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LOGISTICS FEATURE<br />
Additionally, the focus i s on<br />
achieving a holistic balance between<br />
cost and efficiency which has<br />
benefited the industry as a whole<br />
and weeded out inferior players to a<br />
large extent.<br />
Warehousing<br />
Wareh3ousing is one function that<br />
has in our opinion benefited the most<br />
from innovation. When the logistics<br />
industry was just taking root in the<br />
GCC, what we know as warehouses<br />
today were simply known as Godowns,<br />
as in a place to go down and<br />
store goods.<br />
As the market grew and<br />
the scope of industries<br />
requiring storage facilities<br />
expanded, the modernday<br />
warehouse was<br />
born.With the needs of<br />
business getting more<br />
time-bound and with<br />
focus shifting towards<br />
proper handling of goods<br />
such as pharma or agriproducts,<br />
the creation of a<br />
more skilled workforce to<br />
monitor these changing<br />
needs was felt.<br />
This led to the emergence of a<br />
category of mid-level executives who<br />
oversee warehousing functions still<br />
handled by a largely under-skilled<br />
workforce. It is estimated that over<br />
60% of the costs are dedicated to<br />
maintaining this new category of<br />
e m p l o y e e s . H o w e ver, l a c k of<br />
opportunities for ground-level staff<br />
has seen this industry stagnate,<br />
thereby creating an opportunity for<br />
disruption.<br />
Companies like Amazon have taken a<br />
rather extreme view on warehousing<br />
by investing heavily in automation.<br />
Their fulfillment centers typically<br />
require a smallforce of semi-skilled<br />
workers who can function with<br />
minimal oversight through the use of<br />
automation and robotics for every<br />
function from storage to sorting and<br />
picking. This is the direction that the<br />
industry seems to be heading in and<br />
there is an urgent need to address<br />
the challenges for the current<br />
workforce.<br />
Distribution<br />
Earlier, “Scheduling” was the<br />
buzzword in distribution. It was a<br />
simple yet effective system of doing<br />
business where customers had a<br />
fairly comfortable window in which<br />
their delivery schedules could be fit<br />
and the further handling of goods<br />
could be planned accordingly.<br />
Globalization, change in consumer<br />
b e h a v i o r a n d t h e a d v e n t o f<br />
eCommerce challenged the entire<br />
global supply chain with the idea of<br />
handling a very large volume of new<br />
SKUs giving rise to the concept of<br />
time-bound deliveries.Planners and<br />
distribution experts relied heavily on<br />
technology to improve efficiency.<br />
Distribution has now subsumed<br />
warehousing and transportation and<br />
where'First past the post'has become<br />
the motto.<br />
Our analysis of the changes in the<br />
Logistics industry shows that the<br />
future holds promise with the advent<br />
of new paradigm. Even government<br />
entities like customs are stepping in to<br />
meet the changing requirements by<br />
means of Smart clearance systems.<br />
There is talk of autonomous vehicles<br />
and hyperloops for both passenger<br />
and cargo. AI and Blockchain coupled<br />
with Big Data analysis are changing<br />
the way business is done. Niche new<br />
industries such as 3D printing are<br />
finding more use cases.<br />
Preparing a workforce that is futureready<br />
is only one part of the<br />
challenge. This is a time to discuss,<br />
deliberate and chart out a new<br />
framework of the future of logistics<br />
and supply chain. Every hand that can<br />
help as a mentor, innovator and<br />
contributor is welcome in this journey.<br />
Join us, won't you?
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