In practice, standardized logistics processes are more or less equally widespread in all three sectors – industry, trade and services. In a study of trends and strategies in logistics,3 a survey found that a minority of 10 to 15 per cent of companies currently operate without any standardized processes at all. By 2015, this figure will have fallen to between 3 and 8 per cent across all sectors. Across all surveyed companies, the plans for the period up to 2015 indicate a particularly strong trend towards worldwide standardization. According to these findings, the share of industrial companies with worldwide logistics standards will increase from today’s figure of 25 per cent to 65 per cent, while the increase in the trading sector will be from 25 per cent today to 50 per cent in 2015. This shows that a high percentage of the surveyed companies have recognized the relevance and potential of globally standardized logistics processes as a means of integrating existing locations (see Figure 3.2).