Key principles for a warehouse and distribution center design
/ By nauticalcargo / Storage • Supply Chain Management • Warehouse/ 0 Comments

Key principles for a warehouse and distribution center design.

Warehousing is the most integral part of the supply chain and logistics industry and plays the most vital role in today’s business. The concept of warehousing has been there for many years ever since trade and commerce have been the driving factor. Storage was a great cause of concern for many business houses who wished to diversify and warehousing for the perfect storage solution that not only helped in achieving production levels but also products available in the market whenever there was a demand.

Today the warehouse ceases to be just a storage center and has evolved to become one of the key drivers for the E-Commerce industry. Hence Warehouse Management Services has become a very prominent service offered by many logistics companies. For a warehouse and distribution center to be fully functioning and effective in its operations it has to be designed keeping in mind many factors of operations that the distribution center has to cater to. Many times the need for a well-designed warehouse is misunderstood and overlooked that generally leads to a completely disorganised setup. This eventually leads to a chaotic distribution center thereby gravely affecting the supply chain operations.

Let’s take a look at some of the key important factors that are essential in planning an optimally performing warehousing and distribution center.

Have an assessment of the volumes to handle :
Warehousing and a DC are all about the storage of goods that have to be retained at the center for a stipulated period or even an extended time till the product is ready to be shipped into the market. Hence one of the foremost elements that need to be considered while designing a warehouse is the volume which the center will have to hold. Volumes will also determine the various functions that have to be included that largely depend on the type of goods. While designing a warehouse it is very important to understand all the functions that need to be included in the site footprint, for example, the gantry cranes, the cold storage rooms, forklift charging areas, loading docks areas to store hazardous material, and individual facilities for packaging.

Clearly understand the objectives of the warehouse:
As we have seen a lot of changes in the logistics industry, there are very few warehouses that remain as storage facilities. Hence rather than just being a warehouse storage unit there has to be a much larger objective in place when designing a warehouse or a distribution center. We don’t want to outsource certain elements of a warehousing unit just because of the various inadequacies it may have. It is hence essential to define the objectives and goals for the warehouse facility about the marketing it has to serve and the geographical locations it has to cater to. What types of goods it will have to handle and what is the anticipated life of the warehouse facility or is it going to be a permanent infrastructure facility.

Material Handling:
Warehousing involves a lot of handling of products that are stored and a rule of thumb would be to keep manual handling to the minimum as possible. While designing a warehouse the infrastructure and operational flow should be in such a way as to facilitate the least manual touch points as possible. A warehouse flow is always from the inside out and hence the materials handling cannot be a primitive method.

Keep in mind the storage modes and other IT systems:
After finishing the assessment on all important aspects of the warehouse it’s also imperative that you should know about the various storage modes and IT systems that will be installed on the site and which is required. Technological advancements have facilitated more IT-enabled products to be installed for the picking, lifting, and racking of products, and hence all of these should be able to smoothly function on the premises. The warehouse design should accommodate all of these to assure a smooth operational flow.

Final Thoughts:
Warehouse designing involves a lot of caution as one small mistake can prove to be costly and damaging in the long run. It is always preferable to consult with an external entity that has expertise in designing such spaces as they will have all the resources to implement a design that best suits your supply chain mechanism.

/ By nauticalcargo / Freight Forwarding • Logistic • Shipping • Storage/ 0 Comments

The logistics sector in India for the year 2020 and the key areas that will drive significant growth.

Logistics is one such sector which has seen constant evolution over the past few years and is on a fast-paced growth in recent times. There is an upward trend in the global market and the same can also be said about the Indian Logistics Sector.

It won’t be wrong to say that the Indian logistics sector and the Logistics company in India is competing with many global logistics players of the most affluent countries. There is a great potential for improvements in many areas of logistics in India and hence this is the best time to understand the specific domains where one can invest time, money and efforts to achieve maximum growth.

Current scenario :
The growth rate of the Indian Logistics sector today is interconnected to every industry and has got integrated with technology and newer service providers. According to the latest world logistics index rankings based on the global logistics performance index, India has moved to the 35th rank from the 54th in the year 2014.

It is imperative to say that the Indian Logistics industry is the backbone of our economy and has shown massive improvement over the years. The Indian logistics industry in the year 2019 has been considered as the most promising and a year that has seen the quickest growth rates.

Based on official statistics the growth rate in 2019 can be largely attributed to the increasing number of e-commerce providers. It can be undoubtedly said that people have already started relying hugely on e-commerce for almost all their requirements and the same is said to continue in 2020 as well.

If we have to go by numbers, in the year 2019 the Indian logistics industry was valued at $160 Billion and with the present growth rates it is expected to be roughly around $250 Billion in the present year.

E-commerce has also attracted many FMCG and multinational companies into this space and has started creating many opportunities for the logistics industry to grow. Some of the areas which have had a direct impact are the inventory management and warehousing solutions of the retail industry. It has forced the retailers to find efficient warehousing solutions that facilitate better storage and also more responsive means of deliveries.

No wonder the Indian logistics industry which provides employment to more than 22 million people has shown a CAGR of 7.8 percent over the past five years and is expected to surge to 40 million by the end of 2020.

This is also because many companies are relying on the Indian logistics industry to help them better serve the ever-growing customized demands of Indian consumers. This is a very promising aspect of the current economy and in a way creates more jobs in the logistics sector.

Let us check out some of the key areas that will bring in substantial changes and development for logistics growth in 2020 :

Technology to be the backbone of Logistics :
Technology is going to be the driving force for many industries that will put businesses on a growth path and that too at faster paces. Technology in the industry has already started providing huge progress in the operational as well as various systems. Hence it won’t be wrong to say that technology is going to be the backbone of the economy that will be a primary tool in making it stronger and reliable.

Though adopting technology might be expensive but in the long run, it is going to give you more integrated, swift and error-free logistics operations. Technology such as AI, BlockChain, Machine Learning, and IoT are going to be implemented not just as a collection of fancy gadgets but as a means and methods to build a more robust foundation logistics in India.

Assurance of Indian Government for better infrastructural developments :
There has been a constant assurance from the Indian government about implementing more modernized and improved functional infrastructural development projects in Logistics. It has also assured that innovative measures will be introduced to help tap rural sectors as well. Projects as such will not only bring in more efficiency in the supply chain but also improve connectivity issues faced by geographically dispersed areas in the country.

Companies will be able to reach more untapped rural terrains and get a much wider customer base to serve in particular for the e-commerce sector. This, in turn, will be a huge opportunity for the Indian Logistics Industry.

Newer Policies & Regulations :
There are a lot of promising policy changes and reformations that are being planned and introduced by the government. The Goods and Service Tax (GST) was one such policy that has changed the face of the way the Indian logistics works. Along with this is the granting of the infra status and relaxing of the FDI policies that will also play a major role in 2020 that will give a huge boost to the Indian Logistics industry.

One of the major advantages the GST has brought in is that industrial centers can also act as distribution and aggregation hubs and that in effect has reduced the need to run several warehouses. This has considerably also brought down huge operational expenses in the storage department. With the growth of E-commerce and many FMCG now making their products available online easier transportation directly from the manufacturing units to the warehouses, wholesale as well as retail markets have been made possible.

FINAL THOUGHTS :
The Indian Logistics industry has undergone a serious transformation and is now classified as an end to end solution provider that has integrated multiple sectors. The year 2020 seems to be very promising with many key areas that are going to contribute to the substantial improvements both in operational efficiencies as well as overall growth. There is no doubt that the Indian Logistic Industry is going to be the most dominant force in the overall economic growth of the country.