it aims to connect the various parties involved in international trade in order to cut the filing verification processing and coordination costs associated with crossborder transportation according to maersk documentation and bureaucracy can represent up to onefifth of the total cost of moving a container many startups are developing autonomous robots that operate alongside humans and track inventory on shelves in warehouses factories and distribution centres a german online retailer that uses machinelearning algorithms to predict what customers are going to buy has developed a system so reliable that it can predict with per cent accuracy what will be sold within the following days the economist b this results in better supply management by cutting down inventory and reduces the time required for delivery