MHD Feb 2021

COVER STORY

FEBRUARY 2021

GREEN STAR FOCUS

The sustainable strategies future proofing Australia’s industrial property sector

A $250M NETWORK TRANSFORMATION

Behind the scenes at Sigma’s world-class distribution centres

CARBON NEUTRAL COMMITMENT

Why CouriersPlease is well-placed to meet its ambitious sustainability goals

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MHD FROM THE EDITOR

MHD Supply Chain Solutions CONTACT MHD Supply Chain Solutions is published by Prime Creative Media 11-15 Buckhurst Street, South Melbourne VIC 3205 Telephone: (+61) 03 9690 8766 Website: www.primecreativemedia.com.au

THE TEAM CEO: John Murphy Publisher: Christine Clancy Group Managing Editor: Sarah Baker Managing Editor: Melanie Stark Journalist: Brittany Coles Business Development Manager: Beth Jarvis Design Production Manager: Michelle Weston Art Director: Blake Storey Graphic Designers: Kerry Pert, Madeline McCarty Client Success Manager: Janine Clements

FOR ADVERTISING OPTIONS Contact: Beth Jarvis beth.jarvis@primecreative.com.au

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT MHD Supply Chain Solutions magazine is recognised by the Australian Supply Chain Institute, the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport Australia, the Supply Chain and Logistics Association of Australia and the Singapore Logistics and Supply Chain Management Society.

ARTICLES All articles submitted for publication become the property of the publisher. The Editor reserves the right to adjust any article to conform with the magazine format.

COPYRIGHT MHD magazine is owned by Prime Creative Media.

All material in MHD is copyright and no part may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means (graphic, electronic or mechanical including information and retrieval systems) without written permission of the publisher. The Editor welcomes contributions but reserves the right to accept or reject any material.

While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of information Prime Creative Media will not accept responsibility for errors or omissions or for any consequences arising from reliance on information published. The opinions expressed in MHD are not necessarily the opinions of, or endorsed by the publisher unless otherwise stated.

ALL HANDS ON DECK FOR VACCINE SUCCESS

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ustralia’s logistics and supply chain network has just delivered its busiest peak period on record. Australia Post reported that more than 52 million parcels moved through its nationwide network in December, up 76 per cent year-on-year.

Before the industry has a chance to breathe, it is ramping up preparations to deliver what Department of Health Secretary Brendan Murphy describes as the “most complex logistical exercise in our country’s history” – the transportation and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said that the Government aims to vaccinate 80,000 Australians a week and four million by the end of March. With an ultimate target of vaccinating 80 per cent of Australians by October. At present, there are plans to deliver the vaccine via 1,000 distribution points, including general practitioners and possibly pharmacists.

The government has awarded contracts to DHL and Linfox to handle the logistics and transportation. According to Saul Resnick, CEO of DHL Supply Chain Australia, vaccine distribution in Australia has a unique set of challenges due to the country’s geography and warm temperatures, meaning quality control and compliance is critical for storage, transportation, final-mile delivery and end-to-end visibility of the supply chain.

While contracts have been signed and DHL, Linfox and the Department of Health are already working to design and operate a national distribution network, this will be a mammoth task and there will be many opportunities for businesses across the broad spectrum of logistics and supply chain to make history by stepping up and helping out.

In the UK, a number of businesses have raised their hand to help out with the vaccine roll out. Craft brewer BrewDog has offered the use of its closed bars and venues as vaccination centres. BrewDog CEO James Watt points out that the brewer’s venues have waiting areas, large refrigerators and staff who are eager to help. Similarly, grocery retailer Tesco has offered its network of refrigerated trucks and warehouses to help with the task of vaccinating the country’s 50 million people.

From a supply chain perspective, providing everybody with access to the vaccine takes more than just the administration of the vaccine itself. It’s ensuring the right supply of PPE, hand sanitiser, cotton wool balls and the list goes on. It takes a highly choreographed and coordinated effort to be successful and avoid delays.

With Australia’s supply chain sector boasting some of the brightest and capable individuals and organisations in the world, this industry is ready to rise to the challenge with all hands on deck.

Melanie Stark Managing Editor melanie.stark@primecreative.com.au

MHD Supply Chain

MHD FEBRUARY 2021 | 3

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ISSUE #1 VOLUME 51

THIS ISSUE COVER STORY

16 Turning your industrial footprint green

SUSTAINABILITY 13 Sustainability drives success 36 Supercharging the warehouse 38 Champions of sustainability 48 Why one size doesn’t fit all

AUTOMATION

16

COVER STORY

25 The challenge of consumer behaviour-change

WAREHOUSING 30 A safer option

TECHNOLOGY 32 Solution excellence 34 Digital transformation for success

STORAGE SOLUTIONS 40 The pet store giant that’s wagging its tail COVER STORY

FEBRUARY 2021

GREEN STAR FOCUS

The sustainable strategies future proofing Australia’s industrial property sector

MATERIALS HANDLING

26

21 Zip Water on the boil 28 Charging ahead

SUPPLY CHAIN 42 Technology trends for 2021 44 A $250m network transformation A $250M NETWORK TRANSFORMATION

DEPARTMENTS AND REGULARS

Behind the scenes at Sigma’s world-class distribution centres

CARBON NEUTRAL COMMITMENT

Why CouriersPlease is well-placed to meet its ambitious sustainability goals

06 News 46 IoT trends 52 Property focus

ON THE COVER

54 SCLAA

We sit down with Colliers’ sustainability and industrial experts to find out why going green is key to future proofing the industrial property sector.

38

56 ALC 58 ASCI 60 Product showcase 62 People on the move MHD FEBRUARY 2021 | 5

MHD NEWS

Aus Post delivers a record 52 million parcels during peak season

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For the first time in its 211-year history, Australia post delivered 52 million parcels during December 2020.

ustralia Post has recorded its biggest month ever with more than 52 million parcels delivered during December 2020, uplifting over 7400 tonnes of airfreight, up 76 per cent when compared to the same month last year.

For the first time in its 211-year history, Australia post delivered 52 million parcels delivered during December, an almost 20 per cent increase on the previous year.

The strong growth in online continued into December, with 19 days for the month where more than two million parcels were delivered across the country.

Making use of up to 20 dedicated

freighters and additional cargo space on limited domestic passenger flights, Australia Post uplifted over 7400 tonnes of airfreight, up 76 per cent when compared to the same month last year, including more than 490 tonnes on the busiest night.

Acting Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Rodney Boys said while the organisation had predicted it would be Australia Post’s busiest Christmas ever, it exceeded expectations.

“There is no denying that online shopping grew strongly through 2020, and this reached a new level in December as millions of people chose to buy their Christmas gifts online,” Rodney said.

MEGATRANS approved for Business Events Grants

M

EGATRANS2021 has been accepted as an approved event under the Australian Government’s Business Events Grant program. Sponsors and exhibitors are able to apply to Austrade for a one-off grant to cover up to 50 per cent of your event-related expenses in participating in MEGATRANS2021.

The grants provide the perfect financial support for companies to participate

in the trade expo and showcase your company and products in the leading freight and logistics event for 2021.

MEGATRANS will run from 8-10 September at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Applications are now open and close 30 March 2021, unless all funds are allocated prior. The total amount under the program is $50 million, so exhibitors and sponsors are encouraged to apply ASAP.

MEGATRANS2021 will run from 8 - 10 September at the MCEC.

Cotton On expands Australian distribution base

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The expansion will create capacity for up to an additional 100 jobs.

6 | MHD FEBRUARY 2021

otton On Group has announced a further expansion of its 35,000 sqm Geelong distribution facility to take the the overall space to 45,000 sqm, in partnership with Linfox.

As one of Australia’s largest global fashion brands, the current 35,000 sqm purpose-built centre is Cotton

on Group’s Australian distribution base and services both online customers and stores.

The expansion will create capacity for up to an additional 100 jobs as the development will take the overall space to 45,000 sqm and will be built in partnership with Linfox.

Roger Drake Owner, Drakes Supermarkets

Supply Chain Reinvented Streamlined operations, optimised store fulfilment, local customer focus.

After deciding to bring its supply chain operations in-house, Drakes Supermarkets built a new distribution centre in Edinburgh North. Its goal: to save South Australian families money, by having direct relationships with suppliers and cutting out the middle man.

Dematic designed an automated order picking solution which streamlines Drakes’ operations and optimises store fulfillment and service levels, enabling Drakes to take over its supply chain and meet the expectations of its stores and customers.

Read the full story at Dematic.com/drakes

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Dematic.com/drakes 02 9486 5555 info.anz@dematic.com

MHD NEWS

DHL and Linfox to deliver COVID-19 vaccine to Australians

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he Australian Government has signed contracts with DHL and Linfox to undertake COVID-19 vaccine distribution to all Australians from March this year.

DHL Supply Chain and Linfox will work with the Department of Health to design

Saul Resnick, CEO of DHL Supply Chain Australia.

and operate a national distribution network. They will support vaccination for all, including people in rural, remote and very remote areas and others who are hard to reach.

They will also be required to track and report the temperature of the vaccine at all times. The required temperature could be 2 to 8 degrees (standard cold chain temperatures) to as low as minus 70, which is needed for the Pfizer vaccine.

Purpose built dry ice containers will be supplied for moving the Pfizer vaccine around Australia, as part of the Government’s global distribution deal with Pfizer.

As well as transporting the vaccines from the point of acceptance from manufacturers to vaccination administration sites, the logistics partners will be responsible for transport and management of vaccination

supplies such as needles, syringes, and personal protective equipment.

“I am pleased that DHL Supply Chain are able to support the Australian Government in this critical project.

DHL Supply Chain has a number of cold chain and frozen storage facilities across Australia that are well placed to gear up and support the Government’s vaccination program.

We also have a deep know-how of pharmaceutical and temperaturecontrolled logistics for the healthcare industry. Vaccine distribution in Australia has a unique set of challenges due to the country’s geography and warm temperatures, meaning quality control and compliance is critical for storage, transportation, final-mile delivery and end-to-end visibility of the supply chain,” Saul Resnick, CEO of DHL Supply Chain Australia said.

Amazon buys its first planes to expand air freight capacity

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mazon has announced its first-ever purchase of eleven Boeing 767-300 aircraft. The purchases include seven aircraft from Delta and four aircraft from WestJet, which will join the online retailer’s network by 2022.

According to Amazon, this fleet expansion comes at a time when customers are relying on fast, free shipping more than ever.

“Our goal is to continue delivering for customers across the U.S. in the way that they expect from Amazon, and purchasing our own aircraft is a natural next step toward that goal. Having a mix of both leased and owned aircraft in our growing fleet allows us to better manage our operations, which in turn helps us to keep pace in meeting our customer promises,” Sarah Rhoads, Vice President of Amazon Global Air said.

8 | MHD FEBRUARY 2021

Amazon has purchased 11 planes to join its growing network from 2022.

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MHD NEWS

Australasian Supply Chain Institute reschedules annual conference

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ustralasian Supply Chain Institute (ASCI), has announced re-scheduled conference dates in the hope that state borders will be open and all

members and exhibitors across Australia can attend a safe returned gathering in 2021.

Member safety and the growing requirement for a physical gathering for interstate members were the determining factors in the decision to move the dates, made by the Conference Advisory Board.

The conference will now take place on Wed 28 July to Fri 30 July 2021 at the William Inglis Hotel, Warwick Farm, Western Sydney.

For more info and tickets, visit: www.asci-2021.com.au.

ASCI2021 will now take place on 28 - 30 July.

Gartner identifies capabilities needed for Chief Supply Chain officers to succeed

C

hief supply chain officers (CSCOs) can adapt capabilities of nontraditional competitors to be better equipped to fit the needs of modern customers and support new business models, according to new research by Gartner.

“Non-traditional competitors – especially digital giants, such as Amazon and Alibaba, as well as startups – are reshaping industries through disruptive innovation, the ability to uncover and address unknown customer needs and very agile supply chains.

Most CSCOs from large established organisations we interviewed believe that non-traditional competitors are better fit to navigate the disruptions and long-term new realities that the COVID-19 pandemic catalysed,” Pierfranceso Manenti, Vice President Analyst with the Gartner Supply Chain Practice said.

To find opportunity in crisis and 10 | MHD FEBRUARY 2021

compete against their industry’s disruptors, CSCOs must transform their traditional supply chains.

Gartner recommends focusing on four critical capabilities to compete against non-traditional supply chains.

The four capabilities are become close to customers, instill an innovation mindset, create an agile supply chain, and align the operating model to new business models.

To find opportunity in crisis and compete against their industry’s disruptors, Chief Supply Chain Officers must transform their traditional supply chains.

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MHD SUSTAINABILITY

SUSTAINABILITY DRIVES SUCCESS Copyright: © SSI Schäfer

SSI SCHAEFER’s goal is to encourage an active exchange with customers, partners, and interested companies in order to jointly promote the development of sustainable solutions within the logistics industry. Steffen Bersch, Group CEO at SSI SCHAEFER explains.

Steffen Bersch, CEO at SSI SCHAEFER Group.

S

ustainability is increasingly becoming a key factor for business success. Companies with a sustainable approach benefit from efficiency gains and are often more resilient.

Investopedia defines sustainability as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs. They outline that corporate sustainability has three main pillars: environmental, social and economic.

The Environmental Pillar | Companies are focusing on reducing their carbon footprint, packaging waste, water usage and overall environmental impact.

The Social Pillar | A socially sustainable business should have the support and approval of its employees, its stakeholders and the community.

The Economic Pillar | To be sustainable, a business must be profitable but not at the expense of the other elements.

The logistics industry is the backbone of almost every business sector, providing services critical to modern society. There is a wide range of possible

approaches to sustainable logistics.

An economically efficient and sustainable logistics organisation will reduce energy consumption, reduce waste and CO2 emissions, encourage an environmentally friendly distribution operation and utilise ecological building methods. It will foster a short supply chain and provide safe and healthy working conditions.

In 2020, SSI SCHAEFER, a leading provider of warehousing and logistics systems, joined the 50 Sustainability & Climate Leaders initiative. This initiative involves 50 international businesses who are demonstrating their desire to take action on climate change and providing leadership in working towards meeting the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG).

“The initiative we joined is geared to the sustainable development goals of the United Nations. We as SSI SCHAEFER are also committed to these goals. Resources are finite and need to be used wisely.

Being an internationally leading provider of warehousing and logistics systems, we have been dealing with sustainable solutions for a long time. We would like to promote the change towards sustainable and economic intralogistics and stimulate discussions within companies. Our goal is to encourage an active exchange with customers, partners, and interested companies in order to jointly promote the development of sustainable solutions within the logistics industry,” Steffen Bersch, SSI SCHAEFER Group CEO explains.

As a global supplier with a strong local presence, SSI SCHAEFER helps enterprises innovate and increase efficiency within their logistics processes and supply chains. The objective is to enable these companies to be successful and sustainable long term and support

them to pursue their economic and sustainability goals.

Across six continents, SSI SCHAEFER develops and implements innovative industry-specific answers to its customers’ unique challenges. Each company is considered individually to find the right solution for that business and their unique needs and challenges.

“As one of the leading global providers of materials handling solutions, we are an ideal partner for companies that pursue economical, future-oriented and sustainability goals. For all companies, no matter what industry or size, we are committed to developing the optimal logistics solution. We take advantage of a portfolio of proven systems and state-ofthe-art technologies such as automated guided vehicles, robotics, artificial intelligence, and predictive maintenance, to not only position companies efficiently and sustainably, but also to create a competitive advantage,” Steffen says.

ORCA Cold Chain Solutions in the Philippines, founded in 2017, soon became the leading provider of temperature-controlled logistics and warehousing for the food and agricultural industry. This was based on the establishment and expansion of an efficient and sustainable deepfreeze infrastructure, currently with three locations in Manila. ORCA chose SSI SCHAEFER as a partner due to their extensive experience in technology, engineering and customer service.

ORCA has now improved their food safety and food security, reduced their energy and land consumption, and gained resilience against climate change and unpredictable events with an energyefficient, high performance and highly automated logistics solution from SSI SCHAEFER. The Taguig site, opened in February MHD FEBRUARY 2021 | 13

A digital distribution centre including energy-efficient hardware and a smart predictive maintenance software solution with Pepperl+Fuchs.

2020, was their first fully automated deep-freeze warehouse, with temperatures from -18 °C to -25 °C on a floor space of one hectare. Designed with a focus on energy efficiency and process safety, the facility is close to ports and industrial areas to quickly supply the country’s various regions.

It includes a fully automated high-bay warehouse in clad-rack design with four energy-efficient SSI Exyz storageretrieval machines and a storage capacity of 20,000 pallets, a state-of-the-art conveying system, ergonomic goods-toperson Advanced Pick Stations, and SSI SCHAEFER’s WAMAS® logistics software, moving up to 4,800 pallets per day.

“SSI SCHAEFER made sure that our carbon footprint is smaller than a typical conventional facility would take. A 20,000-pallet facility would normally take three to four hectares of land. But with the technology and innovation that SSI SCHAEFER provided, we were able to do this type of facility on one hectare of land,” Yerik Cosiquien, President and CEO of ORCA Cold Chain Solutions says.

Goods received are labelled with QR codes and barcodes for traceability and real-time monitoring. In order to guarantee freshness, products are handled using the FEFO principle (First Expired, First Out). With the WAMAS® logistics software, ORCA can visualise stock and track goods to ensure security and product integrity.

Thanks to the energy-efficient technology and innovative solutions of SSI SCHAEFER, electricity costs have been reduced by almost 35%. “Electricity in the Philippines is also very expensive and with the unique technology of SSI SCHAEFER, we are able to save electricity and maintain our sustainability values,” Yenik says.

Pepperl+Fuchs is a global pioneer 14 | MHD FEBRUARY 2021

in automated sensor technology and electrical explosion protection products.

Pepperl+Fuchs wanted a new distribution centre with technology to give a holistic view of the fulfilment operations and to service their clients quickly with accurate product orders.

“The only way that we can achieve sustainable success is through automation and technology” Jim Bolin Executive Vice President Americas, Pepperl+Fuchs Inc. says.

With an innovative approach and use of technology, SSI SCHAEFER implemented a reliable and future-proof distribution centre with approximately 28,000 storage locations. With energy-efficient hardware and a reduced footprint, the automated solution harnesses the power of Pepperl+Fuchs sensors in conjunction with SSI SCHAEFER’s WAMAS® logistics software for an innovative and custom predictive maintenance solution.

The facility hosts three SSI Miniload Cranes over three aisles for automatic storage and retrieval. There are four Pick to Light workstations and four levels of pallet storage for production. Advanced technology throughout the facility delivers an array of analytic information.

Data from Pepperl+Fuchs sensors feed into WAMAS® and WAMAS® Lighthouse, which operate the entire system and give real-time updates on key performance indicators throughout the facility.

Country Road Group is one of Australia’s largest specialty fashion retailers. In May 2014, they announced plans to build a 22,000 sqm warehouse and distribution centre in Melbourne, supporting both bricks-and-mortar and online sales.

The Australian Financial Review reported the new centre was aimed at improving efficiency and speed of fulfilment of online and store sales,

Copyright: © SSI Schäfer

MHD SUSTAINABILITY

removing costs of duplicated and outsourced warehouses and logistic facilities, addressing current capacity constraints and ensuring scalability to meet future needs and enhance supply chain collaboration with suppliers.

SSI SCHAEFER worked with CRG and from the beginning CRG had clear priorities. “SSI SCHAEFER partnered with us to deliver the solution that was not only scalable and future-proof but also worked for our business model and how we needed to use it. We wanted to work with a company who was committed to delivering the right outcome, not just completing the project. That was SSI SCHAEFER,” Zippy says.

The new omni-channel fulfilment centre, opened in 2015, received a ‘5 Star Green Star’ rating from the Green Building Council of Australia.

CRG also became a signatory to The Australian Packaging Covenant (“APC”) which focused on reducing packaging reaching landfill. One clear example of this collaboration and innovation was the bespoke use of the SSI SCHAEFER overhead conveying system with custom-made carrier brackets to facilitate return and reuse of packing boxes.

The facility includes SSI SCHAEFER’s high speed conveying technology to provide crossdocking and despatch sortation. Additionally, SSI SCHAEFER’s Put to Light technology allows highefficiency fulfilment of both store and online orders. The complete automated system is managed by SSI SCHAEFER’s WAMAS® warehouse control software.

During the COVID global pandemic the automated scalable system met Country Road’s needs and accommodated the huge increase in online orders to allow CRG to pivot their business and fully service this increased demand. ■

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MHD COVER STORY

TURNING YOUR INDUSTRIAL FOOTPRINT GREEN

Left to right: David Hall, National Director of Industrial; Luke Crawford, Director of Research and Kate Slattery, Head of Engineering, Facilities and Sustainability at Colliers at Orrcon Steel’s newly completed facility at Marsden Park in NSW.

T

MHD sits down with industrial property experts at Colliers to find out how implementing cost-effective sustainability strategies will future proof industrial property.

he core objective of supply chain is to take products from their raw material to the consumer. “All the logistic activities that occur between any given point A and point B are being closely tracked and monitored. Governments, private agencies and consumers are pushing for, and demanding that environmentally friendly supply chain practices or sustainable solutions to be incorporated,” Tim Edwards, National Director in Colliers’ Project Leaders team says.

In the age of the conscientious consumer, sustainability is key.

Signs of ‘going green’ are prevalent throughout the local supply chain.

Consumers are more aware of environmental issues than ever before and Australia Institute’s Climate of the Nation 2020 report, which has been tracking Australian attitudes to

16 | MHD FEBRUARY 2021

climate change since 2007, found that 80 per cent of Australians think we are already experiencing problems caused by climate change.

Nine in 10 Australian consumers are more likely to purchase ethical and sustainable products according to new research from Couriers Please, with the survey also revealing that 85 per cent of consumers want retailers and brands to be more transparent about their sustainability practices.

Conversations around producing more sustainable products and ethical supply chains have circulated across most industries for some time now, but not everyone has taken it seriously and it has often been an afterthought for not only consumers, but also major companies.

Now it’s clear that attitudes are shifting to focus on more environmentally and socially ethical

practices, what does this mean for the world of industrial property?

According to Tim, it’s important for companies to embark on sustainable initiatives within their own operations and supply chains. “Big players to the micros, this is the time to think more about sustainability, commit to being green and think about taking the lead to help consumers make better choices.”

GREEN STAR FOCUS The word “sustainable” has been a heightened buzzword as the nation moves towards creating a circular economy. Following the release of the 2020-21 Federal Budget late last year, Trevor Evans, Assistant Waste Reduction and Environmental Management Minister said the Government is turbocharging Australia’s waste

MHD COVER STORY and recycling capacity.

“There are many reasons why our government is the first Federal Government in Australia’s history to step so heavily into waste and recycling policy,” Trevor stated in December. With Federal and state Governments investing in green initiatives for the economy, local supply chains are following the lead with investments into sustainable practices across an organisation’s suppliers, logistics providers and eventually the end consumer.

Kate Slattery, Head of Engineering, Facilities and Sustainability at Colliers says businesses are increasingly expected to seek out opportunities to improve the sustainability of the supply chain. “This starts from the first investment in the building they develop, construct and operate in, down to their own business practices,” she says.

With significant reduction in waste and consumption, industrial operators in Green Star As-built and Performance Certified buildings are poised to make considerable savings on utilities, on top of having solid green credentials. Kate says the consideration of sustainability in industrial property depends on the perspective of a landlord and tenant. “Both landlords and tenants have adopted unique strategies that allow them to work together towards a greener occupancy and reducing emissions in the overall supply chain,” she says.

Kate notes that industrial landlords should first consider their energy consumption and spend profile of base building services that can be optimised successfully by tenants. “Having energy efficient and sustainable measures in place is of high interest to tenants. We see this prioritised by tenants, particularly by large logistics companies,” she says.

Logistic operations are large occupiers in the industrial space and therefore have a higher social responsibility to evaluate and improve their supply chain in a sustainable manner. Kate highlights that there are many sustainable certifications a company can put in place across its industrial asset class that will improve their maturity and credibility.

“This would include the Green Star Performance rating, whether that be an individual or portfolio rating. It really is the key benchmark tool when demonstrating energy efficiency in the industrial asset class,” she says.

Green Star Performance is the leading framework that groups together a number of key strategies into one certification.

“From operational practices, energy, water

“

Having energy efficient and sustainable measures in place is of high interest to tenants. We see this prioritised by tenants, particularly by large logistics companies.

”

efficiency, to carbon emissions - Green Star Performance is the only certification of its kind to comprehensively target sustainable initiatives in an industrial asset. We’re seeing a significant uptake in Gren Star Performance and it’s an advantageous strategy for landlords in this sector,” Kate says.

APPLYING SUSTAINABLE STRATEGIES Becoming greener doesn’t have to affect the hip pocket. Kate says that approaching sustainable measures in a cost-effective manner is achievable. “You can successfully achieve sustainability by looking at all aspects of your industrial property. Much of your savings will come from finding ways to reduce waste and energy,” she says.

Alongside built-in management strategies, being environmentally conscious doesn’t mean breaking the bank. Operational focus is heading towards employing renewable energy generations, such as solar systems. “These energy efficiency initiatives can increase a green star rating from four to five stars, but tenants should also be aware that they too can increase their sustainable engagement as an occupier and reduce their operational costs,” Kate says.

Due to the sheer size of industrial developments, the market has seen an increase in rooftop solar energy.

MHD FEBRUARY 2021 | 17

MHD COVER STORY However, it’s important to consider sustainability as an ongoing strategy.

“Greener initiatives will be a work in progress that won’t happen overnight to establish value for both tenants and landlords, but they must be thought about,” Kate says. She encourages developing a robust business case for a specific site. “This can be by demonstrating potential value through leasing incentives offered to tenants or shared savings models funded by the landlord for example.

But what is really required is the development of a specific solution that will benefit all parties.”

Ultimately, a positive cash flow can be reached through the

18 | MHD FEBRUARY 2021

adoption of renewables and other sustainable investments. Kate says the industrial sector definitely sees most sustainability initiatives being tenant led. “This is particularly seen from large logistic occupiers like DHL, Woolworths and Australia Post due to driving their own company sustainability targets and agenda,” she says.

“We also see leaders in sustainability on the landlord side too. LOGOS, a Colliers client, has a strong commitment to elevate the market through adopting and embedding greener strategies as their core principle within their organisation,” she says. In

pursuit of growth in sustainability targets, Kate says actioning targets should be the key priority and both tenants and landlords can play their part to contribute to Australia’s circular economy.

POWERING TOWARDS GREEN Developers are pushing the envelope to upgrade their buildings to future proof developments. According to Luke Crawford, Director of Research at Colliers Australia, off-shore and domestic investors in industrial buildings recognise that if we are to future-proof this sector and achieve its carbon-reduction potential we must deliver buildings that are sustainable.

MHD COVER STORY E-commerce continues to drive occupier and investor demand for the sector, specifically amongst e-commerce and 3PL providers as they leverage the rapid growth of online consumer spending. Australia’s industrial and logistics market outperformed in 2020. The forecast growth in the industrial sector, largely driven by the expanding e-commerce market, has created a valuable opportunity to build better assets.

Luke says that due to the sheer size of industrial developments, the market has seen an increase in rooftop solar energy. “We’re getting a lot more enquiries from solar farm operators and groups wanting to

The Federal Government is turbocharging Australia’s waste and recycling capacity.

Colliers bridges the gap between knowledge, understanding, technology, implementation and construction.

put plant equipment on the roofs of these developments. There is a lot of opportunity to capture solar and redistribute that back to the occupier, we predict this to be the most in demand energy source across the sector this year,” he says.

In terms of the circular economy, Luke says the adoption of sustainability across the industrial sector seems to be spearheaded by all occupiers across the nation.

“Most developers are national based, and international occupiers are bringing their specifications to Australia,” he says.

Tim Edwards, National Director in Colliers’ Project Leaders team, says 2021 will be the year of growth. “Opportunities to be greener in the industrial sector are only increasing. Western Sydney is becoming more attractive to capture the benefits of solar and renewable energy,” he says. “To cater for the future growth of the sector, upgrading lighting, water harvesting systems and sustainable technology, should be considered and form part of your

core sustainability strategies.”

David Hall, National Director Industrial, says the spotlight is on supply chain logistics and the main challenge for the sector is achieving sustainability goals through heightened operations.

“Efficiency and maturity in implementing sustainable initiatives begins with the location of the logistics facility. Reducing transport costs will reduce carbon footprint and realising real estate solutions that will match growing operations is a huge trend at current,” he says.

David highlights the gap that Colliers bridges between knowledge, understanding, technology, implementation and construction.

“Whether an occupier has a specification they require, we source the solution. We assist from end to end, the same way sustainability should be considered,” he says.

“Sustainability is not the first priority that gets ticked off but in supply chain logistics, it’s become a core strategy in its own right that needs to be addressed.” ■ MHD FEBRUARY 2021 | 19

MHD MATERIALS HANDLING

ZIP WATER ON THE BOIL Iconic Australian brand, Zip Water, recently acquired a substantial fleet of new Toyota Material Handling equipment to support its large investment in an expanded production line that greatly increases output for its flagship HydroTap range.

F

ounded in western Sydney, Zip Water has built its business over the last 70 years. From humble beginnings, the company now exports its innovative drinking water systems to more than 70 countries. Zip Water is proud to manufacture its product locally, out of its factory in Condell Park in Sydney’s west.

Zip Water Head of Supply Chain, Glenn Bucknell, says that after being acquired by global water treatment company, Culligan, in 2017, the business has since launched into new markets, including the United States (US) and China.

“Culligan brought us an avenue into the US so we had huge potential for volume-growth and they encouraged us to up-scale our manufacturing footprint. So, we made a significant investment in our new production line to scale-up our output,” Glenn says.

To support its ambitious business expansion plans, Zip Water similarly updated its fleet of material handling equipment, which now includes four Toyota 730-DR32TT Double Deep Reach Trucks, two 8FBE18 and one 8FBN25 Toyota Battery Electric Counterbalance forklifts, Bravi Sprint elevated work platforms, Toyota Walkie Stackers and a Toyota 32-8FG30 LPG Counterbalance forklift with Cascade hydraulic forkwidening attachment.

“We were gearing up our physical infrastructure and our material handling equipment was a further extension of that, because it’s a big part of our processes,” Glenn says.

Zip Water formerly had an aging fleet from another supplier and a mix of owned and leased equipment. Mr Bucknell saw the plant expansion as an opportunity to update and streamline his material handling equipment and sought-out advice from Toyota Material

Zip Water’s Head of Supply Chain, Glenn Bucknell.

Handling Australia (TMHA) and one other supplier.

“Our previous primary material handling fleet was getting old and our repair and maintenance costs were increasing. It was becoming inefficient to hang onto the equipment we owned, and to keep investing money in it.

“We adopted a model with Toyota to enable us to lease all our equipment.

That gives us the latest technology and servicing at a fixed price with no surprises and gives us the flexibility to change the mix of our fleet and scale up according to business needs.

“It no longer made sense for us to invest in the outright purchasing of equipment because, with a business changing as rapidly as ours, we don’t know what we’re going to need in five years’ time. So, having the flexibility

that Toyota provides was attractive.

It’s reassuring to know that we have a partner that can meet our needs as our business grows.”

TMHA NSW Major Account Manager, Michael Provan, says as part of the tender process, he applied one of the cornerstones of the Toyota Advantage: Tailored Business Solutions. “We at TMHA always try to understand our customers’ businesses operate, what their needs are and make our recommendations to help increase their operational efficiencies, safety and comfort, based on that,” Michael says.

“In Zip Water’s case it was about modernising their fleet and adopting a leasing with fixed-servicing costs model to provide greater transparency and peace-of-mind that they weren’t going to get any performance issues MHD FEBRUARY 2021 | 21

MHD MATERIALS HANDLING

The reliability of Toyota’s machines is a welcome relief for Zip Water. that could result in significant downtime - an especially important consideration for manufacturing facilities.

“So, in general, Tailored Business Solutions was about upgrading their fleets and streamlining operations. We also specifically applied that Toyota Advantage to the customisation of an attachment for their new Toyota 32-8FG30 LPG Counterbalance forklift.

“They had a very particular manufacturing and handling step that was a real bug-bear for them in terms of their old forklift that had a fixed attachment. We were able to solve the issue for them by recommending a Cascade hydraulic fork-widening attachment which not only improved the efficiency of the process and the safety afforded by avoiding manual handling, it also dispensed with a secondary machine, entirely.”

Zip Water’s Glenn explains that two machines were formerly required to perform duties in the plant’s sheet metal production area. “It was challenging for us because we were maintaining two separate machines to do different aspects of the tasks, and the process of manually loading and unloading machines was a risk-point for us,” he said.

“With the new Toyota forklift having a customised mechanical fork-spreader attachment it was like having two machines combined into one. So we were able to get rid of one machine off the floor which helped from a cost and an efficiency perspective, but 22 | MHD FEBRUARY 2021

“

With the new Toyota forklift having a customised mechanical forkspreader attachment it was like having two machines combined into one. So we were able to get rid of one machine off the floor which helped from a cost and an efficiency perspective.

”

also solved a safety issue for us by removing a manual-handling risk. It’s really enabled us to take that process to the next level.”

Now having such an extensive fleet of new Toyota Material Handling equipment, it was important to Zip Water that servicing be efficient and transparent. “It’s essential for us to have a partner that ‘clicks’ with our business, one we know we can trust and will take care of all our servicing details. It helps that all our Toyota equipment can be serviced in the one visit.

“It’s also great to have the peace-of-mind that fixed servicing costs brings, we know exactly what we’re paying every month.

There are no surprises in terms of cost or machine performance. Downtime is a killer for us so having the reliability of the new Toyota machines is a welcome relief.”

“Every time a new machine has turned up it has worked brilliantly, so they’ve been wellreceived by our operators. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.

“A lot of our guys have never operated brand-new equipment, so they get pretty excited about it. In many ways, it has helped our people to feel more engaged in their work. It’s an investment around them and helps them feel part of a business that’s performing well.” ■ For more information, contact Toyota Material Handling Australia - 1800 425 438 www.toyotamaterialhandling.com.au.

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MHD AUTOMATION

THE CHALLENGE OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR-CHANGE Pas Tomasiello, Senior Director of Integrated Systems at Dematic, ANZ tells MHD readers how automation can help retailers better navigate unprecedented demand.

C

OVID-19 has rapidly and fundamentally changed how consumers interact with retailers, and this has brought on a complete shift in the retail landscape as we know it.

Checkout lines have been replaced with home delivery and curb side pickup alternatives, grocery lists are required to have pre-empted replacement options, and face-to-face workplace communication has moved to chat boxes and digital platforms.

In the early days of the pandemic, shoppers, out of fear of the unknown, cleaned out store shelves to stock up on essentials. This unexpected demand on consumer goods left many store shelves barren, shining a bright spotlight on the major gaps and inefficiencies within the global supply chain. Simply put, nobody — not suppliers, nor manufacturers, nor retailers — was ready for the unprecedented spike in demand brought forth by COVID-19. Nonetheless, as isolation and lockdown initiatives took effect, online orders began to surge drastically. In Australia, eCommerce spending grew by more than 80 per cent in the eight weeks after the pandemic was declared, and by the end of 2020, online spending is expected to hold a 15 per cent share of the total retail market.

While online shopping was on a growth trajectory well before the pandemic surfaced, the speed at which the pandemic has accelerated outof-store purchasing has left even the biggest retailers - the ones with genuine omnichannel distribution strategies - challenged to effectively supply what was in demand. Subsequently, it was clear that a re-think of business innovation and strategy was the key to staying ahead of the game. The solution

Online order fulfilment has become a challenge for many retailers.

– investing in automation technology that arms retailers with the resilience and flexibility to sustain current and future spikes in consumer demand.

DEFINING THE RETAIL FULFILMENT CHALLENGE For many retailers, online order fulfilment has become a challenge ever since consumer behaviour shifted from in-store purchasing to online shopping.

Even some of the largest retailers lack a fully optimised infrastructure to deliver goods in the timeframe that consumers expect them.

Today, the most business-critical challenges retailers are facing to meet consumer demand, are related to online delivery through a third-party delivery service, relying on traditional distribution strategies, and disruptions to fulfilment operations.

Firstly, managing online delivery via a third-party delivery service has erupted a range of challenges for retailers. As

social distancing guidelines forced brickand-mortar stores to limit opening hours or shut down completely, online shopping became the central channel for consumers to buy essential goods. In fact, from February to March 2020, online grocery sales in Australia surged by more than 45 per cent. To fulfil these online orders, many retailers turned to in-store inventory and third-party services for picking and delivering. However, these same businesses quickly learned that many third-party services didn’t have the flexibility to meet the increased demand, especially during peak ordering periods.

The third-party service providers were dealing with the same challenges as the retailers. Subsequently, consumers were regularly faced with long delivery times, and even a lack of delivery windows, resulting in many customers cancelling orders and turning to competitors for a better service experience.

Secondly, relying on traditional distribution and fulfilment strategies, MHD FEBRUARY 2021 | 25

MHD AUTOMATION

The implementation of automation is not only a cost-saving solution but also gives the flexibility needed to survive and flourish in unprecedented demand. such as housing large volumes of inventory in one central location, greatly reduces the flexibility to fulfil goods quickly. If the pandemic has taught retailers anything, it’s that they can’t always predict demand levels. To ensure a quick response in the future, retailers need a more flexible distribution model.

Finally, disruptions to fulfilment operations. Retailers have historically relied on manual labour as a temporary solution to address peak demand in fulfilment centres. During the pandemic, companies deemed essential, such as grocery, delivery, and retail, hired thousands of positions to address peak online order fulfilment. When distribution was halted, the availability of certain products became limited, and while consumers understood the reasons for delays during the crisis, the reality is that they did not hesitate to jump to another retailer once they found the same product. This has proved, again, that supply chains remain rigid and unable to handle unanticipated surges in orders.

As retailers and their supply chains face the rising pressures of everincreasing demand, the implementation of automation is now not only just seen as a cost-saving investment, but as an innovation to allow the flexibility and efficiency needed to survive and flourish during times of unprecedented demand.

MICRO-FULFILMENT AND DC AUTOMATION SOLUTIONS Automation in stores – Micro-fulfilment - and distribution centres provides retailers with the flexibility to identify and adjust to rapid changes in customer traffic and buying patterns, both in-store 26 | MHD FEBRUARY 2021

and online. Moreover, automation keeps the fulfilment process running despite any disruptions. Most importantly, automation helps to minimise the risks associated with employees working on the fulfilment frontline. So, what are the solutions that can work to overcome these challenges and allow retailers to future-proof their business?

Micro-fulfilment, the latest automation innovation in online order fulfilment, is paving the way for better efficiency in the retail supply chain. To avoid a bad customer experience, retailers can take ownership of the speed at which customers receive their online orders by shortening the fulfilment process. Microfulfilment solutions – compact, high performance automated systems - can be implemented close to consumers in footprints as small as 1,000 sqm, such as in the back of a retail store or in a nearby dark store or urban fulfilment centre for optimised click & collect and last-mile home delivery fulfilment. Retailers are no longer left to rely on in-aisle fulfilment for online orders. Additionally, they can be configured to allow retailers to react to spikes in demand quickly and efficiently by shifting between online and in-store fulfilment. Some of the world’s leading retailers are already piloting and implementing Dematic Micro-fulfilment systems in their store operations.

Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) have become an increasingly adopted innovation within warehouses and distribution centres; used to move and transport goods without manual intervention, to ensure that products are available and in the right place when they are needed. AGVs work to enhance

workplace safety by automating processes completely, such as receiving, storing and delivering products, to ensure operations are always up and running. AGVs also help to improve shipping speed and accuracy with automated product movement from storage to shipping, and they are also flexible enough to be added to any existing delivery and storage systems in place.

Warehouse management software (WMS) can be used when consumer traffic shifts from in-store to online.

This advanced software becomes even more critical for retailers to make intelligent, data-based decisions to improve their omnichannel distribution and fulfilment processes. Dematic’s Dematic iQ WMS works to connect fulfilment, general operations, maintenance and analytics into one comprehensive ecosystem. It manages all warehouse hardware across manufacturing sites, warehouses and distribution centres to optimise the end-to-end supply chain, which helps retailers to respond to spikes in online orders quickly and effectively while also maintaining critical employee safety measures.

CRITICAL FACTORS TO CONSIDER WHEN AUTOMATING While automation can help retailers remain competitive, what’s even more important is choosing the right partner.

With all that goes into automation implementation, deployment, and management, due diligence is now more important than ever.

The most important question to ask when considering an automation partner, is their local consulting and project implementation capabilities, and if they scale across regions. It is also important to know if you can contact local customer services whenever you need to. And, you need to attain an evaluation of success, such as a proven track record or testimonial.

With the right solution and adequate insight - as well as a commitment from your partner to support, deploy, and strive for the best level of success and return on investment (ROI) - the retail industry can go a long way to sustaining a concrete position in the market and streamlining industry operations for the better now, during COVID-19, and well beyond. ■

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MHD MATERIALS HANDLING

CHARGING AHEAD Don Hawkins General Manager, Motive Power ANZ and Jacques Smit, National Sales and Marketing Manager at Enersys Australia share an exciting announcement that will heighten the Australian industrial market.

E

nergy efficiency, reliability and sustainability are at the forefront of EnerSys’ values.

“At EnerSys, our purpose is more than simply building batteries and energy systems,” Don Hawkins General Manager, Motive Power Australia and New Zealand at Enersys Australia says. Don highlights the company’s commitment to powering the future, not just forklifts.

EnerSys first began manufacturing batteries for industrial use over 100 years ago and is headquartered in the US. “EnerSys has grown to become a multibillion-dollar global industrial technology enterprise, delivering energy storage systems and solutions to customers across a wide range of industries and applications,” Jacques Smit, National Sales and Marketing Manager at Enersys Australia says.

“With global manufacturing and operations serving over 10,000 customers in 100 countries, we are the recognised global leader for stored energy solutions and systems.”

WELCOME TO THE MARKET EnerSys has been on Australian shores since 2003 and has delivered high end solutions to the market through supply

EnerSys has grown to become a multibilliondollar global industrial technology enterprise.

agreement partnerships with OEM’s.

Today, EnerSys is opening their advanced technology to the entire Australia and New Zealand market and gearing up for a busy year ahead. “It’s an exciting time to be in the open market.

We continue to provide for our major clients and are confident the wider market can experience the same high level of service through our intelligent and flexible power systems,” Don says.

EnerSys maintains its leadership position by providing customers with world-class products and services, achieved through total employee involvement, teamwork, and supplier partnerships. Exceeding our customers’ expectations and supplying the highest quality products and services are paramount at EnerSys. “We have a suite of tried, tested and proven products that are world renowned It’s time for Australia to experience next generation technology that will make their operation more productive and profitable in the long run,” Don says.

However, the wider global business does not only focus on motive power. “We complement our extensive line of motive power, reserve power, and specialty batteries with a full range of integrated services and systems” Don says.

Adjusting to change is at the forefront of 2021 and Jacques says the national entity in Australia has evolving facilities in each state. “We have two major factories in Melbourne, including a very sophisticated manufacturing plant in Somerton. We bring a lot more to the table by owning the complete value chain than any other traditional battery company.”

NEXT GENERATION TECHNOLOGY EnerSys has successfully developed and delivered technologies to help advance the Australian and New Zealand materials 28 | MHD FEBRUARY 2021

Jacques Smit, National Sales and Marketing Manager at Enersys Australia. handling industry, specifically to the DC power sector. Not only is the technology optimised, but it’s also a gamechanger for meeting sustainability strategy.

Looking at the technology itself, NexSys PURE is a high-performance alternative to conventional lead-acid batteries that provides extra-life or extra energy throughput per day.

There is raising concern about the end-of-life of new technologies that are approaching the materials handling market. “NexSys PURE batteries are 99 per cent recyclable. This product delivers equivalent features to Lithium and is a sustainable eco-friendly power supply” Jacques says.

“We’ve seen the world dramatically change in the last twelve months and so are we. Moving into the open market with proven technology is a fantastic window of opportunity for Australian businesses to collaborate with a global market leader in industrial applications,” Don says.

“With the latest NexSys family of Advanced Technologies, Australian & New Zealand operations will experience Intelligent, Flexible Power that will sustain operations offering fantastic TCO and ROI. The local AU/NZ business are following the global direction on making these technologies available to all users in the AU/NZ markets,” Jacques concludes. ■

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MHD WAREHOUSING

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Alan Morgan, National Marketing Manager for Ozkor describes the benefits of achieving higher standards of warehouse efficiencies and hygiene with plastic pallets.

hether you are in the food, pharmaceutical or the exportation of goods overseas, food safety, hygiene and pest control will be at the top of your mind. This means, making the right decisions when it comes to the purchase or rental of pallets, is vitally important. Potential contamination of manufactured goods is a reality which if ignored can result in some unfortunate, costly outcomes.

These days, the expectations of hygiene and pest control standards are much higher than those of the past, prompting many companies to seek HACCP certification in order to have the necessary process disciplines in place to combat potential issues of concern.

This means ideas about what equipment is appropriate to use, in environments which demand a disciplined approach when combating contamination, have changed accordingly. Plastic pallets have proven to be an important contributor in maintaining these standards by mitigating against anticipated contamination issues.

According to Alan Morgan, National Marketing Manager for Ozkor Pty Ltd, Plastic Pallets are considered a more trustworthy and reliable alternative to those traditionally manufactured in wood.

“While wood is cheaper and more

Plastic pallets are well suited to automated warehouse systems.

30 | MHD FEBRUARY 2021

Plastic pallets provide high impact resistance. common, it pays to carefully consider the risks of contamination associated with the pallets made from that material when it comes to hygiene and pest control. Surprisingly some companies are still prepared to take the risks associated with contamination despite the conventional wisdom which highlights the potential dangers” he says.

Automated Warehouse systems (ASRS) are playing a bigger part in today’s modern industrial climate, making the warehousing and dispatch of goods more streamlined and efficient. These sophisticated, state of the art systems, however, operate within a demanding functional framework that assumes pallets can seamlessly interact with the system without too much effort. Wooden pallets, however, are seemingly unable to be relied on to perform to the standards expected due to poor pallet maintenance and irregular dimensional standards all of which contribute to potential uneconomic down time for the systems.

A well-designed plastic pallet using, the correct materials, can be manufactured to withstand very demanding operational environments and provide high impact resistance which ensures the durability required when impacted by forklift tyres in day to day handling. Wooden pallets are notoriously more fragile and can splinter and break quite easily.

When new investment in plastic pallets is required, a long-term service life is essential to ensure value for money which means choosing the right pallet designed by a supplier that can prove to you it has expertise to justify your investment.

Ozkor is an Australian ISO-9001 2015 certified company and specialists in the design, manufacture, rental and sales of reusable plastic pallets for many of Australia’s major companies.

Morgan explains, “We strive to ensure our products are manufactured to the highest quality standards, giving a long service life under the most demanding industrial application,” Alan concludes. ■

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MHD TECHNOLOGY

SOLUTION EXCELLENCE Ferag is expanding its intelligent intralogistics solutions alongside its global partners. MHD speaks with Philip Batty, Managing Director of the company’s Australian arm to find out more.

O

ptimisation is a key process in intralogistics, especially in sorting items. Many businesses are facing the challenge of an influx of outgoing orders to multiple destinations.

“If you’re able to pre-sort parcels in logical areas before it begins the lastmile distribution process then you are creating an environment where you are already pre-sorted in a cost-effective manner,” Philip Batty, Managing Director of Ferag Australia says.

Founded in 1957 and headquartered in Switzerland, the company is highly regarded as the world leader in the development, manufacture and marketing of postpress processing

systems. “We recognised there were many synergies between the printing industry and the materials handling industry and are excited to expand our opportunities in the intralogistics space,” he says.

“In e-trade businesses, picking is a vital component to harmonising a smooth operation. Modifying operations through automated solutions is a vital priority for players in the supply chain,” Phillip says. When it comes to material handling, automation is normal in the age of Industry 4.0.

As the industry continues to rapidly evolve, Ferag has joined forces with global partners to offer Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) as smarter, more flexible alternatives alongside Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) for a wide variety of material handling activities to help aid Australian companies streamline their growing operations.

GLOBAL FOOTPRINT

Ferag has joined with global partners to offer more flexible automation alternatives.

32 | MHD FEBRUARY 2021

Supplied under a global supply arrangement with Quicktron under the brand “Ferag Intelligent Vehicles”, the Swiss company has established its footprint in the AGV and AMR fields.

Phillip says that the state-of-the-art AGV and AMR vehicles with a complete range of products for intelligent intralogistics solutions are based on proven Quicktron technology.

Manual sortation is the way of the past, not to mention too labour intensive.

“The Ferag Intelligent Vehicles free humans from manual handling,” Philip says. These mobile robots include automated solutions for the handling of shelves, mobile devices, pallets and basket of work without an operator. In suitable projects, this new product range will be combined with Ferag products

Ferag has established its footprint in the AGV and AMR space.

“

Warehouse storage rates can be improved by up to 60 per cent thanks to the high precision of the robots.

”

(Denisort, Deniway, Easychain and Skyfall) into fully integrated solutions.

Philip highlights the importance of utilising warehouse space through the deployment of “Ferag Intelligent Vehicles. “Warehouse storage rates can be improved by up to 60 per cent thanks to the high precision of the robots,” he says. Alongside excellent path planning, fully automated loading and unloading possibilities, as well as its flexibility across peak seasons, the solution provides a safer and more efficient alternative compared to forklifts and tugged trains in a warehouse space.

MHD TECHNOLOGY

ROBOT PIONEER Further on established global partnerships, Ferag Australia has also established relationships with HAI Robotics and Libiao Robot (A.I.C Systems) to supply their technologies into local intralogistics project opportunities within Australia and New Zealand.

“This is a really exciting collaboration for the ANZ market that is seeing attraction from some of the major players in the e-commerce sector,” Philip says. “Having access to these very dynamic system suppliers

allows Ferag to offer a wide range of solutions to all industry sectors.”

Based in Hangzhou, China, Libiao robot is an innovative technology company focused on development and innovation of logistic sorting systems. The technology combines parcel sorting robots and robot control systems into one, which has been widely used in global e-commerce, post, retail and apparel industries.

“Many companies in the Australian market have existing infrastructure already in place, however there is

now an opportunity to dramatically improve the capacity, flexibility and efficiency of their operation through this proven intelligence,” Philip says.

He highlights that Ferag works with each customer on a collaborative basis to fully understand the customers unique requirements and suggest the best technology to achieve the project’s objectives.

“Domestically, we also have a local installation and service support team that ensures projects can be realised as planned and maintained into the future too.” ■

MHD FEBRUARY 2021 | 33

MHD TECHNOLOGY

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION SUCCESS James McDougall, Business Development Manager at Cincom discusses the six signs that reveal a company needs to invest in digital transformation.

A

lmost every organisation has been impacted by the COVID-induced pivot to digital transformation.

For those businesses who were yet to start their digital transformation journey, they had a lot of catching up to do in 2020.

One of the lessons learned from COVID-19 is the compelling need for organisations to have a “plan B” in place to ensure business continuity during times of disruption.

The current crisis has taught us that the better plan is to build your processes and operations in a manner that anticipates calamity and disruption.

To accomplish this, companies require agility, flexibility and redundancy.

These attributes allow the company to freely move from one mode of operation to another. Specific individuals,

departments or the enterprise as a whole require the ability to mobilize and to physically decentralize and maintain operations without interruption or pause.

Those companies that were able to send large percentages of their workforce home to continue their daily duties via remote access were the companies that have been able to survive, if not thrive, during this crisis.

DIGITAL SELLING TRANSFORMATION – WHEN AND WHERE? No matter what your industry, sales drive success. For us, digital transformation is about finding areas and processes where you can make the biggest impact with the least effort.

34 | MHD FEBRUARY 2021

A great place to start is with your selling process. This is where money comes into the organisation. If you can make a positive impact within the selling process, if you can insulate it from disruption, you will be well on the way toward transforming your entire enterprise.

Positively impacting the selling process offers immediate results that are highly visible. Stabilising or improving sales revenue translates into stability for the enterprise and justification for extending your transformation efforts into other areas.

HOW TO TELL YOUR SELLING PROCESS NEEDS DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION 1. You’re not seeing improvements Firstly, if improvement is not possible with existing tools and processes then it’s likely you need to explore digital transformation. If it’s common for improvement recommendations to almost always be greeted with scepticism, reluctance or outright defiance. This is human nature. Change is often received as a threat. Effective managers understand this and know how to work around or over obstacles and motivate reluctant employees to embrace new processes.

However, sometimes the old system is not repairable. All effective optimising efforts have already been employed.

Sales reps have been trained and retrained. Things are simply not going to get better without some significant change. This stagnation is indicative of process problems.

2. You’re always behind your competitor The second sign is centred around market share and success. If you are always coming in behind your competitor, if you seem to be relegated to the role of bid fodder, if you are watching your competition close deals that you didn’t even know were there, then you know you have process problems.

Today, buyers are educated, and they know more about what they want to buy than ever before. If your competitors get a quote in before you, the buyer may well decide the issue is closed and not even consider a second offer.

If you are coming in second and missing opportunity after opportunity, you have process problems.

Customer experience is the number one area where organisations look to differentiate their offering. If you have a good starting process with your quotation that is fast, efficient, reliable and backed up quickly, then you can get a head start from the get-go.

3. Configuration errors are common When you quote or propose a solution for your customer, you know how important it is for your solution to be demonstrably effective. If you are finding out late in the sale or even after the product is installed that your solution is not addressing the needs of the customer, then this is a common sign that digital transformation is needed.

4. E xtended pricing and pricejustification discussions Are you having difficulty in justifying

MHD TECHNOLOGY why your product is priced the way it is? Almost any buyer will ask if you can “do better” on the price, but when the entire sales conversation is dominated by price and your explanations are not resolving your prospect’s concerns, something is wrong.

It doesn’t matter if you are pricing by value received, cost plus or discounting off list, if the price is not understood and accepted, it probably means you are way out of line with other solutions under consideration. This has less to do with being the lowest price than it does with offering an explainable price.

This is vitally important when it comes to pricing rental equipment which is more complex, because you must consider things such as lease repayments, residual values, repair and maintenance allowances and so forth into your price.

If your buyer doesn’t believe your price is justifiable, you have a process problem.

5. Complex or opaque quotation documents Closely related to price-justification issues are issues related to the

inscrutability of your quotation documents. Complex products frequently do not lend themselves to bottom-line quotations. However, buyers will likely compare solutions using driveaway prices; what’s the total price over three years or something similar.

If you have trouble summarising the cost and pricing that drives the bottom line in your quotation, you are going to have a prospect with little confidence in the numbers you quote.

Is your price quote one or two pages in length, or is it several inches thick? Can the quotation be segmented into bite-size chunks, or is it page after page of items, parts assemblies and services, all mixed together into a voluminous package?

If you can’t equip your buyer to explain your price, you have process problems.

6. Tribal knowledge is not built into configuration and pricing processes If your product configuration and pricing require all manner of esoteric knowledge to effectively propose and quote a useful solution, you will likely swing and miss at many opportunities. This is especially

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true if you are working with new sales reps or trying to serve contactless quotes to your customers.

Over the years as products evolve and change, exceptions, special considerations and other minutiae associated with how your product is configured and priced will creep into your sales knowledge base.

This information should be documented but instead is passed along outside of the price list or options catalogue.

This will likely lead to process problems.

Give your existing sales processes a close look. Talk to your reps; talk to your customers.

Almost anyone involved in the selling of your products will have valuable insights into the strengths and weaknesses associated with your selling process.

There are many products available to bring the selling operation into a more digitally oriented stance and at Cincom we have had some great success transforming these processes for several large businesses in the commercial vehicle and materials handling industry in Australia. ■

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MHD SUSTAINABILITY

SUPERCHARGING THE WAREHOUSE Data and automation are among the key driving factors of running a successful warehouse operation and contribute to the overall sustainability of a business. MHD finds out more.

E

-commerce has transformed the way the warehouse functions. Rhett Talley, Marketing and Business Development Manager at Diverseco says the role of the distribution centre (DC) has fundamentally changed.

“With the rise of e-commerce, the point of sale has shifted from a person visiting a retail store to them now ordering direct from the warehouse.

Goods are now being dispatched from the DC at a much faster and higher volume than they were before,” he says.

As a result of this, sustainability is very important for these operations and according to Rhett it is two-tiered.

“For where we sit in the supply chain sphere, sustainability is about data and automation. Operations are empowered by good data and automation plays a significant role in improving safety 36 | MHD FEBRUARY 2021

and efficiency,” Rhett says.

Access to good data enables a warehouse to function at the optimum level, with accurate data around stock keeping units (SKUs) enabling Warehouse Management Systems and Warehouse Control Systems to work more effectively.

Without data, it’s not possible to reach the optimisation required for a modern-day warehouse, Rhett says.

“In fast moving sectors like e-commerce, it’s impossible to reach the level of efficiency required without accurate data. All fundamental operations in the DC now require excellent data for all the automation to work at its optimum capacity,” Rhett says.

With so many different SKUs being picked in the warehouse, for any automation to run effectively, it relies

on having reliable trustworthy data.

Without this data, there is a need to require people to do the manual jobs which Rhett says is a model many logistics providers are seeking to avoid.

“Sustainability to many people is simply what factors do you have in place that your operations will continue should something happen, and this is where automation and data play a crucial role,” Rhett says.

In order to ensure long-term sustainability of an operation, it’s important to reduce risk and liabilities and this is where automation comes in.

“It’s in the interest of supply chain managers to reduce their exposure to the human element in any menial, repetitive, non-value adding task and redeploy human capital to higher value tasks,” Rhett says.

MHD SUSTAINABILITY This is particularly apparent through COVID-19 restrictions where heavily manual operations were forced to grind to a halt.

With menial tasks carried out largely by automation and technology, there is also an opportunity to improve safety for employees.

“Some repetitive tasks have a lot of risks attached to them so there is a huge sustainability benefit to automate these tasks,” Rhett says.

With COVID-19 placing pressure on global supply chains and many organisations experiencing difficulties with trade and distribution, Rhett says there is a huge opportunity for Australia to onshore some essential manufacturing.

“There is a bigger concept of sustainability in the Australian supply chain that has been highlighted by difficulties in global trade and restrictions in air freight and distribution through COVID-19, in particular with goods that come from China. The critical importance right now in Australian manufacturing and

E-commerce has transformed the way the warehouse functions. government policy is to reconsider onshoring the manufacturing of more of our critical goods,” Rhett says.

But the question looms. How does Australia do that with its expensive workforce? Rhett says automation is the solution.

“We’re working closely with leading robotics hubs and universities to empower Australian manufacturing

so that it can bring back much of the manufacturing production locally,” Rhett says.

Rhett says that it is possible in the near future that many distribution centres may create a smart warehouse that operates “lights out” meaning there is no people inside. For him, this creates a great opportunity for data and automation to drive sustainability. ■

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MHD SUSTAINABILITY

CHAMPIONS OF SUSTAINABILITY Off the back of a record year, which saw parcel delivery company CouriersPlease deliver a 150 per cent year-on-year increase during peak period, MHD sits down with Mark McGinley, CEO at the business to find out more about the franchised delivery service and its sustainability goals.

D

uring the coronavirus pandemic, CouriersPlease delivered a record volume of parcels. With more than 80 per cent year-on-year growth throughout 2020, and a remarkable 150 per cent year-on-year increase across the Cyber Weekend, Christmas and Boxing Day sales period, the business is growing at a rapid rate.

“We had to open six new facilities in 2020 to cope with the increase in volumes. We also had a 50 per cent increase in franchisees and delivery partners since COVID led to a spike in online retail, as well as a 55 per cent increase in employees across our

network,” Mark McGinley, CEO at CouriersPlease tells MHD. With COVID-19 driving e-commerce volumes to previously predicted 2023-24 levels, CouriersPlease has been on a strategic shift in direction.

“We’re very focused on developing our services in the e-commerce space.

We’ve made a strategic decision to shift from a metro courier company, to an e-commerce technology company,” Mark says.

Mark is frank about the fact that many of Australia’s leading carriers struggled with the rise in volume initially, and when it reached

Mark McGinley, CEO at CouriersPlease.

CouriersPlease is focused on developing its services in the e-commerce space.

38 | MHD FEBRUARY 2021

MHD SUSTAINABILITY unprecedented levels around Christmas. However, CouriersPlease was quick to adapt and opened five new facilities in three weeks as well as invested significantly in its infrastructure, technology, equipment and people.

“We’ve learnt lots of lessons from last year, and we will bring these learnings into 2021 with a total network review and the aim of increasing our footprint so that we can meet consumer expectations,” he says.

The last mile is one of the most challenging parts of the supply chain.

A COMMITMENT TO A CARBON NEUTRAL FUTURE A major focus for CouriersPlease is sustainability, and according to recent consumer research carried out by the company, it’s a priority the business shares with its customer base.

“Our research found that 87 per cent of all Australian shoppers are more likely to purchase products that are ethically and sustainability produced.

Furthermore, 85 per cent wanted retailers to be more transparent about their procurement processes and sustainability practices,” Mark says.

As a carrier, offering its customer base sustainable and responsible options around last mile delivery is a major priority for the business.

“The younger generation are prepared to pay more for sustainable products and delivery options. We are seeing a significant increase in younger consumers making purchasing decisions that reflect their values and we believe this trend is set to continue,” Mark says.

In response to this, CouriersPlease is on a mission to be the carrier who can meet these expectations.

“Last year we had our carbon emissions audited by the Carbon Reduction Institute (CRI) to find out what our baseline is. From here, we set up targets – one of which is to be completely carbon neutral by 2030,” Mark says.

While this target may sound like a tough task, CouriersPlease is already well on the way to meeting its goals.

“We’ve already offset 100 per cent of our operational emissions,” Mark says. “Since July last year we’ve also offset 10 per cent of our last mile deliveries.”

It is widely known that the last mile is one of the most inefficient

and carbon intensive aspects of an e-commerce delivery. This is largely due to a large volume of vans on the roads, delivering to individual residencies across the city throughout the day.

“All carriers are looking for efficient ways to get the end product to the consumer, and this doesn’t necessarily mean delivering to people’s homes,” Mark explains.

CouriersPlease is currently exploring more innovative ways to improve the environmental impact of this part of their business model and has taken steps to improve its route and fleet optimisation offering as well as rolling out a 100 per cent carbon neutral satchel across its nationwide network.

“We’re also exploring options around Click and Collect, using our long-term partner, Hubbed, an e-commerce start-up that has over 2000 pickup and drop off points around the country. We’re also investing in a series of micro-hubs, whereby we bring consolidated freight into the micro-hub and from there we are exploring last mile delivery using bikes, e-bikes or electric vehicles,” Mark says.

For Mark, consolidating deliveries is an important part of the puzzle in reducing the environmental impact of last mile deliveries.

“Some cities in Europe are working on a partnership model where all carriers can access a number of

delivery points to drop off, and one carrier handles the last mile from there, resulting in better route optimisation and efficiency gains,” Mark says.

However, according to Mark, in Australia there is a lack of Government incentive and funding to support electric vehicles. “When we compare ourselves to European cities who have emissions targets to meet and incentives to get there, we are really falling behind. I think all of us carriers would like to see more support from the Government in this space,” he says.

IS THE CONSUMER ONBOARD? While consumers expectations are rising, with same day and next day delivery on the rise. Mark suggests that consumers will be happy to explore other options around delivery if they are well-communicated and convenient.

“Home delivery is very expensive for the carriers, and not sustainable at the current level of volumes we have.

Carriers simply can’t afford to keep absorbing the last mile cost, so we’re working with retailers to empower consumers to make the choice. If they want a home delivery then that will potentially incur a cost. But we can offer consumers other low-cost sustainable options such as picking the item up from a parcel locker or local convenience outlet,” Mark says. ■ MHD FEBRUARY 2021 | 39

MHD STORAGE SOLUTIONS

THE PET STORE GIANT THAT’S WAGGING ITS TAIL One of Australia’s largest pet food and supplies retailers embarked on a supply chain transformation journey at the start of last year. Despite being in the midst of a global pandemic, Stow Storage Solutions managed to deliver the project on time for PETstock. MHD finds out more.

W

hile the nation was stockpiling toilet paper and pantry goods in response to a pandemicinduced fear of a nationwide shortage of essential household items, pet owners were also committed to ensuring that the furry members of the family would not miss out on their favourite foods and supplies.

“When COVID hit, demand went nuts.

People wanted to make sure that their pets also had access to the specialised food that they would usually buy,” Brett De Laney, Supply Chain Operations Manager at PETstock says.

Founded in 2002, PETstock is an Australian family-owned business built on humble beginnings in regional Victoria. The pet retailer currently supplies more than 140 stores around the country.

Prior to COVID-19, PETstock was

L to R: Brett De Laney, PETstock Supply Chain Operations Manager; Nick Greenham, Stow Major Accounts Manager; Brad Philp, PETstock National Distribution Manager.

40 | MHD FEBRUARY 2021

Stow selective rack in PETstock’s new NDC. beginning to roll out a supply chain transformation strategy, which was more than two years in the making.

This transformation included largescale investment in software and featured a warehouse and distribution network overhaul to offer PETstock’s growing consumer base enhanced services and efficiencies.

The first step in PETstock’s transformation strategy was to build a new national distribution centre (NDC) in Victoria. In 2019, the retailer signed a lease on a new 11,600 sqm DC in Truganina, Victoria.

“The new logistics network has started in Melbourne, with the view to rolling out the rest of the strategy across the nation,” Brett explains.

PETstock selected Stow Australia, a leading supplier of storage solutions for its NDC storage and order picking solution at the new Truganina NDC. The driving strategy for the new NDC in Melbourne was to support PETstock’s store network.

“Twelve months ago, the goal for

the Melbourne NDC was to set up and support 140 retail stores, usually they get 100 deliveries a week from all suppliers but now with the new NDC we have consolidated it into pallet deliveries that come less often which ultimately creates a better experience for our customers,” Brett says.

To meet the rising demands and efficiency gains required, Stow designed a flexible and efficient storage solution using selective pallet racking to store bulk and carton-loads of its pet supplies, and to allow for efficient and effective picking of online orders.

Selective racking allows rapid stock rotation, 100 per cent picking accessibility, and a very fast pick rate. Stow’s racking is designed and manufactured in Europe using high-quality steel and complies with the Australian Standard AS 40842012 as well as the more stringent European Standard.

The Stow storage solution was planned to be delivered in three stages. In February 2020 the first

MHD STORAGE SOLUTIONS stage commenced. This included the e-commerce division , which was made up of aisles of selective racking holding 11,000 pallets, with each pallet capable of carrying 1,000 kgs of stock.

BUSINESS AS USUAL Soon after the first stage commenced, COVID-19 started to disrupt supply chains worldwide and many racking providers were dealing with manufacturing shutdowns and lengthy delays in getting stock to Australia.

However, this was not an issue for Stow. “One of the reasons we selected Stow as our racking provider was because they had an in-country solution where most of their competitors just didn’t have the inventory in Australia,” Brett says.

“When COVID hit, we already had the racks PETstock required so we could be agile and complete the work on time,” Martin Bates, National Sales Manager at Stow Australia says.

For Stow, keeping a high volume of inventory onshore is a deliberate strategy. “As we manufacture our products in Europe, our lead time is longer than many of our competitors who manufacture their products in Asia. Eighteen months ago, we made a conscious decision to always carry at least 20,000 pallet locations of traditional selective racking in stock,” Martin says.

While this is a big commitment financially, Martin says that it gives Stow a strategic advantage over its competitors, which quickly become apparent during COVID-19.

“We were very fortunate during COVID in that we had a lot of inventory here in Australia. Additionally, because much of our manufacturing in Europe was fully automated, we had access to additional inventory, unlike companies with manufacturing in Asia who were reliant on manual labour and impacted

by COVID-19,” Martin says.

Furthermore, PETstock ensured that safety was a priority throughout this project. As a result, Stow’s project team adapted to the COVID requirements and adhered to social distancing requirements and sanitisation of frequent material handling touchpoints.

Throughout the entire installation, PETstock continued operations without any adverse impact on the warehouse, staff or customer service levels.

Fulfilling PETstock’s e-commerce orders.

COLLABORATION, RELIABILITY AND TRUST As with any new DC build, it’s a complicated space to operate in. With builders, developers and many different stakeholders and tradespeople all onsite at once, it’s crucial for a racking provider to develop strong working relationships are built with all of those onsite.

“A challenge for us is to ensure that we work harmoniously with the other teams who are onsite. We have to make sure that we are ordering materials to sequence into the building construction sequence. This collaboration really comes down to our project team who work cohesively around our client’s requirements,” Martin says.

This complexity was only exaggerated with the impact of COVID-19, with workforce capacity restrictions placed on many industries across Victoria in Stage Four restrictions limiting the amount of people able to work onsite, meaning the Stow team had to be creative with the installation of the new racking.

“Our project team worked out of hours to get work finished to ensure that they handed a number of major projects on time. The project team are our unsung heroes,” Martin says.

Brett echoes this sentiment and says that the relationship with Stow is one based on collaboration and trust.

Building a new DC throughout a global pandemic and all the complexities that come with working during this time has been challenging for PETstock, but for Brett success comes down to relationships and working with partners you can trust.

“If I ring Martin and ask him for an update, I get an honest, accurate reliable answer which is critical to the success of the project,” Brett says.

AGILITY AND ADAPTABILITY When COVID-19 hit, many of PETstock’s customer demand was unpredictable and e-commerce volumes were accelerated.

As a result, the requirements for the NDC changed.

“In February we designed what we thought we needed, but then COVID hit and March came along and we recognised very quickly that we needed to change the rules,” Brett says. Each time there was a change in requirement, Brett and his team sat down with Stow to establish what was the best solution.

“Even at the time of installation, racks had already gone up but we decided to move them closer together to increase capacity to service e-commerce orders.

Every time we changed our mind, we sat around with Stow, got the drawings out and worked collaboratively to work out what tweaks we could do,” Brett says.

The new NDC is the first step in PETstock’s supply chain transformation strategy.

The Victorian NDC will ensure that PETstock has capacity for the future, with the e-commerce area being designed to allow for a future third stage conversion into a multi-tier picking floor.

“The project went really smoothly, and to our deadline, and Stow’s project team made it a pleasure.

We are delighted with the result,” Brett concluded. ■ MHD FEBRUARY 2021 | 41

MHD SUPPLY CHAIN

TECHNOLOGY TRENDS FOR 2021 What technology is set to define and reshape the supply chain and logistics sector in 2021? Nishan Wijemanne, Managing Director APAC at Körber Supply Chain Software along with team members Tim Baracz, Rizan Mawzoon, Paul Phillips, Jamie Sterling and Jon Kuerschner present the top trends set to dominate 2021.

W

hile we may not dare to declare 2021 a post-COVID world just yet, there were many lessons learnt in 2020 that will shape how the world does business this year.

Organisations across the globe made huge strides in their digital transformation journeys. The pandemic forced many to throw caution to the wind and make snap decisions around investment and adoption of new technologies in order to adapt and pivot in a rapidly changing world.

While we will continue to see some of the same trends that arose in 2020 continue in 2021, there will also be some new trends to look out for.

Here’s some of the key trends we think will dominate the Australian logistics and supply chain market throughout 2021.

1. Change of the guard This year will see an even greater need for agile and flexible leaders. I think we will see an organisational shift from top-down decision-making to more ground level empowerment in operations.

Within this shift, we will see daily

Paul Phillips, Senior Business Consultant ANZ at Körber Supply Chain Software.

42 | MHD FEBRUARY 2021

decisions driven by data and a need to improve speed to market and fulfil rising consumer demands.

We’ve seen lots of leaders this year being forced to switch from an old school mindset to a quick-thinking agile approach. I think there will be a significant change in management styles with a new wave of leaders ready to take on the dynamic world we live in in 2021.

2. Technologically enhanced workers According to IDC, a global market intelligence firm, by 2022 technology will expand the functionality and effectiveness of the workforce by 25 per cent, fuelling an acceleration of productivity and innovation.

We’ve already seen this start to take shape, with some of Australia’s largest retailers and logistics providers investing in dynamic and scalable solutions such as Android-based Voice and an array of flexible and mobile automation solutions for expediting workflows and scaling fulfilment operations.

This technology not only produces efficiency and productivity gains, but it

Nishan Wijemanne, Managing Director at Körber APAC. also improves accuracy and enhances the picking experience for staff.

Organisations will be looking at opportunities to reduce reliance on manual work methods and replace it with automation, but this doesn’t need to but this doesn’t need to be large-scale fully automated warehouses. Instead, the trend will shift to DC with a combo of fixed and flexible automated areas as well as plug-and-play technologies for speedy workflows allowing businesses to spread their investment and ROI goals.

With low set-up costs and the ability to move solutions around the warehouse, we predict that there will be a huge uptake in flexible technological solutions that enhance and empower crucial roles throughout the warehouse.

Resulting in allowing the workforce to be applied to much needed areas of the operations and bottlenecks such as stock receiving, outbound and customer service.

3. The Micro-fulfilment advantage As 2020 came to a close, Australia Post announced it had broken all previous

MHD SUPPLY CHAIN

Rizan Mawzoon, Head of Transformation ANZ at Körber Supply Chain Software. records and delivered 52 million parcels during December, up 76 per cent when compared to the same month last year.

With e-commerce numbers at an all-time high, retailers’ priorities lie in getting orders to customers as quickly and cheaply as possible.

Pair this with a complete overhaul of commercial property in built up areas due to a COVID-driven fundamental shift in working patterns, and it creates the perfect storm for micro-fulfilment centres to take centre stage in 2021.

Coming in a number of different guises, micro-fulfilment can mean converting current space into a physical store into a micro-fulfilment centre or it can be building a dedicated centre close to urban population.

The rise of micro-fulfilment will also be evident in large shopping centres that have been impacted by closure of bricks and mortar stores and will allow leased tenants to explore micro fulfilment-as-a-service within the shopping centre to extend a better experience to consumers.

4. T he rise of Robots-as-asubscription Robots-as-a-subscription is a rapidly growing industry. ABI Research predicts that by 2026, there will be 1.3 million installations of Robots-as-asubscription, generating a revenue of more than $43 billion.

Recent customer led demand and trends have suggested the rise of robots-as-a-subscription whereby the hardware will be offered in a pay-asyou-go subscription model. Based on this rising trend Körber is set to offer this solution in 2021.

Jamie Sterling, Director International Sales and Operations APAC at Körber Supply Chain Software.

By offering a pay as you go, or subscription model, organisations can take advantage of the benefits of introducing robots by leasing devices and running a cloud-based subscription service as opposed to making an outright purchase.

With new product offerings reaching the Australian market in 2021, with Körber partnering with Silicon Valleybased Fetch Robotic as well as awardwinning Locus Robotics, and as a solutions provider with offerings across the entire breadth of the supply chain, we see opportunities for our customers to deploy innovative solutions on a monthly model in 2021.

5. Machine learning and artificial intelligence As more and more steps of the supply chain become connected through technology, we have access to enormous volumes of data. Artificial intelligence and machine learning are set to evolve this year from buzzwords to reality as providers find logical applications

Tim Baracz, Sales Director ANZ at Körber Supply Chain Software. for the technology.

Furthermore, organisations are looking for more effective methods of data interpretation and visualisation to make informed decisions. With this comes a need for simplified user experience design, and we see this as important criteria when selecting supply chain software solutions.

With a significant part of supply chain operations now carried out using automation and technology, there is a huge opportunity for supply chain operations to discover patterns and make decisions based on data to drive efficiencies and create more accurate inventory control.

Major players such as Amazon have already started to take advantage of this technology, with predictions around which stock needs to be held at which locations for faster delivery times.

We see machine learning and artificial intelligence as a way to take investments in technology to the next level and we are sure to see more of this throughout 2021. ■

Körber AutoSort Mobile Table-top Sortation AMR Solution.

MHD FEBRUARY 2021 | 43

MHD SUPPLY CHAIN

A $250M NETWORK TRANSFORMATION Nearly five years into its distribution network optimisation program, Sigma Healthcare has invested more than $230 million in state-of-the-art distribution centres around the country. MHD finds out more.

A major priority for Sigma Healthcare is not only speed to market, but also accuracy.

S

igma Healthcare plays a critical role in the timely supply of medicines throughout Australia. As a signatory to the Federal Government’s Community Service Obligation, Sigma ensures availability and delivery to its network of pharmacy partners, usually within a 24-hour window across the nation.

In addition, the leading healthcare supplier also services hospitals, a thriving 3PL and 4PL division, provides medication dose administration services to patients, and has a rapidly expanding medical consumable and equipment distribution business.

Five years ago, the ASX-listed company embarked on a network optimisation program to drive significant efficiency improvement, enhance customer service levels, create capacity for growth, improve sustainability and provide employees with a better working environment. The new distribution network has been designed to enable a 44 | MHD FEBRUARY 2021

future of significant growth for Sigma.

To lead the project, experienced industry professional Peter Petito joined Sigma as Senior Program Manager in August 2016. The project saw a major investment in automated solutions, including the introduction of automated storage and retrieval systems and sophisticated Goods to Person picking and assembly for despatch.

Tasked with rolling out the entire network optimisation program, which included building new distribution centres in all major capital cities, Peter was quick to engage his peer and previous colleague Bas Schilders, Principal Consultant and Owner of warehouse automation expert consultancy Fuzzy LogX to help with this project.

“On day one I reached out to Bas and his team to ensure we had the right expertise to help guide us through this major project. In the early days, we started by analysing the raw data to identify and justify the solutions that we

were potentially investing in. Bas and his team could then break down each component and bring it back down to data and analysis, so for all elements we could establish a cost benefit analysis,” Peter says.

A major priority for Sigma was to not only improve speed to market, but also accuracy. “Ensuring the right product goes to the right customer is absolutely key for us. We have a licence to serve community pharmacies - they are reliant on our ability to equitably, efficiently and accurately deliver so they can better service their patients,” Peter says.

No stranger to the pharmaceutical industry, Bas says that in many ways this industry is one of the most efficient in the world. “It’s probably the only industry where you can sell one unit, and the very next day have that single unit replenished,” he says.

To be able to offer this service, Sigma requires a distribution centre in every major city and according to Bas, it also

MHD SUPPLY CHAIN

In such a critical industry as healthcare, Sigma cannot afford any downtime or breakdowns. means that the type of automation required is different to a regular distribution centre.

“This industry operates quite differently to many other automated facilities in that you have an influx of orders all come in at once, so it’s high speed automation. For this reason, every single part of the puzzle needs to operate in unison,” Bas explains.

In such a critical industry, Sigma cannot risk any downtime or breakdowns.

“We just simply cannot afford to have the system go down. Because of this we have contingency plans on contingency plans,” Peter says. So accuracy and reliability were two of the most important factors for this project.

developers and more,” he says.

A driving philosophy for Fuzzy Logx is to empower the companies they work with, so that eventually they are less involved and can pass on their expertise to the inhouse time.

“For us, it’s about transferring knowledge and helping Sigma take learnings from one project to the next,” Bas says. Sigma is already reaping the benefits of its investment.

“Despite this year’s challenges, our team have ‘not missed a beat’, delivering near double planned volumes to customers in the early weeks of pandemic panic buying. Throughout the year,

everyone has really gone the extra mile to support community pharmacy, hospitals, and aged care customers,” Sigma Healthcare’s Executive General Manager of Operations, Richard Church says.

“Our new DC network has significant benefits; For customers, our automation solution simply delivers a better and more robust service, with improved and more consistent delivery on time (DOT) and delivery in full (DIF), plus improved order accuracy. For our suppliers, it delivers increased distribution network capacity and capabilities, along with improved delivery turnarounds,” Richard concludes. ■

A COLLABORATIVE EFFORT According to Peter, Bas and his team have been critical to this mammoth network transformation project.

“Bas and his team give me the confidence to know that our systems are performing as they should be. They help do extensive testing to ensure that we know that the solutions we have invested in are performing as they should be,” Peter says.

A project as large as this one is a collaborative effort between multiple parties, Bas says. “The team extends beyond the Fuzzy LogX or Sigma team, it’s the solution vendors, the builders, the

Fuzzy LogX give Sigma the confidence that their systems are performing as they should be.

MHD FEBRUARY 2021 | 45

MHD TRENDS IN IOT

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

HOW TO MAKE THE BUSINESS CASE FOR IOT STACK UP

With many preconceptions around the introduction of Internet of Things technology being too expensive or too risky for large-scale deployment across the supply chain, it’s time to re-visit the business case.

By Loic Barancourt, CEO and Co-Founder of Thinxtra

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s technological innovation advances, it is common for prices to drop and products to improve and the Internet of Things (IoT) has followed this common trend.

With much cheaper and simpler options on the market, it’s time to revisit your business case for investing in this technology.

To truly understand how a business case stacks up for a large scale IoT deployment for many thousands of connected assets or goods, it’s important to be clear about the value you will get by introducing this technology and at the same time be clear about the cost of deploying and maintaining it.

Firstly, the value you get from 46 | MHD FEBRUARY 2021

turning data into insights need to be quantified to make a concrete business case for investing.

To help companies start on their IoT journey, we usually ask a couple of simple questions.

We start with: “If you could ask your assets where they are, and how they are doing, more often, how would you do things differently?”

From here, the discussion begins to discover which operational business problems will be solved through better, informed decisions. Maybe you can move your entire supply chain faster, maybe you can make sure your customers send your assets back to you in a more timely and accurate way and reduce your loss ratios Maybe if you

have the right number of containers in the production facility every morning, you can reduce downtime. There are many possibilities depending on the nature of your business.

We have these conversations with our customers to ask: how much is this worth to you?

The discussion around tracking assets in the supply chain is not just about the cost of losing assets, that is one factor.

But the real benefit and value comes when you can make sure that you run more effectively and efficiently. That could be ensuring your production line never stops or providing better value for your customers – there are many ways to add value beyond asset loss reduction. We see again and again that

“ The discussion about tracking assets in the supply chain is not just about the cost of losing assets. the benefits reach across cost reduction and more robust risk management all the way to the creation of better, differentiated customer experience.

WORKING OUT YOUR BUDGET Once you have an understanding of what the value of asking your assets where they are and how they are doing a couple of times a day, then you can work out what that is really worth to your business.

From here, you have a quantifiable number that you can break down into a budget. You know the value you will get from investing in IoT so it’s much easier to make the business case.

Once you have your budget, you can look at the different IoT options in that budget. This is a crucial point, as we need to add to financial viability the question of operational scalability. The technology choices and solution design need to fit the business case. Not the other way round.

This means we need to shift our thinking away from cost prohibitive high data

To help companies start on their IoT journey, we usually ask a couple of simple questions.

We start with: If you could ask your assets where they are, and how they are doing, more often, how would you do things differently?

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volume. Once you look into small data options, such as the 0G network, the business case really starts to add up.

If you can tap into data that lets you know where your assets are and in what condition, in regular intervals or based on certain events , ou can start to track and monitor high volumes of low-value assets across the supply chain.

We have seen this with some of our customers. Loscam, a world-leading pallet pooling and returnable packaging solution provider had explored IoT solutions for a number of years. They had tried to make tracking their assets work with 3G and 4G networks, but they couldn’t make the business case stack up Now, with Thinxtra’s low-cost public 0G Network, they have a strong business case for tracking their lower value assets and are reaping the benefits across their entire supply chain.

VALUE BEYOND THE SUPPLY CHAIN Like Loscam, many businesses see benefits across the entire supply chain when they invest in IoT. The value of IoT solutions are also not just found in the supply chain.

This kind of technological investment should never be assessed in isolation, it’s important to look at the value that will be generated not only across the business but also across all supply chain partners This too ensures that the business case stacks up.

If you can improve the customer experience, then sales and marketing departments also become invested in the success of the project.

If the value created is far reaching across your business and customer experience, then the conversation shifts to broader benefits versus – which is when your business case really starts to fly.

One of our customers Kegstar , a stainless steel keg rental business, part of Brambles, obtains not only exact real-time location or every keg but also information of what’s inside.

Once you have a differentiator that sets you apart from all your competitors, you can even look to charge a premium for your services, win more market share and ensure that your customers continue to do business with you.

The business case becomes common sense when you calculate the value you will get from knowing every day where your assets are and in what condition they are, and can deploy an operationally scalable solution at the right cost of data production From here, you need to ask yourself: do you want to differentiate from your competitors and provide a premium service to your customers? If you do, it’s time to explore IoT. ■ MHD FEBRUARY 2021 | 47

MHD SUSTAINABILITY

WHY ONE SIZE DOESN’T FIT ALL FOR A SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING SOLUTION With e-commerce volumes reaching record heights in 2020, retailers are on the hunt for sustainable and efficient packaging solutions to meet consumer expectations and keep up with demand. MHD finds out more about the latest on-demand packaging solutions.

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verten, Australia’s first online kitchenware retailer, saw demand skyrocket during the pandemic.

Off the back of 2019’s peak period, there was no sign of things slowing down in early 2020.

Order volumes reached record numbers, and as a result Everten kept their entire team of Christmas casuals throughout 2020.

With more than 18,000 kitchenware products available, from knives to bread loaf tins to cooking appliances, Everten has an extremely varied catalogue.

As stay-at-home directives prompted a huge uptake in everyday Aussie’s to return back to basics, with people taking up baking and cooking with their families, Carla Penn-Kahn, Managing Director at Everten says the familybusiness has never been busier.

With a commitment to sustainability and the environment, in 2018 Everten started working with on-demand packaging specialist Abbe Corrugated and deployed the Panotec solution. The Panotec solution creates the right-sized box per order being shipped, in realtime every time.

By introducing on-demand packaging solution, Everten reduces material waste, eliminates the need to stock hold multiple size cartons, as well as limit or eliminate void and void filler.

“On-demand packaging offers a holistic solution to sustainability. It creates the optimum size parcel. Not only can you limit or eliminate void and filler, but you can also reduce the amount of

48 | MHD FEBRUARY 2021

Everten has improved the unboxing experience for its customers. space needed to ship the parcel, allowing many retailers to deliver more parcels within the same shipment,” Russell Speechley, Packaging Automation Manager at Abbe Corrugated says.

When COVID-19 caused a surge in online orders, Everten was well placed to meet this demand, having already invested in an on-demand packaging solution.

“By creating the right fit every time, you can save warehouse space and run a much more sustainable and efficient operation,” Russell says.

With more customers than ever before, Everten was able to continue to offer a first-rate service through improving the unboxing experience for the customer, as well as keeping up with demands.

According to Kelvin Plain, Warehouse Manager at Everten since installing Abbe’s on-demand packaging solutins the leading retailer has gone from 300 orders a day to approximately 1,000, with a 30 per cent reduction in cubic volume.

“No one wants to receive a large box that’s filled with non-recyclable filler materials and a small item,” Russell explains.

Abbe Corrugated is a leading on-demand packaging provider who boasts the likes of Catch, Adidas, Booktopia and Toll as its customers for its high-speed high-volume solution.

For these customers, Abbe Corrugated offers a large-scale automation system that offers impressive throughput rates. According to Russell, this level

MHD SUSTAINABILITY of productivity is near-impossible to emulate in a manual-only operation.

“On-demand packaging offers a number of different benefits. You have enhanced speed to market and throughput capability. You can also optimise your transport distribution network and ensure that the product arrives in optimal condition by using welldesigned and robust packaging,” he says.

With several different types of equipment on offer in this space, Abbe Corrugated has a solution for any size of organisation. “We have equipment that is suitable for small to medium size operations, but we also have our high-end automated solutions for the likes of Catch and Booktopia whose operation will see a large volume of orders every day,” Russell says.

With on-demand packaging, there are also further sustainability benefits available through providing the ability to use the same packaging to return any items.

With customer experience topping the agenda of most online consumers, anything that makes life easier for the consumer, is seen as a positive in today’s digital world.

Since COVID-19, Abbe Corrugated has seen a huge increase in enquires for its innovative on-demand packaging materials.

To respond to this heightened demand and with international travel hindered due to COVID-19 restrictions, Abbe is bringing its packaging automation innovation to Australian shores by way of an Open House and Demo Centre in Melbourne, Victoria.

Everten producing right-size carton per order with Panotec box making machine.

E-fulfilment line with box machine operator.

Abbe will be presenting its full range of sustainable e-commerce solutions, starting at hand-packed standard boxes and easy-close tape solutions, right through to full automation of 800 boxes per hour.

“We’ve made this significant investment to enable many leading and growing Australian companies to come along with their team (and of course their products) and experience the technology for themselves in realtime,” Russell says.

Opening in April 2021, the Open House and Demo Centre will see the unveiling of the CMC Genesys, a new solution for the Australian market.

After many years of research and development, the CMC Genesys was launched in May last year and finally

provided the solution to the problematic issue of multi and odd-shaped orders.

“The new CMC Genesys is a pick to tote solution and is designed to meet both the needs of the demand for sustainable and recyclable packaging and to optimise the production processes and significantly reduce labour and shipping costs,” Russell says.

The Genesys goes one step further by utilising its unique VaryTote® it has developed to eliminate preconsolidation. It fully automates the packaging process of multi-orders by robotically transporting the order from the tote to a perfectly sized box without the requirement for void fill.

Furthermore, Genesys uses a new innovative laser to cut and crease the exact box templates. “There is no waste and all excess trim is folded into the four sides of the box to create a barrier to contain multiple items and remove the need for void fill,” Russell says.

With no signs of e-commerce volumes slowing down, Russell says having the ability to show Australian retailers the benefits of on-demand packaging firsthand presents a great opportunity.

“We can get businesses from across the retail, logistics and manufacturing space to come into the centre and see this high-end large-scale equipment running in real-time. We look forward to educating the market and explaining the wide-reaching benefits of on-demand packaging to businesses throughout Australia in Melbourne soon,” Russell says. ■ MHD FEBRUARY 2021 | 49

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MHD PROPERTY FOCUS

POPULATION INSIGHT Over the past decade, the key drivers of the Australian industrial and logistics market have been population growth, infrastructure investment and growth in e-commerce. The outlook for the latter two is expected to remain strong, however, population growth will create a drag on the sector over the short term. Luke Crawford at Colliers explains.

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istorically, Australia has enjoyed one of the strongest rates of population growth in the world and it has been this growth that has underpinned the country’s economic expansion over the past two decades. However, with the international border likely to be closed until a vaccine for COVID-19 is rolled out, net overseas migration is forecast to contract over the next two years and this will have considerable flow on effects to the Australian industrial and logistics sector.

The importance of overseas migration has become more apparent over the past decade as Australia’s immigration policies have been geared to meet the needs of the Australian labour market and education establishments.

52 | MHD FEBRUARY 2021

Since 2010, 61 per cent of Australia’s population growth has stemmed from net overseas migration (NOM), with New South Wales and Victoria being the major beneficiaries of this. In the 12 months to June 2020, Australia’s population grew by just over 320,000 persons, of which approximately 185,000 came from NOM. Looking ahead however, our current estimates show that NOM will fall by over 70,000 persons in the year to June 2021 with a further contraction of 21,600 persons in the year to June 2022.

With only modest rises expected in the rate of natural increase (births verse deaths), population growth is expected to fall to just 0.2 per cent in the year to June 2021, down from 1.5 per cent a year earlier. From a number of persons perspective, this

Luke Crawford is Head of Research at Colliers. will mean just over 60,000 persons will be added to our population in the 2021 financial year. These assumptions are underpinned by the international borders reopening at the end of 2021 which is the base case currently being adopted by the Federal Government. In the event this is delayed, there will be a significant flow on effects to our population growth rates.

The drop in population growth will not be equal across each state.

Focusing on the East Coast states, we are forecasting New South Wales and Victoria to grow by just 6,400 and 11,500 persons respectively in the year to June 2021, well below their growth rates recorded over the past five years (113,641 persons in New South Wales and 132,298 persons in Victoria per annum on average since 2015).

Alternatively, while a large fall is still expected, we are forecasting Queensland’s population to grow by 42,500 persons over the same period. The catalyst behind the outperformance of Queensland is their

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Population growth has a significant bearing on local industrial markets as it leads to higher levels of consumption and hence higher demand for goods.

With a large share of the goods purchased coming through a warehouse at some stage, it highlights the importance of population growth to the sector.

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lower reliance on NOM compared to the southern states and the expected increase in net interstate migration in early 2021 as pent up demand begins to flow through.

As a result of this forecast and from an industrial demand perspective, Queensland is well positioned to capitalise on higher levels of population growth when compared to the southern states. One of the major drivers of net interstate migration to Queensland, and Brisbane in particular, is the more affordable house prices compared to Sydney and Melbourne, along with job opportunity and economic growth.

Population growth has a significant bearing on local industrial markets as it leads to higher levels of consumption and hence higher demand for goods. With a large share of the goods purchased coming through a warehouse at some stage, it highlights the importance of population growth to the sector.

In light of weaker levels of population growth over the next two years, demand for industrial space is expected to be impacted as certain occupiers will experience a knock-on effect slowing their growth projections

and their expansion plans as a result.

However, the drop in demand from population growth is expected to be offset from occupiers seeking to strengthen their supply chain through automation solutions to drive efficiencies once growth recovers. The obsolescence of secondary industrial stock will drive the need for newer, next generation industrial warehouses.

In addition, the significant investment in transport infrastructure projects will underpin the current levels of industrial activity – directly or indirectly – as the materials and equipment required will pass through an industrial facility.

Comparing against industrial supply, there is a lag of up to two years between the change in population growth and completions.

As such, the drop in population growth between 2021 and 2022 would have a negative impact on supply up to two years later. However, given the aforementioned factors which will drive demand for new space beyond population growth, additional space will be needed from 2022 when the national supply pipeline moderates. The advantage for the industrial and logistics

sector is that once the international borders reopen, a sharp rebound in growth is expected and supply can be brought online relatively quickly if there is the appropriate supply of zoned and serviced land available. ■

The drop in population growth will not be equal across each state, with the East Coast well below its previously recorded growth rates.

MHD FEBRUARY 2021 | 53

MHD SCLAA

ASCLA 2020 WINNERS ANNOUNCED T

hese prestigious awards have been held annually for 59 years and are hosted by the Supply Chain and Logistics Association of Australia (SCLAA). The awards provide a wonderful opportunity for individuals and companies involved in the supply chain industry to celebrate and be recognised for their particular contribution, success and hard work.

Winners and High Commendation recipients of the 2020 Australian Supply Chain & Logistics Awards were announced online on 10 December 2020.

Each of the seven categories attracted a significant number of high calibre submissions. Awards were formally judged by a selected panel of judges.

Subsequent to the announcement of the Awards, SCLAA representatives are

personally presenting all Winners and High Commendation recipients with their Awards at their place of work. The SCLAA extends sincere thanks to the 2020 ASCL Awards Judging Panellists, to Kyle Rogers and Stephen Lakey and theVIC/TAS Division for their assistance with the announcements of the Awards and to all SCLAA National Partners for their continuing Support. ■

2020 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY & MANAGEMENT AWARD Information remains the most important requirement of any supply chain.

Information technology is where the majority of supply chain improvements have been made. Nominees for this award demonstrate where their use of existing or new technology has provided significant improvements to their management of information and/or their supply chain processes. The trophy was first awarded in 1994 and is dedicated to the late Len Smith FAIMM.

WINNER KÖRBER (TURNING OVER A NEW LEAF FOR T2)

2020 TRAINING, EDUCATION & DEVELOPMENT AWARD Training, education and development remains a vital part of allowing knowledge to be utilised for new ideas and supply chain improvements to be discovered and then implemented. This award is presented to a company that can best demonstrate their commitment/ application and results of providing training, education and development of their people. The trophy was first awarded in 2002 and is dedicated to the late Professor Peter Gilmour.

WINNER EB GAMES WAREHOUSE LEADERSHIP

2020 INDUSTRY EXCELLENCE AWARD Recognises and acknowledges outstanding achievements and contribution by an individual currently engaged across the supply chain industry.

Persons nominated for this most prestigious award will be leaders and will have made significant change to the way a supply chain is managed and improved either academically, physically or technologically.

Originally awarded in 1987 and dedicated to Mike Munns, FAIMM, this award remains a cornerstone of SCLAA’s commitment to recognising and promoting the importance of the supply chain industry and its people to continuously improving organisational strength and growth.

WINNER SAMIR RAFIQ (KÖRBER)

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MHD SCLAA

2020 INTERNATIONAL SUPPLY CHAIN AWARD

2020 ENVIRONMENTAL EXCELLENCE AWARD

This is an Award that recognises that Supply Chains know no boundaries. The ASCL International Supply Chain Award is given to a Company, Association or an Individual that may operate internationally and are able demonstrate their capability, commitment and achievements across any spectrum of the sciences, practices, disciplines or efforts to promote and improve the knowledge and acceptance of the importance of the supply chain.

The ASCL Environmental Excellence Award recognises corporate leadership contributing to the solution of environmental sustainability within our industry through performance and action. The trophy was first awarded in 1966 and is dedicated to Mr Ken Pike.

WINNER GS1 AUSTRALIA (SCAN4TRANSPORT – GLOBAL CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE)

2020 SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT AWARD Supply Chain Management (SCM) is the overview of materials, information, and finances as they move in a process from supplier to manufacturer to wholesaler to retailer to consumer. This award recognises an organisation that can demonstrate significant achievement within a section or across their entire supply chain. Nominees should be able to clearly state the design and achieved results of the project or process that was envisaged and then implemented. The trophy was first awarded in 1984 and is dedicated to Doug Beattie.

WINNER CUSTOM INNOVATION CO (CIC) ROB FISHER, TIM ALLISON & DAVID MCLAUGHLIN

2020 FUTURE LEADERS AWARD The purpose of this award is to provide incentive and recognition to young supply chain professionals who are both currently working in and wish to continue their career path. Nominees for this award should be able to demonstrate their passion and commitment to taking the supply chain toward tomorrow. The SCLAA wishes to showcase finalists and provide impetus to continue to attract the brightest to the industry. First awarded in 2009 and dedicated to Vince Aisthorpe.

WINNER JACKSON MEYER

WINNER KÖRBER (READY TO DELIVER FOR CATCH GROUP)

MHD FEBRUARY 2021 | 55

MHD FROM THE ALC

ALC LEADING A PACKED POLICY AGENDA INTO 2021 L

ast year was a tough year.

Industry rose to the significant challenges of the bushfires only to be asked, almost immediately, to dig deep to counter the unprecedented challenges of COVID. We’ve been digging deep all year. As 2020 fast disappears in the rear-view mirror, there is much of which our industry can feel proud and, perhaps, optimistic about as we look to 2021.

Necessity has driven deeper engagement as governments turned to industry for help. Our common objective, keeping freight flowing while preventing transmission of the disease along the vector of supply chains, was almost universally achieved. What started early in the crisis as grudging respect from governments has expanded into real trust.

This level of trust delivered major advances including, initially, respecting the idea that all ‘freight is essential’, this quickly moved to special privileges for our industry at borders prioritising the movement of freight over the movement of people. Quiet initial agreements with governments developed into the National Freight Movement Code passed by National Cabinet. Exceptional work from the ALC Safety Committee in sharing advanced COVID Safe plans with governments that convinced all that our industry was deserving of special consideration.

Notable highlights for our team in 2020 also included working across Federal Departments, Ministers and State Premiers to secure the unilateral suspension of curfews across 547 local Councils Australiawide. Governments and departments at all levels are now working with us to keep these as a permanent fixture.

Significantly, enhanced trust with the Government has delivered a broader range of relationships with departments including Home Affairs, Treasury, and Foreign Affairs and Trade expanding 56 | MHD FEBRUARY 2021

our influence and their knowledge of the importance of supply chains Our 2021 focus will be giving effect to our new Strategic plan 2021-26 delivering a much greater focus on member value and maintaining the trust demanded to get the policy and infrastructure we need. We also have a specific focus on the future including training, technology uptake, and championing a single freight data standard to improve data-led decision making. This includes holding jurisdictions to account on their promises with our Scorecard launched in December by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development, the Hon Michael McCormack MP. In 2021, ALC will push for closer industry and government consultation built off the COVID response.

Governments and industry worked closely to ensure freight moved efficiently across state borders while confronting and controlling the spread of COVID-19. We want to maintain this momentum, with the partnership between industry and governments delivering smart solutions to problems and real time responses to opportunities.

This will include developing policy and infrastructure to support rapid advances in technology from automation and electric delivery vehicles to data capture and analysis.

Immediate policy priorities for early 2021 include:

1. COVID -19 new normal • Permanent removal of curfews • Working with governments to ensure safe and efficient national vaccine delivery o I ncluding gaining priority access to the vaccine for all freight workers • Continue to prioritise the movement of freight over passengers • Maintain momentum with

partnerships with governments at all levels to improve industry efficiency and safety and support national recovery.

Research commissioned by ALC indicates that the removal of curfews in residential areas during COVID had minimal impact and broad support. ALC is pressing governments at all levels to remove curfews permanently while reviewing alternative solutions to noise reduction such as electric vehicles and soundless reversing technologies.

2. D elivering the National Freight and Supply Chain Strategy o Holding jurisdictions accountable for implementation through the ALC Scorecard o S upporting the establishment of the National Freight Data Hub: and, o P romoting a Single Freight Data Standard Capturing and understanding real time data, made possible through the adoption of a national data standard and development of a national data hub, is crucial. Strong data leads to better informed policy and infrastructure choices. This includes better urban planning and long-term preservation of freight lands and corridors.

3. A dopting a National Operator Standard Required standards include: • Mandating safety management systems to ensure baseline compliance • Financial measures to ensuring heavy vehicles are safely maintained • Ensuring accurate, real time safety data is efficiently and reliably collected via telematics Nationally consistent rules will deliver a level playing field on safety. This improves community confidence and controls dangerous and unsustainable cost cutting. National standards deliver a better, safer, and more sustainable heavy vehicle industry. ■

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MHD FROM ASCI

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ASCI IS GATHERING A TALENT POOL OF EXPERTS

ustralasian Supply Chain Institute’s Professional Accreditation Scheme is gathering momentum with increasing numbers of Registered Practitioners and Associates joining the Scheme.

Now, employers can access a complete listing of Registered Practitioners and Associates on the Public Register via the ASCI website to search for talent.

According to Alexandra Riha, President, ASCI, those listed on the Public Register have successfully passed a rigorous evidence-based eligibility assessment against: • Work experience • Professional Certifications • Tertiary Education “Registrants have also committed to a Code of Ethics and Continued Professional Development Program

for ethical practice and continued education, which further adds to their credibility,” said Ms Riha.

Employers can search the Public Register by discipline including procurement, operations, logistics and integrated logistics support which are the four streams of Registration under the Professional Accreditation Scheme.

“We encourage employers and recruitment providers to support the ASCI Professional Accreditation Scheme and add a requirement for Registered Practitioners and Associates to their selection criteria for jobs, to potentially speed the recruitment process and encourage registration from the supply chain community,” she said.

Registered Practitioners and Associates are approved to use the allocated post nominals to their

Global Professional Certifications APICS: Certified Logistics, Transport and Distribution; Certified in Production & Inventory Management; and Certified Supply Chain Professional Institute for Supply Management: Certified Professional in Supply Management VCare: Certified Stores & Stock Controller Waitlists are open for Term 1 2021 Classes.

Visit https://www.asci.org.au/events Short Courses 2 February-23 March – Anaplan University Connect 20/21 & 27/28 February – Train The Trainer

58 | MHD FEBRUARY 2021

“

We will become very used to seeing post nominals within our supply chain community which creates a raised profile for supply chain management as a profession.

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name and Linkedin profiles.

“We will become very used to seeing post nominals within our supply chain community which creates a raised profile for supply chain management as a profession,” Alexandra says. ■

Webinars – 1-2pm AEDT Wednesdays 3 February – Adopting Creative Leadership in Supply Chain Management ASCI NSW Chapter hosts Dr Adela Drozdibob, Lecturer in Operations and Supply Chain Management at Australian Institute of Business who will table examples of how supply chains are impacted by disasters and crisis and that the more integrated supply chains the greater the resilience. Learn how your business can build supply chain resilience and respond in this time more effectively meeting your customer needs profitability.

11 February – Planning Food And Beverage Supply Chains in 2021 and Beyond ASCI Victorian Chapter will host a presentation on Food and Beverage supply chains and how they are growing in complexity. Trade tariffs, Covid-19, evolving product preferences, and customer delivery channels are all examples of changes and disruptions which have substantially impacted our Food and Beverage manufacturers this year, and foreshadow the ‘new normal’ for the industry in 2021.

MHD FROM ASCI

27 February – Improving Supply Chain Performance Through Systems Engineering V Model ASCI WA Chapter hosts expert, Suresh Prabhakaran, to present on how his organisation successfully applys continuous improvement concepts to the systems engineering V model which has enhanced performance improvement across supply chains, product, projects and assets.

ASCI Member Meet & Greets 28 January – South Australian Members 28 January – Canberran Members 4 February – Victorian Members Membership is $275 per annum. For more information about member benefits, please visit https://www.asci.org.au/Benefits

REGISTRATION Welcome and congratulations to newly Registered Practitioners and Associates who have been recognised for their professional achievement.

Visit the ASCI website for a free Provisional Assessment Of Eligibility For Registration at www.asci. org.au/registration-process

Alexandra Riha RegPracOps

Tim Proust RegAssocLog

Visit the entire list of Registrants on the ASCI Public Register at www.asci.org.au/Public-Register

Registered Practitioner (Operations) Alexandra has been recognised for her professional achievements in operations management working for organisations in the pharmaceutical industry across the globe.

Sefiu Alabi RegPracProc

Ignacio Losada RegPracLog

Justin Butcher RegPracProc RegPracLog

Registered Practitioner (Procurement) Sefiu has been recognised for his academic qualifications and global experience in procurement, warehousing management, strategic operational management, project management, and supplier collaboration.

Registered Practitioner (Logistics) Ignacio has been recognised for his Industrial Engineering and Masters in Supply Chain management academic background coupled with 10 years working in supply, manufacturing, operations, and logistics in diverse industries like OEM, 3PL, and FMCG abroad and in Australia.

Registered Associate (Logistics) Tim has been recognised for his 20 years in import, export, warehousing and domestic freight management.

Registered Practitioner (Procurement) Registered Practitioner (Logistics) Justin has been recognised for his Masters education and 18 years’ experience leading and developing procurement, supply and logistics in Australia’s largest mining and manufacturing companies.

MHD FEBRUARY 2021 | 59

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ADVANCED PICK STATION: EFFICIENT GOODS-TO-PERSON PICKING

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MHD PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE A monthly wrap up of the latest appointments in the supply chain, materials handling and logistics industry.

LOGISTICS VETERAN JOINS GEODIS AS MANAGING DIRECTOR

CONSULTANT JOINS THREESIXTY

Twenty-five year logistics veteran, Eric Herman, joins GEODIS as the New Regional Managing Director, Contract

Will Wu has joined supply chain consultancy ThreeSixty as a Supply Chain Consultant. Will has close to ten

Logistics in Asia-Pacific Region.

years’ experience in the industry; from inception to the delivery of complex solutions including solution design, project implementation and operations.

Eric joins GEODIS from CBRE GROUP’s Supply Chain Advisory Asia where he was a Senior Consultant.

ZANE MORTON TO OVERSEE DHL GLOBAL FORWARDING IN NEW ZEALAND DHL Group has officially appointed Zane Morton as Managing Director for New Zealand and Fiji. Zane first joined DHL in New Zealand in 1983 and held various positions during his career, including Operations Management, Country Sales & Marketing Manager, Country Ocean Freight Manager and Wellington Branch Manager.

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Email Melanie Stark at melanie.stark@primecreative.com.au to be featured.

62 | MHD FEBRUARY 2021

STOCKLAND APPOINTS NEW CEO Stockland has announced the appointment of Tarun Gupta as its next Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer.

Formerly Group Financial Officer at Lendlease, Tarun will join Stockland on 1 June 2021. He succeeds Mark Steinert, who has been Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Stockland since 2013.

NEW HEAD OF MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS AT TM INSIGHT Formerly Marketing and Communications Manager at TM Insight, Natalie Liang has been promoted to Head of Marketing and Communications. Natalie has been with TM Insight for one year.

NEW CEO FOR DB SCHENKER IN ASIA PACIFIC Dr Niklas Wilmking will join DB Schenker as CEO for the Asia Pacific region.

Following his successful tenure as Executive Vice President Global Airfreight at DB Schenker Head Office, responsible for the global airfreight network, flight operations, procurement, revenue management, operational excellence and digitalisation.

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