Customs Support Group is the title sponsor of the Digital Transformation in Logistics conference in Birmingham on October 21, hosted by Logistics UK. The event will focus on how the industry is leveraging technology to improve supply chains.
Ahead of the conference, Amanda Fraser, senior HR manager at Customs Support Group looks at how technology is being used for the benefit of both staff and clients at CSG.
Upskilling to ensure compliance
To develop talent at Customs Support Group, we have implemented several key strategies. Clear communication through town hall and feedback sessions, where employees’ concerns are heard and addressed through ‘you said, we did’ initiatives, has been crucial. We firmly believe that creating a sense of belonging and giving employees a voice drives high performance and continuous improvement.
Additionally, investing in technology and upskilling employees in areas like electronic data exchange (EDI) solutions, digital working and environmental, social and governance (ESG) workstreams enhances job satisfaction and prepares the workforce for what we are naming ‘the declarant of the future’.
This is about ensuring our customs clearance experts remain the ‘real intelligence’ in an increasingly AI-driven world. Real intelligence is the vital link between our customs knowledge and expertise and AI solutions, which helps us navigate the complex and evolving regulatory landscape.
Addressing skills shortages
This is all part of the wider issue of skills shortages and ensuring we tackle them. AI and technology is transforming the logistics and supply chain sector, creating new skills needs while potentially leading to job displacement in some roles. The landscape is changing, so we must remain agile and focus on our ‘real intelligence’ to ensure the workforce of the future have fresh new skills to keep up with the pace.
There is an increased demand for higher skilled roles, indicating a need for more specialist expertise, which must be considered alongside the impact of economic factors, Brexit and the pandemic. These have all influenced the skills landscape on logistics. Declining new entrants, changing workforce demographics and underinvestment in training have also contributed to this skills gap.
Looking to the future
Our commitment to combining real intelligence with artificial intelligence ensures that we remain at the forefront of the industry, ready to tackle the challenges of the future.
Our teams are working as early adopters in a digital world as leaders, builders and experts. Employers will know when they see CSG listed as employment that these are the teams who built CustomsTech – our digital customs and reporting solutions – which will define how customs clearance operations of the future operate from the UK and beyond.
- Transformation in Logistics 2025 takes place on Tuesday, October 21, from 9am to 5.15pm, at The Bond, 180-182 Fazeley Street, Birmingham. Visit Logistics UK for more information and tickets.