Smith School Launches Groundbreaking Report on Logistics Tech Investment

Supply chain conferences, research or conversations with logistics service providers (LSPs) are all critical to staying informed about the latest industry technology trends and topics. However, all neglect one critical aspect of the conversation: spending.

A new, forthcoming annual report from the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business is delivering that highly sought-after clarity.

A team of students, faculty and alumni from the Smith School’s Supply Chain Management Center is publishing the Logistics Service Provider Technology Report (LSPTR) to provide technology spend transparency for LSPs.

This inaugural report, considered a “proof of concept,” specifically focuses on two key technology subsets: artificial intelligence and robotics, and is scheduled for release this summer. Interested LSPs can still get involved by filling out the team’s survey, which is available online.

Work on future editions will begin during the fall 2025 semester and encompass all technology-related expenditures of companies that opt in, providing a holistic view of LSP interest, activity and technology spending.

The report finds that LSPs lack important spending context due to several reasons: public filings often do not provide information related to IT investments in a standardized manner, consulting firms have limited data to support their perspectives and industry analysts do not always collect hard data.

Smith adjunct professor Geoff Milsom, also a partner at Forerunners Consulting, which provides advisory services for challenging supply chain and transportation operations, was driven to create the report based on interactions with industry stakeholders and limitations of existing logistics reports, which generally measure supply chain partnership sentiments or consist of government data related to labor costs and inventory levels as opposed to spending trends.

Milsom and the project team, which included Smith alums Jaclyn Wilton ’19 and SCMC fellow Maggie McGuire ’24, as well as two undergraduate students, surveyed industry executives who influence technology spending at their respective organizations during the fall 2024 semester.

According to Milsom, those executives expressed a desire to participate given the potential insights for benchmarking and procurement reasons, as well as general market trends on technology.

“There are good reports out there, but none of them really get to how these logistics companies put their money where their mouth is and spend on technology,” says Milsom. “The initial feedback we’ve received from executives has been all positive, and the conclusion is that we should keep moving forward on this.”

Upon learning about the project, Wilton, a manager at Forerunners Consulting, was immediately interested in participating, considering its potential application in her day-to-day responsibilities. She also valued the opportunity to give back to the Smith School by providing her expertise and collaborating with current students.

“This is something that was exciting to me because it’s so relevant to the work that I’m doing now,” says Wilton. “Being able to do it with the University of Maryland and current students makes this opportunity to get this much-needed information out there even better.”

When approached to work on the report, Ryan Sachar ’25, a supply chain management major, saw his chance to simulate what it’s like to work on a team akin to an internship or full-time position and further develop teamwork, project management and problem-solving skills, all of which he will utilize in the workforce.

“I used this opportunity to see how I could adjust to, and work in a team outside of what I'm used to. It's good preparation for my full-time role, a rotational program where I'll have to adjust to different team dynamics and environments to be successful. I believe future students could benefit a lot from being a part of this project, especially in preparation for an internship or full-time role,” says Sachar.

Ivy Zheng ’26, a major in supply chain management and information systems, viewed it as an opportunity to gain valuable, hands-on experience in a project management and data analysis role, putting skills like big data organization into practice.

She also hopes that her participation in the report is just the beginning of Smith's student involvement and that the report’s success leads to more students being exposed to this dynamic learning experience.

“This experience gave me the opportunity to apply the skills I’ve learned through the courses at UMD to real-world problems while working hands-on with real data, something I’ve been wanting to do,” says Zheng. “We hope that we’re opening more experiences for future students to join and continue building on this project, and create an even greater impact.”