Saving time: the new gold

Being able to deliver right away is the new gold. Order today and get it today—if you can do that, you are sitting on a goldmine! But what if you can't? Then you're out of the running as an entrepreneur. 

The world is changing at a breakneck pace. Take an innovation like 3d printing: 5 years ago it was a pipe dream, now it's a reality. It's turning the world upside down, and it applies to saving time as well. 3D food printing is coming a long way, too. Imagine stunning, edible layers made of your logo, or the name of the birthday boy printed right onto the cake in sugar or chocolate. 

Here is another example: In January 2017, we were in the Volkswagen showroom in Berlin. The space was laden with four-wheel drive Bugattis, electric Porsches (100 km/hr in 2.5 sec), and other big-kid toys to salivate over. One year and one diesel scandal later, you are left with a dull showroom with illegible information panels about Nachhaltigkeit (sustainability). Adapting quickly is essential.

Something that certainly was new in Berlin was the "courier of tomorrow", an innovative cart that trails behind the postman like a puppy. Postal workers lose 60% of their time walking to their bicycles and moving them. The electric bicycle systems were also quite impressive: half the size of a minivan, yet they are able to transport just as many packages and are a great deal faster. These innovations are the solutions for a current problem that lector Ploos van Amstel presented at Logistica 2017: in Amsterdam's De Pijp neighbourhood, 2000 packages are transported by 1000 minibuses each day, 800 of these packages are transported by 50 minibuses. The remaining 950 minibuses are primarily responsible for traffic jams.
 
The government, however, does not seem to notice that time is the new gold, in particular, the Raad van State (Council of the State). It is unbelievable how much time, and therefore money, is being wasted there. Making judgements on complaints that have been filed is postponed too often and legal deadlines are constantly delayed. In the meantime, the entrepreneur is sitting on his hands and that is gold down the drain. 

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Herman Bessels is an architect BNA at Bessels architekten & ingenieus B.V.