was at the FNL event, an association. We’re both part of a great Association in that stunning venue, the Newminster Abbey. I would happily flash back there again. It was just, it was stunning.

Magnus Blinge  01:54

Me too. Great event.

Scott Mears  01:58

And we were having a conversation when we were having some food in the museum, and I remember that conversation specifically, and even my colleagues spoke with you, and I remember just wanting to explore that further. And these events you have so you speak with everyone, and you don’t really get enough time all the time to really dig into where you say, right, I want to speak to you for the next hour, really, excited we now have an opportunity to do that, and we’re able to focus in on something that really intrigued me when we spoke. So I’m really excited to do that. But before we do get into the meat of the episode, I always like to ask quite an interesting question at the start. I’m just sort of bit of an icebreaker, and it’s it’d be also quite interesting to set the scene. I would love to know before we get into really what we’re focusing on today is, when you come to your research, how do you approach your research to learn new things and generate new ideas? Because this must be so difficult to do as to push the boat further and further. What’s your method, or how do you approach that to generate new ideas?

Magnus Blinge  03:00

Yeah, well, I would say it’s about both of bottom up and top down. As I work at Scania and also in the university, I of course, follow what what Scania is doing, and the future of the transport sector as a whole, and as I’m being a logistician, I I see that we really need to explore more about the transport system, the different the different parts of it, it’s it’s getting more and more complex. You get the sustainability issues, where the electrification comes in as a big chunk, but it’s definitely not the only solution, but it’s a big and important part. And then, of course, the digitalization that perhaps is enabler for coming towards where we where we’re heading, and seeing from that system perspective, we see that the market is changing. There’s more players involved. We need to reach out to other sectors, like the energy sector, also the infrastructure building sector, and it’s getting more and more complex. So coming from what our capabilities are at Scania and what our capabilities want to be. Then you find the gaps, perhaps, in that, and then so you see the needs, and you see what we need. And then, well, of course, it’s a parallel process, but you you read lots of research papers, try to see where the research is going. What are the hot topics? Where is it going? And, of course, the innovation projects all over the world, in Europe and in other parts. Where are the, where’s the, where’s the industry heading? Hmm. Based on that you define your research topics or and sometimes you you’re fine with the state of the art to see what you get what you need, but sometimes it really lacks knowledge, and that’s when the cooperation kicks in. We cooperate. We join forces with universities and institutes and, of course, other companies, startups, who are, I mean, very fast and very on the edge, on the risk, on innovation. And so we start activities in that, not not only research, but activities to gain the knowledge, to gain the capabilities, to be stay ahead and be upfront of what’s happening so.

Scott Mears  05:47

Interesting. So that very much, gives you a focus by by doing what you today, it gives you a focus of where to where to put your your knowledge to and is there any if we went the behind the scenes of Magnus, is there? Is there like, a method that you have in your head of how you try to generate new ideas? I know you’ve you’ve worked a lot within universities, and I’m sure you’ve come across so many students have come up with different ways of the way they’ve approached projects. Do you have a specific Magnus approach that?

Magnus Blinge  06:17

Can’t say that, but, but, but you know what’s happening is, is, really, if you do academic research, it’s very much focused. You very much narrow down. You try to make a specific issue. And in logistics is, of course, it’s not possible to do like in in other science, where you do laboratory, you’re testing, things, and you do it again and again and exactly the same situation. But if you do research on logistics, it’s, you know, you can’t tell the holders to do exactly the same thing again. So you have to, you have to, you know, identify with other research methods. But what it’s happening now, I think it’s when it’s going so fast and it’s getting complex. You really need to try to be open for for new new research methodologies. And what we do at Scania, and of course, in many other places, is it’s trying to be more agile, trying to be more like design thinking. You get ideas, you send it out, you test it, you fail fast, start over again, because you don’t really have the time to do that digging. That takes time, but indeed you really need both, because sometimes it’s really knowledge that you want and sometimes that you need, and sometimes perhaps it’s just a test. Is this the right way? And continue and leave your kill your darling. Sometimes it’s not just possible. So so the Agile process and the design thinking is something I’ve I was not very familiar with, but I think it’s interesting. I think it’s complement each other, the real academic focus with this a little faster, agile process, and that combination can get you faster and, you know, try things if it works. And then, of course, you get new knowledge then. And then the research can, why did that happen? And then perhaps industry and innovation go further, but into but academia digs into it and find the knowledge behind it. So it’s an iterative process. And, you know, going academia and and industry academia back and forth. I think it’s a good way to go.

Scott Mears  08:43

Interesting. That’s a really good insight, that combination of more academia and the industry, of how they approach this, and how you’re sort of bridging both and together in the way you approach I just think that’s a really interesting insight, not just for myself, but the viewers, to really see that and see how you approach these tests. It’s really and I really want to set the scene for the episode here with, of course, we’re going to be focusing these episodes on the batteries, and the research are doing, obviously, how much of an impact this has on our supply chains. And I really wanted to set the scene with, how do we currently use batteries in today’s supply chain? If you could just sort of give me just a helicopter view of some examples, just so we can set the scene of what we’re going to do today.

Magnus Blinge  09:26

Well as battery development has been fantastic and totally mind blowing. And we always we all the battery researchers beat the expectations every time. And I think I mentioned I looked at my when I did lectures five years ago, 1917, 2017 of course, not that old. 2017 five years ago, I looked my slides and I said to the students, just forget about batteries on heavy trucks. It’s just not doable. It was. Take all the truckload and it’s not possible, so that I don’t say that anymore, because now we have them. And I was not alone. I mean, most researchers, wasn’t that. It wasn’t my idea. I listened to clever battery researchers and others who said that so but the development has been so tremendous. So now we’re here, and electrification and batteries are today. It has moved from, you know, e bikes and that kind of micro mobility. We had that for a while, and now we have a lot of events. So the small pickup transport that it’s already on the market, and year ago, or two years ago, the first trucks came for city distribution, for and quite short range, but for city applications, it was perfect when you can charge it at night and do deliveries with with a truck. So that’s where we are right now. But we are doing tests, of course, not only we but but all OEMs on heavy trucks to get them to go at least 45, 450 kilometers and then charge again or so it’s been an enormous development in this area, but I would say today to set the scene, it’s in city applications and reaching out for regional applications as well.

Scott Mears  11:36

Yeah, and it’s really good to set that scene and and it’s great to hear that the advancements have moved forward. That’s a really funny comment you made, how you were saying in 2017 it’s just just don’t even bother and now the sped up so much, and we’re more and more relying on it within our supply chains when needing that to match that. It’s just really good to see that and and I’m really excited to dig a bit deeper into this now. And so, of course, you’re researching this for Scania, and really trying to be ahead of the game so you could understand battery technology for Scania and their supply chain. And what is it you’re really trying to achieve with your research, specifically around batteries at the moment?

Magnus Blinge  12:21

Well, if it’s of course, how to enhance the implementation of electrification in the transport system. So you must see the needs from the from the customers, of course, and the transport companies, the haulers and they today. Of course, fear this, what you call range, range executive. They’re afraid that they can’t use it so much. So of course, we need to have a system where you can charge it and deal with that issue. And that can, of course, be done in different ways, in technology and and that’s why it’s so complex. You can’t really see where the winner yet. If it’s a charging lot of charging stations, or there are other applications, of course, like electric road systems. It’s like a train, but it’s on on wheels, basically. So you have the infrastructure there. It’s an interesting way for where you have a lot of traffic back and forth between terminals or something, where that could be a but, but, of course, and you have the hydrogen fuel cell technology as well that could, then you get the same range as today, basically. So it’s different technologies that might be there. But from what I’m interested in my research is, of course, how the whole years will they dare to buy this fleet? Because, of course, we’re happy to sell 100 electric vehicles, but that’s not I mean, we are interested in the 1000s, and to get that, to get there, we need the infrastructure in place so that the customers, the holders there to do this investment, because it is more expensive. The batteries are expensive, but the energy use, the efficiency is much better in the system, with both batteries and electric roads and so understanding the needs and the prerequisites for the haulers and the transport ecosystem is very important, otherwise, you come out with a technically brilliant solution that no one needs or wants. So of course, it’s you. It’s, it’s getting more and more complex. I would probably say that many times I mean the complicated things we will fix. It’s the complex things that will take time. And it’s, it’s getting more and more complex, much more stakeholders and much more traditional business models that will have to change, not only for OEMs, but for the whole system, for the whole transport ecosystem, and trying to navigate to that is complex.

Scott Mears  15:33

Interesting. So it sounds like I would love to know what you feel would then drive the the adoption of of electric vehicles more in our supply chains. Do you feel that, because you mentioned a few different sources and ideas that is it that you we, maybe not every, or the whole industry, has come up to date with, with sort of the the research that’s out there, or do you feel that it’s a bit of behavior that change that needs to happen within the industries to to just go, you know what we’re going for, this particular power, energy of power we’re going to do go down this route. What do you feel is going to drive companies to really start bringing this into their supply chains and adopting it further?

Magnus Blinge  16:22

I yeah, as always, the most important is cost. So we have to bring costs down for for and of course, as it is more energy efficient, the cost of driving the battery electric vehicles today are is getting more and more profitable the more you drive, right? Because the cost per kilometer is much lower than for diesel, but the investment cost is much higher, and that drives that you want to use them more and more. So again, it’s about then how to charge and how fast can you charge? How fast can you get going again? That So cost is one driver. The other is, of course, sustainability, because we really need to do something. And it’s, it’s getting very acute. Is that the right word it’s getting I mean, we see, you see the more and more proof. That the climate change, climate change has started, and it’s getting very evident that we have to do something and do something fast. So sustainability, if we if we take it seriously, really have to change so but, but still, it’s, it’s a cost issue and driving on sustainability, I say that. But then, and also, on the positive side, it’s also the digitalization and the the enormous possibilities that that give us on planning on, you know, utilize the possibilities of energy efficiency, the this, the computer capacity is enormous, and it goes down in price, and all the sensors go down in price. So we can measure a lot, we can we can predict a lot with the AI and everything so and that, that I think will help, help a lot. And it’s a, again, a prerequisite for electrification, I think so just having the vehicle there, it’s not enough. You have to make it efficient. You have to understand and help the transport industry to be more efficient and to gain the possibilities that are out there. And for that, we need the digitalization as well.

Scott Mears  18:57

So the very much, just to sum up what you said there that some real factors that will drive this is obviously the cost, the efficiencies of the battery, from battery life, and also the sustainability factor. I mean, we do see companies hugely going to these events. There’s such a focus on sustainability, on all the topics, is such a drive from projects companies are involved with and what they’re doing within sustainability, which is a great thing to see, and it’s just putting what you even said there, which is interesting, is almost putting a number to our sustainability as well. I had a great conversation the other day with a company that’s doing this, they’re putting a figure to the cot emissions that are being emitted from this transport which again, will be a driving factor to the adoption of and the value of the understanding of the value of the battery technology, more than some.

Magnus Blinge  20:00

Times you make it a bit too simple. I have to stress that as well, because there is a lot of emissions, constructing vehicles, constructing batteries, constructing fuel cells. So again, it’s getting more complex. So, so we’re not there yet, but indeed, electrification and those things have the potential, definitely, but I’m a bit worried as well. We see now the electricity prices is rising, so what happens then for the investment climate for electrification, unless we keep the fossil fuels in the same level? But is that politically possible? So? But I mean, it’s not just cutting off Russian gas and oil for Europe that that is an issue right now. We need to cut all the all the oil and fossil fuels within just a decade or two. So it’s hard. So it’s, it’s, again, it’s getting complex. It’s not only technology. It’s also policy. It’s behavior, you and me, how we behave. Can we accept this? And again, the politics must be involved as well. So the greater mission is that we really need to cooperate. We really need to agree on where we’re going and make sure that the steps we take are in the right direction. And that is why I also, like I mentioned, the Agile process to test, to start testing, and then the academic side to really do the research on it. Is it a good way? Is it sustainable in the long run, so we don’t march right into a dead end somewhere? So sorry if I’m not giving answers, but more challenges.

Scott Mears  22:02

It’s good. This is why I love doing this podcast with so many interesting supply chain heroes. Because we just, we really get into the detail of what the challenges are out there and what’s driving them, and it just gives people more insight into into them coming up with other solutions and creative solutions that they present these events. So it’s always good to see the this from a different perspective and the level of insight you can offer. I know you’ve just touched on the challenges there, so we’ll probably get through this question a little more quicker, but globally, what would you feel like are the challenges? It seems like you did answer that from political to to the sustainability piece. Is there any other challenges you feel we have globally? Because, of course, every everyone moves at different speeds, with different speeds, and has different resource to be able to move at different speeds around the world. And supply chains. Don’t just go to two countries. They go globally, so it very much leans on globally as pushing this forward.

Magnus Blinge  23:08

Yeah, and that’s a that’s a good point. And we are talking a lot about electrification in Europe and the US and Japan and some parts of Southeast Asia, China. But I mean, electricity is not as stable and and well produced in many other countries. We did us a master thesis on, actually, on Mexico and South America. Look what, what is, what carbon footprint will be with a battery electric car electrification, or, for example, biogas or ethanol as a fuel. And again, in many countries, all the electricity is produced from fossil fuels, or basically all a huge part of it. And then the electric technology is not that good. So I think it would be quite regional, regional, and that’s why I started with electrification is one chunk and important one. But we need to look at other systems as well, like biogas, like alternative fuels, and some parts where ever have a lot of sun and a lot of wind, you get a surplus of electricity, then it’s perfect to have a hydrogen so it differs a bit. And I think as a global company, you have to, you know, look at the different regions and the prerequisites there to get sustainable solutions. And then electrification will come, perhaps. But, I mean, we’re still here today in globally, I think 60 or 70% of the electricity produced is fossil right. So that part to make electricity production fossil free, or that is really things that really must be speed up dramatically. But perhaps that wasn’t the global if you mean ships and all the other transport modes or.

Scott Mears  25:12

No, that was a really good insight into because what I found quite interesting there was saying from a global point of view, you’re having to factor in so much more based on based on the geography and and actually leveraging different power systems dependent on what they have more. And that’s an interesting look at it. Rather than just saying Electric’s the way everyone follow Elon and let’s go forward. It’s yes, that plays about absolutely, but it’s just there’s a lot more complexities as well. Learning on this in other countries that just are going to be taking much more time, and it just may not work for a good amount of time. So that’s a really interesting insight that, and obviously that offers quite a challenge to companies, because now they can’t just go for a one shoe fits all they have now apply this, apply this, efficiency in their supply chain. Sustainability completely different from Mexico to the UK to Europe to the North America. It’s completely different, and I already see that that’s quite a complexity and lot of education, a lot of behavior change and cost. So that’s I can see why that’s a harder thing to push forward, rather than just saying this need to adopt and just everyone move forward.

Magnus Blinge  26:35

So we’re quite spoiled on this system where we have one type of truck and one type of fuel all around the world. I think it’s we have to start getting used to the idea that perhaps it will be different in different countries, and look at the cargo. Look at the container instead. How can that be transported in different parts of the world, what is the best and most least damaging on environment to so that’s again, it’s all about logistics and supply chain. That’s why I try to communicate to everyone. But it’s yeah.

Scott Mears  27:21

So on that I would love to know because, because we focused it more on the transport, changing to more electricity. But you did mention that focusing on more the containers and focus on other pieces of the logistics to to be more efficient. What? What do you feel companies can look to do now and also look to do in the future.

Magnus Blinge  27:42

You mean, it’s gone out or

Scott Mears  27:44

Well, companies within the industry, companies within the street, because I feel it’s going to take in everyone to really push the change of behavior. Just as Roambee we do look at the change of behavior and pushing playing a part in pushing the industry forward, and change of behavior, of having real time visibility.

Magnus Blinge  28:02

That’s really important. They’ll change behavior and perhaps doing some what will the transport cost be in the future? And I think then with rising energy prices, because it’s not just transport. Who needs more electricity. The steel industry in Sweden wants to go fossil free, and then they need enormous amount of hydrogen as well. So what will the prices be and from that, probably, all right, one scenario is that that will, of course, focus even more on efficiency, that we keep the truckloads or transport containers really full. It can be more focused on that then, then, you know, getting fast just in time is really important, and that is very something that needs to be kept because it’s very important for industry. But does it really have to go fast? Can we plan it better and start the transport so they the transport time can increase, but perhaps not the lead time that much? Or can we accept a bit longer lead time when we know much better and can predict the production much better with the help of digitalization and AI. I mean, that’s what Amazon is doing. They know that you’re buying shoes next month before you even think about it. If I say in that way, and that is our behavior and AI. It’s a lot of scary things about AI, but it’s a lot of things that can be, that it can be used for, for making the transport system more efficient as well. So I think efficiency will be even more in focus. I mean, from from. OEMs, it’s been to lower the diesel consumption, and we will have to continue to lower electricity consumption, or any energy consumption in our products, but it’s just a part of the transport system. We have to look at it all. How is this vehicle used? How much can it carry? How can we use it in the supply chain in a more sustainable and efficient way. And I’m convinced that we had, we’re just in the beginning of that possibilities to use the possibilities. I mean, there are figures out there that a truckload in Europe is 45% in an average, perhaps. And I mean, is it really rocket science to get that up to 60 or even 65 because, of course, it’s things going from one part to another. It’s, I mean, take the Swedish forest industry. For example. There’s a lot of forest trees that is going down, and very little is going back to the forest. So it’s, it’s, of course, can never be 100% but reaching from 45 to 60, perhaps that’s, that’s 15% of energy efficiency, just there and and then with electrification, another means you can half the energy consumption from today. So we have a lot of things that we can do. But of course, it’s, it’s, again, it’s a question of business models on cost. How do we make it profitable to do to take this investments that is needed. And there are, I mean, it sounds scary. I mean, there are studies, academic studies, saying that in Europe, we will need six to eight, no, sorry, for four to six times, or something like that, more electricity than until 2040, or something like that. That sounds scary, because that needs to be renewable electricity as well, and non fossil so it’s a huge investment, and also then grid capacity and all that needs to be invested a lot. But still, those calculations shows us that it’s about half to 1% of GDP, so it won’t make us poor. It will take us a year or half a year extra to get as rich as it would have been if the GDP growth in Europe is 2% or something. So put it in perspective that this is not it is challenging, yes, but it won’t make us poor. And in a way, but it’s a change, mind shift and and bold politicians who dare to do this necessary things and making the scene with the policies that enhance innovation and not hinder it, not not protect the whatever it is. And I mean bold politicians. Is when I worked at an authority in Sweden, I got to learn a lot of politicians, and I really have respect for politicians. It’s not an easy job. It’s a terribly difficult job. So we need to help with facts and research and science and test innovation. So now we’re up in the helicopter.

Scott Mears  33:42

No, again, it’s just another level of insight that, that that we don’t have, and it’s the more we discuss this, the more I realize how complex it is, it’s, it’s got a lot of people stirring the pot. It’s, it’s, there’s a lot of people involved. A lot of people have different needs. And it’s not as simple as just saying yes, on paper, that achieves that. Then you have to factor in these 15 other needs of these 10 different people, and that’s the complex bit it sounds and, and something we’ve got to navigate and, and I do enjoy seeing more, more partnerships within the within the industry, supply chain and and more push on sustainability. I I feel this has a great encouragement towards towards these things and achieving these things. When we come together and we unify more in in our communication and understanding of research, it’s it can really help push us forward further. So there are good things and there are challenging things that we things we do need to overcome, of course, and, and, and it seems that also that, because you mentioned about the speed of delivery, and Amazon do this amazingly. I mean, you can, literally, you can, you can order something. And get it the next day. Like, that’s just it blows my mind when I mean, sometimes less than 12 hours it’s at my door, like, I figure out how they even did that, and it’s quite mind blowing. And for a customer, it’s brilliant. It’s like, oh yeah, this is brilliant. It’s the sort of service I want, but it comes at a huge cost. And I wonder if the industry will shift to to putting, maybe applying pressure in to the customer in a way to to make them maybe not as a oh, this is what, how we’re doing it now, but saying, hey, just so you know, if you were to do one day delivery. This is the sort of impact you’re going to have. Yeah, that’s maybe been an interesting insight that I know came from the FNL event and something. So do you see that helping as well as maybe putting, I guess, it’s more information in the customer’s hands, so then they can make more informed decisions as well to help?

Magnus Blinge  36:00

I agree. I couldn’t agree more. It’s, it’s very much about our our behavior and as a human. I mean, if you were asked we wanted in three days or in one day, I would choose one day as well, if I didn’t know the carbon footprint. And now we’re heading towards, you know, instead of we are coming to your place between 12 and 5pm and now it’s we will come within an hour. And what do I choose? Of course, within an hour, then I know. And even more, with predictive algorithms, you have 15 minutes. And some, as you know, some deliveries, say, 10 to 12 minutes, yeah. And as you say, how is that really being done? What is the working conditions for those poor people who poor guys and girls who needs to deliver? If they bike and you have 10 minutes, you have difficulties with security. I guess I have never done this kind of deliveries, but I just try to imagine, if I have that job, it must be very stressful, it must be difficult, but, but you and I who order it, and we are getting used to that we get it, yeah, but of course, this this market on urban logistics, which is my, basically my focus in Scania. It’s a lot of venture capital there, because you see the market, market is growing. The market is the willingness to pay is quite high in that compared to others. So it’s a lot of venture capital that is going into that sector, and we will see who will win and what the price will be then, because it’s the price is ridiculous low compared to the actual cost today in many of those city deliveries services. So it will be interesting to see what happened. But again, to get it again with the digital assets and digital AI, it like, in your like you said, in your case, probably, you know, because of the weather, the the fashion, the what has happened, what your pals have ordered. They can predict that you are buying your shoes very soon, so they start the delivery much earlier, and then you have it somewhere rather close, in a terminal somewhere. And then it’s possible.

Scott Mears  38:42

That’s an insight. I didn’t know. I didn’t know they actually went to that level. Wow, as a matter, that’s scary for my human side of as a matter, I find that really exciting, really cool. As a customer, I find it scary.

Magnus Blinge  38:58

But again, what we started, if we could get a carbon footprint and make an informant, informed choice, I think that could change. And I have an example from Belgium where some internet they just shift from the default value was fast as possible, and they shifted in that their web page that it’s the most sustainable or least burdening to make it the default value, and actually that that just made the environment the sustainable choice, increased by 20% so we don’t take inform we don’t take informed decisions, but we can help them. Yeah, with this we can help and we have a lot of lot of potential there. Definitely.

Scott Mears  39:56

Yeah, I love this idea giving the information. For the customer to make their own decision. Yeah, I love this and and it allows that behavior to change over time, and they to make their own decision. And then I think this could be really powerful and moving forward and something.

Magnus Blinge  40:15

Those calculations tools are quite complex as well, so maybe we shouldn’t go into that, but I’ll just give you an example. If your package is going on a ferry where there are people traveling on vacation, not going anywhere, just want to have a good time, and you have your your box is in Euro palette that is in a container with other stuff, with different weights, with different volumes. What is your CO two burden of that? How do you allocate? But that’s doing research, so let’s not go into that. It’s a lot of research here going into that area to make it reliable, because that’s what we need. We don’t want to be fooled with this.

Scott Mears  41:03

No, this is true. Putting an exact figure is, yeah, the variables are just mind boggling, and something that’s going to take some serious time. So it’s but it’s, yeah, I know there’s companies moving forward on this, and it’s great to see that we’re pushing research. Just one final question I’d love to get is, what would be your we’ve talked about a lot, and there’s lots of advice and lots of learnings that I’ve gathered from this, and I know viewers will have as well. Just Just one final piece to to companies out there, because at the end, I think if we’ve learned something, if we’ve learned anything in this podcast, a big thing for me is, is, it is about us coming together and communicating and and sharing our knowledge, so then we all can work from the same platform, and we can understand each other’s challenges and move forward. So what, what would be your sort of last piece of advice to the companies out there that are on this journey, and we to help them move forward?

Magnus Blinge  42:07

Well, that’s a good question, of course. But what’s in my head right now is, of course, when you see the raising prices and so try to in your strategies. The price of energy has just started. It will go up if we take sustainability seriously, and we must getting rid of fossil fuels, is, it is cheap, and it will be cheap to, you know, extract oil. It doesn’t cost much. In many countries, cost hardly anything. So it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s about, you know, we have just seen the beginning of energy chaos. Sort of so what is, how can you do this more efficient? Try to utilize the potential that is there, because it’s a lot of unused resources in the system that can be used much better. And of course, to be ahead, to get the capabilities on digitalization that will help that. So I think the best advice, I mean, it is complex, and I don’t have the answers, but some, perhaps strategies that that scenarios and several scenarios to be prepared for, for the future, because it is complex, and yeah, now I think at the same time as I speak, and that’s not always good, but efficiency will be a very big issue In every it will not be enough with solar panels and stuff like that. We also need to be much more efficient in the whole system, and as prices will rise, that will be a driver. So why not start now to see how can we do this? And think about the transport time and lead time. Can we order earlier and give the holder a chance to make it more efficient. So transport buyers, shippers, to cooperate. I know it’s difficult, because we are. We have a lot of difficulties. Of course, as soon as we come close to business models, it’s, it’s a no no, but we really need to cooperate. We need, really need to find good solutions for that. And I mean, just look at the heat waves and everything. This is just the beginning. Unfortunately, we have to take it serious. We have to start doing this. Take the investments now, or our children will have a more heavier investment to take.

Scott Mears  45:04

That’s a real powerful end.. Look, it’s true, and it’s we can’t hide away from it. We can’t it’s not happening, and it’s very true. So it’s important that we face this realistically and we’re very honest with each other. So it can be scary, and it does scare me, but it’s it’s something we need to face front on so I appreciate a fantastic end to the episode. I really appreciate that candid response. I really appreciate it. Well, um, thank you, Magnus, thank you so much. I really appreciate you coming on it’s been Thank you. Have a really in depth conversation view, and really dove into the batteries and sustainability, and it was really good fun. So I appreciate you coming on board.

Magnus Blinge  45:51

It was a pleasure. Thank you very much.

Scott Mears  45:55

Thankyou very much, Magnus, and if you could just give a little wave to the viewers, sure. Okay, bye. Hi, my name is Scott Mears, and I’m one of the hosts of the Supply Chain Tech Podcast with Roambee. On this podcast we talk to supply chain heroes from around the world about everything, ranging from the disruptions related to supply chains, their personal experiences with tracking technologies, strategies to build resilience, and much, much more. We already have some recommended videos for you to the side of me, and if any of this sounds interesting to you, do subscribe to our Youtube channel and hit the bell icon so you don’t miss another Roambee video. I’ll see you next time.