MHD Supply Chain Solution December 2021

DECEMBER 2021

COVER STORY

UNLOCKING DISTRIBUTION OPTIMISATION Dematic breaks down the most efficient automated warehouse solutions after a year of innovation for many Australian businesses

WAREHOUSE INNOVATORS SHOWCASE

MHD’s inaugural Showcase Edition, sponsored by CBRE

PRODUCTIVITY UNDER ONE ROOF

Munro Footwear Group consolidates operations into a new automated DC to meet online demand

ADDRESSING GENDER DIVERSITY IN LOGISTICS

The initiatives for encouraging an inclusive workforce in supply chains across the country

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Plus, get to know Körber’s extended depth tote-to-person AMR solution, powered by Geek+. RoboShuttle is designed to operate in narrow aisles, reach new heights and increase warehouse storage capacity of a manual warehouse by up to 250%, adding efficiency to existing facilities.

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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.primecreative.com.au

THE TEAM CEO: John Murphy Publisher: Christine Clancy Group Managing Editor: Sarah Baker Editor: Edward Cranswick Journalist: Billy Friend Business Development Manager: Beth Jarvis Design Production Manager: Michelle Weston Art Director: Blake Storey Graphic Designers: Kerry Pert, Aisling McComiskey 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.

A STRONG FINISH TO 2021

I

t’s been quite a year in the world of supply chain, materials handling, warehousing, and distribution. And for the team at MHD there is no better way to go out than with our inaugural Showcase Edition – this year generously sponsored by CBRE and focusing on the essential innovations that have taken place in warehousing during and in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Online orders and fulfilment have been shaken up, customers want up-to-date information on stock availability, and businesses continue to contend with increasing labour and land cost pressures – on top of stricter regulations and a shared ambition to keep worker safety front-of-mind ahead of future pandemic uncertainty.

To that end, innovative warehousing has been for many the focal point of attention, and supply chain strategy has been elevated from a sometimes background-consideration to an imperative for most businesses.

In our Showcase Edition, two experts in industrial property and supply chain –CBRE’s Cameron Grier and Christine Miller, respectively – provide a retrospective on 2020-21 trends in warehouse innovation, as well as a look ahead to what we might expect in 2022 and beyond.

Following on from that, MHD readers will find a selection of eight warehouse innovators across a variety of industries – from Amazon’s new warehouse to cold storage capabilities and food distribution.

Our cover story teases out the different ways in which automated solutions have made a difference to warehouses – and supply chain generally – over the past year. Dematic takes readers through innovations in software relating to Industry 4.0, IoT, and AI capabilities; Autonomous Guided Vehicles; ASRS systems; as well as unique sorting, picking, packing, storage, and fulfilment solutions.

Dematic’s expertise has transformed many operations with its automation solutions, and CBRE certainly knows whereof it speaks in the industrial property and warehousing space.With experts like these gracing our cover and Showcase – this edition gives much food for thought as we finish 2021 and look towards 2022.

See you next year.

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.

Edward Cranswick Editor edward.cranswick@primecreative.com.au

MHD Supply Chain

MHD DECEMBER 2021 | 3

DECEMBER 2021

ISSUE #11 VOLUME 52

THIS ISSUE 14

COVER STORY

14 Dematic unlocking distribution optimisation

CBRE WAREHOUSE SHOWCASE 42 Warehouse innovation – looking back, looking ahead 46 Warehouse innovators showcase 2021

SUPPLY CHAIN 22 How to thrive in a supply chain transformed by a pandemic

COVER STORY

28 Strategy and visibility vital to Australian supply chain 31 Diversifying the supply chain workplace 36 Enterprise uncovers the potential of fleet electrification

INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY 24 Colliers’ Industrial and logistics property MHD SUPPLY CHAIN SOLUTIONS

update

DECEMBER 2021

34 Boosting productivity by moving

DECEMBER 2021

operations under one roof

COVER STORY

47

UNLOCKING DISTRIBUTION OPTIMISATION Dematic breaks down the most efficient automated warehouse solutions after a year of innovation for many Australian businesses

39 The uTenant and JLL partnership

MATERIALS HANDLING 19 Packaging automation: When to make the switch

WAREHOUSE INNOVATORS SHOWCASE

MHD’s inaugural Showcase Edition, sponsored by CBRE

PRODUCTIVITY UNDER ONE ROOF

26 Mudex goes green with help of

Munro Footwear Group consolidates operations into a new automated DC to meet online demand

ADDRESSING GENDER DIVERSITY IN LOGISTICS

Toyota Forklifts

The initiatives for encouraging an inclusive workforce in supply chains across the country

he most effective route to the Auto Fence feature helps sed on its location.

DEPARTMENTS & REGULARS

crown.com

06 Industry News 54 Industry Associations

ON THE COVER

61 Products

Dematic shares this year’s most innovative automated warehouse solutions after a year of progress for many businesses.

15

62 People on the move

MHD DECEMBER 2021 | 5

MHD NEWS

Patrick applies to terminate agreement with MUA

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atrick Terminals has lodged an application to the Fair Work Commission to terminate its pay deal with 1081 of its wharfies.

The dispute brings players of the infamous 1998 Waterfront Dispute into conflict when ports locally and overseas are grappling with huge demand because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The national stevedoring company argues the agreement is no longer fit for purpose because of operational restrictions that have limited the ability of Patrick to meet customer requirements at a time of congestion in global supply chains.

The MUA has launched more than 220 industrial actions in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Fremantle against Patrick Terminals nationally during the negotiation period since February 2020.

Michael Jovicic, CEO Patrick Terminals says the MUA has been presented with an attractive national offer on top of an already generous agreement including a 10 per cent pay increase across four years coupled with protections addressing concerns over the use of casuals and job security.

“Enough is enough,” he says.

“Negotiations have been ongoing for close to two years and frankly there seems to be no agreement to be had, particularly in Sydney, where the union is still demanding we hire from a selected list of family and friends.”

If the move is successful, the stevedores will lose the pay and conditions they have negotiated for years and go back to minimum industry standards unless a new deal is negotiated in six months.

“We are at the end of the road and need to have an agreement with our employees that works for our customers, and that allows us to remain competitive in the future market,” Michael says.

Paddy Crumlin, Maritime Union national secretary called Patrick’s move an attack on its workers that

6 | MHD DECEMBER 2021

showed why an agreement had not been reached yet.

“The disagreements between the two parties are easily resolved and have been achieved within the industry with other stevedoring companies without them resorting to this type of character assassination,” Paddy says.

Roma Britnell, Shadow Minister for Ports and Freight in Victoria, tells MHD the Labor government has to act swiftly to avoid union action wreaking havoc on supply chains at Victoria’s docks.

“The consequences of union action will get passed further down the chain, and the ones paying the price in the end will be Victorian consumers,” she says.

“As Victoria emerges from the world’s longest lockdown, Daniel Andrews and Labor should be doing everything they can to get Victoria back to normal and support the

state’s economic recovery.”

Melissa Horne, Minister for Ports and Freight says the Andrews Labor Government urges all parties to resolve the dispute at the negotiating table rather than taking disruptive action on either side.

“This is a matter for the terminal operator and its workforce,” Melissa says. “However, we urge parties to make all attempts to resolve their dispute – including using the conciliation powers of the Fair Work Commission.”

Former prime minister John Howard described the 1998 Waterfront Dispute between Patrick and the MUA as “the most bitterly fought domestic issue of my whole time as prime minister.”

That year Patrick sacked 1400 unionised workers and replaced them with contracted workers.

At the time, the Howard government supported the move to stop union control over the wharves.

Patrick Terminals has lodged a termination application with the Fair Work Commission.

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MHD NEWS

Biden steps up efforts to ease US supply chain bottlenecks

U

S President Joe Biden announced in October the White House will work with American companies and ports on a “90-day sprint” to alleviate supply chain disruption ahead of Christmas.

Biden announced that the Port of Los Angeles will expand to 24/7 operations, following the example of the Port of Long Beach, also in California.

About 40 per cent of shipping containers imported to the US come through the two ports, which are among the world’s busiest but typically operate only five days a week.

The change sees the Port of Los Angeles add more than 60 hours of

operation a week, almost double its total compared to earlier this year.

Around the world, ports are congested while dealing with demand for commodities and goods as much of the global economy has recovered from the pandemic. Shipping costs have soared, and container and ocean freight space are at a premium. “[This] announcement has the potential to be a game changer,” Biden says.

“All of these goods won’t move by themselves. For the positive impact to be felt all across the country and by all of you at home, we need major retailers who ordered the goods and the freight

movers who take the goods from the ships to factories and stores to step up as well.”

Biden’s words follow the supply chain disruption task force he set up in June this year.

“This is not called a supply chain for nothing,” he says. “If federal support is needed, I will direct all appropriate action. Now, if the private sector doesn’t step up, we’re going to call them out and ask them to act because our goal is not only to get through this immediate bottleneck but to address the longstanding weaknesses in our transportation supply chain that this pandemic has exposed.”

Australia Post locks in Victorian weekend deliveries

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osties and delivery drivers are set to deliver as many as 350,000 parcels across Victoria each and every weekend for the rest of the year.

Australia Post facilities in Melbourne are processing on average a million parcels each day, enough to fill the seats of the MCG ten times.

While the impacts of COVID have been particularly challenging in Melbourne, with hundreds of Australia Post team members forced to isolate and facilities subject to COVID-safe restrictions, posties and drivers continue to deliver record numbers of parcels for Victorians, including each Saturday and Sunday.

Australia Post has also added six additional pop-up sites to process parcels- at Dandenong, Somerton, Tottenham, Thomastown and two at Derrimut – while its two biggest permanent facilities at Sunshine West are processing more than 450,000 parcels a day.

To counter a significant reduction in passenger flights, the company has also doubled its weekly freighter flights into Victoria to 60, to help carry more

8 | MHD DECEMBER 2021

than 340 tonnes of parcels a week, with another 32 tonnes arriving via extra weekly Express Post trucks.

Around 1000 additional team members are also being recruited in Victoria to help sort parcels and mail, drive forklifts, delivery vans and trucks, and to help customers with their queries.

Australia Post General Manager Corporate Affairs Michelle Skehan says the difficult decision to pause parcel collections from e-commerce retailers in Greater Melbourne had been vital in returning volumes in Victorian facilities to safe levels, with 4.5 million parcels processed during that time, while deliveries continued across the city.

“We haven’t stopped delivering and have broken delivery records throughout the pandemic even as we’ve been faced with challenges like having large numbers of our Melbourne people in isolation,” Michelle says.

“We recognise that people want their parcels to arrive as quickly as possible, especially as we head into Christmas, and that means on weekends too, and

our people really are doing all they can to meet the huge demand under challenging times.”

Weekend deliveries will remain across Melbourne and major regional centres for the rest of the year, and where volumes are high in other regional areas.

Australia Post is recruiting 1000 Victorian team members.

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MHD NEWS

Salta’s $155 million Dandenong south intermodal terminal

S

alta Properties has signed an agreement with the Victorian Government to develop the proposed Dandenong South Intermodal Terminal.

The Victorian and Commonwealth Government will jointly invest $28 million to connect rail to Salta’s Intermodal Terminal site boundary as part of the objective to retain Victoria’s status as the number one destination for containerised freight in Australia.

Salta will invest $155 million to support future growth of up to 560,000 twenty-foot equivalent units every year.

The Dandenong South connection is just one part of the broader Victorian Port Rail Shuttle Network, forecast to cut freight transport costs by up to 25 per cent while slashing truck movements on suburban roads by up to 175,000 trips each year.

Salta has spent more than $200 million on land, road, and other infrastructure works on its industrial estate for the project.

Sam Tarascio Snr, Salta Properties Founding Director, says he was delighted to reach an agreement with the Victorian Government after investing millions developing the Nexus Dandenong South Intermodal Terminal Estate.

“Salta has a strong commitment to the South East, as evidenced by bringing the Inland Port and Intermodal Rail Terminal to our Dandenong South Estate, making the region even more attractive to major users of freight infrastructure,” he says.

Nexus Dandenong South is home to major users of freight services including Woolworths’ $215 million Melbourne South Regional Distribution Centre, Bunnings’ 40,000 sqm Regional Distribution Centre, plus major logistics businesses, Mondiale VGL and Silk Contract Logistics.

Salta anticipates the value of warehouse developments at the Industrial Estate will exceed $1 billion over the next three to five years.

Significant capacity still exists for additional tenants, who can benefit from being located adjacent to the terminal.

10 | MHD DECEMBER 2021

To become Melbourne’s largest intermodal terminal, works are expected to take two years starting later this year.

On completion, the terminal will be a 24 hour a day fully automated facility and will offer a safer working environment for users. Trucks will have dedicated lanes for loading and unloading, and the use of Automated Rail Mounted Gantry Cranes (ARMGC) will reduce noise pollution because they are powered by electricity over diesel powered reachstakers, which also allows the cranes to lift and lower containers with precision, preventing damage to containers.

Two 700 metre rail tracks will link to an additional 800-metre spur track being built by the Victorian Government to link the facility with the main line.

Another environmental benefit of the ARMGC is the use of a specialised power feedback system that allows the crane to generate its own power when lowering a container. This power is either redirected to assist other cranes that are performing a lift or is fed back into the grid.

The intermodal terminal will be the biggest in Melbourne upon completion.

ARMGC also produce a smaller carbon footprint when compared to diesel powered reachstakers.

During peak periods, the automated cranes will have capacity to handle both trains and trucks simultaneously.

During non-peak periods, they can also perform housekeeping functions (i.e. optimising the container stack for upcoming moves).

The Intermodal Terminal will be controlled by a state-of-the-art Terminal Operating System (TOS). It instructs the cranes on what moves to perform and optimises crane operation time to efficiently manage operations.

The TOS is integrated with the vehicle booking system (VBS), which manages truck appointments at the terminal and the Gate Operating System (GOS) that coordinates truck entry and exit.

The entry and exits have an Automated Optical Character Recognition System, which provides high definition photos of containers to the terminal operator and scans the container registration number to inform the TOS.

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MHD NEWS

Amazon ramps up operations ahead of peak season

T

he e-commerce company has raised its fulfilment storage capacity by 60 per cent, increasing storage space for Australian sellers.

Over the last few months, Amazon has bolstered its infrastructure with a new fulfilment centre and logistics sites, while creating over 1000 permanent roles across the country.

A second Melbourne fulfilment centre – opened in August – increased Amazon’s storage capacity by 60 per cent and increasing the available storage space available for the small and medium size Australian businesses.

The company now has over 3.86 million cubic feet of storage space and the addition of the new site has doubled Amazon’s capacity for larger items, ranging from cases of soft drink and beer, air fryers to electronics like computer monitors and sound bars.

To provide additional support over the holiday season, Amazon recently

Amazon has created over 1000 permanent roles in the last few months.

12 | MHD DECEMBER 2021

The company has more than 3.86 million cubic feet of storage space.

announced plans to onboard around 1000 seasonal workers across its network around the country.

Craig Fuller, Amazon Australia’s Director of Operations says the

continued investments in infrastructure across our fulfilment and delivery network enables Amazon to support Australian customers more effectively during the festive season, and beyond.

“We are currently well placed to meet customer demand during the holiday season and are expanding our workforce and delivery network to help us fulfil customer orders during that time,” he says.

The company has also strengthened its delivery network in Australia with the launch of Amazon Logistics sites and its last mile delivery service Amazon Flex in three new cities: Newcastle, the Gold Coast and Adelaide.

With 14 Amazon Logistics sites around Australia.

“We remain committed towards investing in Australia and enabling our sellers to reach customers, while creating local jobs,” Craig says. “As always, we encourage customers to shop early and take advantage of great offers over Black Friday /Cyber Monday and we will have plenty of gifting options available for the holidays as we work hard to provide customers with a seamless, fast and reliable experience.”

Amazon.com.au launched in Australia in December 2017 and now operates five fulfilment centres and 14 logistics sites around the country.

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Accelerating success.

MHD COVER STORY

UNLOCKING DISTRIBUTION OPTIMISATION Distribution is a dynamic and always changing area of supply chain. Pas Tomasiello, Dematic Senior Regional Director explores some of the most efficient automated solutions for optimising supply chains after a year of progress and innovation for many Australian businesses.

Asahi’s ASRS has more than 31,500 pallet storage positions.

A

ccording to Pas Tomasiello, Dematic Senior Regional Director, businesses are under pressure from customer and market demand for competitive pricing, shorter lead times, products delivered anywhere, in full, on time, and in the case of retail customers, in a store friendly format.

“For online orders, customers want up-to-date information on

14 | MHD DECEMBER 2021

stock availability, and status of their orders,” he says. “On top of it all, businesses continue to contend with increasing labour and land costs and pressures from increased regulation and safety requirements, and ongoing uncertainties relating to the pandemic.

Whether your business is feeling the pressures of a changing market and customer landscape or is looking to

adopt leaner processes to address operational speeds and costs, the importance of optimising supply chains and distribution has never been as high as it is now.”

While no one solution fits all businesses, the level of technology and automation isn’t just dependent on scale. Rather, there are many interconnected factors at work.

MHD COVER STORY

Pas Tomasiello, Dematic Senior Regional Director.

250 PER CENT PRODUCTIVITY BOOST FOR ASAHI BEVERAGES

When Asahi Beverages consolidated their multiple Brisbane sites into one DC, the company decided to upgrade to an automated warehouse solution, as they previously had a very labourintensive system in place.

Asahi implemented an ASRS 13 levels high, 34 bays deep, with six cranes servicing channels six pallet positions deep on either side, accessed by satellite carts.

With over 31,500 pallet storage positions, the system provides excellent storage density and a greatly reduced storage footprint.

The system eliminates most of the manual handling of pallets, reducing errors and product damage, creating efficiencies and a high productivity boost of 250 per cent, and increasing safety for Asahi’s employees.

SOLUTION STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS Pas says while solutions are tailored to an organisation’s specific supply chain and broader operational requirements, there are several key technologies that can be implemented either as stand-alone or integrated solutions to drive improved customer service, productivity, capacity and operational agility benefits through improved processes, human factors, and optimisation of inventory. According to Pas, some of the biggest improvements for Australian supply chains have come from the implementation of the following solutions: • Software Best-of-breed supply chain

software elevates and optimises applications with Industry 4.0, IoT (Internet of Things) and AI capabilities, to ensure a seamless, optimised interface between operators and data. This enables optimal flow of goods and information through supply chain and warehousing operations, while allowing businesses to maximise system performance, responsiveness, and agility, and empowering them to better meet customer demands.

• RF & Voice Many manual operations can be improved by adding a smart overlay of data-enabling devices that bring instructions from the warehouse software to the shop floor in real time, boosting accuracy and real time inventory management. Some technologies also help optimise human processes, such as Voice technology, which allows operators to work handsand eyes-free.

• Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) AGVs are used in a variety of industries to transport and store all kinds of products and materials and are a safe and secure way to increase process efficiency and improve business profitability; all without human intervention. AGVs automatically, transport, put away and retrieve from storage and transfer goods between processes.

• Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems (ASRS) Whether it’s large unit load systems for pallets and bulky goods, or Multishuttle systems handling totes and cartons, Automated storage systems are the ideal solution for maximising storage capacity and density. They secure product, eliminate damage, and increase productivity and accuracy. Automatically receiving, putting away and retrieving your stock means storage is fast, efficient, cost effective and very reliable. With no labour requirements, ASRS also provide significant productivity, inventory visibility, and OH&S benefits.

• Goods-to-Person (GTP) One of the most significant developments for distribution logistics success is a solution where travel is eliminated altogether. In a GTP system, the products required to fulfil orders are retrieved from a Multishuttle system and delivered to ergonomically optimised high-rate pick stations precisely when they are needed,

“

For online orders, customers want up-todate information on stock availability, and status of their orders. On top of it all, businesses continue to contend with increasing labour and land costs and pressures from increased regulation and safety requirements, and ongoing uncertainties relating to the pandemic.

”

maximising picker productivity, efficiency, accuracy, and safety.

• AutoStore An all-in-one storage buffer and order fulfilment solution, AutoStore offers the highest-density automation storage solution for small items. An AutoStore system reduces space requirements to as little as 25 per cent, while at the same time providing a highly efficient order fulfilment operation built around the GTP principle. With a flexible design,

VOICE HELPS AMERICOLD KEEP ITS COOL

For Americold to meet the increasing demand for cold storage and transportation services within Australia, the company’s management recognised the need to constantly improve standards, practices and technology.

The company replaced its paper-based picking with an advanced Voice picking system, allowing operators to work more efficiently and hands-free, providing increased accuracy and productivity, as well as facilitating a real-time, two-way data flow between pickers and the WMS. Plus, without the need to work with paper lists or key information into devices, operators can now keep their gloves on – a definite plus for a chilled environment.

MHD DECEMBER 2021 | 15

MHD COVER STORY

“

For online orders, customers want up-to-date information on stock availability, and status of their orders. On top of it all, businesses continue to contend with increasing labour and land costs and pressures from increased regulation and safety requirements, and ongoing uncertainties relating to the pandemic.

A Dematic AGV in action at Lion Beer’s Tooheys Brewery.

”

LION BEER AUSTRALIA’S FUTURE-PROOFED SUPPLY CHAIN

Following significant growth in its product range, Lion initiated a re-structure of its supply chain and internal fulfilment operations to future-proof its manufacturing and supply chain operations to maintain competitiveness and resilience.

Lion invested in fleet of seven AGVs to streamline its end-of-line operations, eliminating bottlenecks and delivering a predictable logistics operations. The use of AGVs has vastly reduced wastage and errors and has improved the overall safety for operators at the facility.

it can fit into a wide variety of building environments and being modular and scalable, can be readily expanded as required.

• Sortation By combining orders for several customers into batches, pickers can increase efficiency by picking multiple orders at once. Once picked, batch-picked goods can be automatically sorted back to individual order requirements by smart sortation systems designed for the diverse product handling and throughput requirements of warehousing and distribution centres.

• Robotic Picking Advances in machine learning software, product storage, buffering, sequencing, vision

16 | MHD DECEMBER 2021

recognition systems, and high-speed articulated robots with versatile product gripping tools, have driven the development of fully automated robotic picking systems capable of handling a diverse range of products.

Robotic picking eliminates the need for picking labour, provides high and predictable throughput, superior accuracy with 24/7 operations, delivering increased system reliability and resilience.

• Automated Mixed Case Order Fulfilment solutions Dramatically reducing picking labour and rapidly building high-density, storeready mixed-case pallets and cages, these automated palletising

AUTOSTORE FULFILMENT SYSTEM FOR C.E. PATTBERG

C.E. Pattberg is a gift and decoration ribbon manufacturer. At its German facility, C.E.’s products were previously stored in a 6000 square metre warehouse with manual order picking, with significant labour costs and high error rates. C.E. invested in an AutoStore system, reducing the majority article storage space to 170 square metres. The solution has significantly increased the productivity of order processing and reduced labour costs, as well as virtually eliminating costly picking errors, with flexible expansion options for future business growth.

MHD COVER STORY

SORTATION IS THE PERFECT FIT FOR KATHMANDU

An AutoStore system reduces space requirements to as little as 25 per cent.

options handle a wide variety of products. They are highly accurate and compact to provide very high capacity and throughput levels in a reduced land footprint. Intelligent software manages the entire operation, including building pallets that match store planograms and account for crushability and product mixing restrictions.

Pas believes knowing which strategies to apply where and when to get the best

DRIVING INNOVATION AT BOLLORÉ LOGISTICS

Bolloré Logistics is a global leader in international transport and logistics as well as a Tier 1 partner to some of the world’s renowned brands. Their new Singapore Blue Hub facility is the largest and most advanced facility in Asia, designed for omnichannel distribution to cater for fast growth in e-Commerce.

The main solutions are a GTP system, however to further drive innovation, Bolloré Logistics and Dematic introduced robotic piece picking into the operations. This technology will allow Bolloré to install goods-to-robot cells which can operate 24/7 without the need for pickers. The robotic picking cell was first installed in Bolloré’s innovation centre, to allow testing with actual products before being integrated into the operational system.

out of your business is the key, and there is no one-size-fits-all solution – every supply chain is different; hence the solutions and strategies are unique.

“Addressing distribution challenges involves gathering information and using its insights to assess multiple strategies to compare how they would apply to a particular operation,” he says. “Working with a provider that focuses on a consultative approach allows for the establishment of the

Kathmandu established one of Australia’s first purpose-designed omni-channel DCs in Melbourne, distributing across its Australian retail network, and to online customers globally. For Kathmandu’s business, a batch-pick sortation solution was the best fit, providing the high fulfilment responsiveness - critical given the success of its strong promotional model. Under the previous manual pick solution, if Kathmandu wanted to increase output by 50 per cent, it had to have 50 per cent more people in the facility. With the batch-pick sortation system, the business can scale up output without a linear increase in labour, Items for orders are picked in batches and fed onto a crossbelt sorter, which allocates the picked items to individual stores or to the e-Commerce packing area. An order can be picked, processed, packed and fed to despatch inside 20 minutes of the order being made available for picking.

solution requirements, identification of potential growth parameters for the future, and the extensive data analysis required to properly focus on optimising your processes, human activities, and inventory.” ■

Robotic piece picking has been introduced to Bolloré Logistics new Singapore Blue Hub facility.

MHD DECEMBER 2021 | 17

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MHD MATERIALS HANDLING

PACKAGING AUTOMATION: WHEN TO MAKE THE SWITCH As many businesses adjust to an increase in online sales from the e-commerce boom – labour, speed and productivity issues are forcing the hand of many into automation of their packaging process. Sean Ledbury, Managing Director of Packsize Australia explains how to determine the level of automation versus integration.

A

cross all industries, companies are recognising that it is now necessary to adopt new packaging optimisation tools, and materials and handling technologies that will boost efficiency, productivity, and sustainability.

Sean Ledbury, Managing Director of Packsize Australia says the On Demand Packaging™ machines are equipped for use across a wide variety of industries and can be integrated into an existing production line or stand alone, depending on the unique packaging requirements. Once you make the switch to automated packaging, he says, the difference will be noticed instantaneously.

INDICATIONS FOR STARTING AUTOMATION INCREASED DEMAND If companies are expecting growth in the markets they serve, or anticipate adding products in the coming year, then automation is a smart investment, says Sean. A pre-configured packaging system designed for your unique environment can maximise your entire workflow and potentially increase output by 20-30 per cent.

SHIPPING MULTIPLE PRODUCTS If you are shipping several different types of orders in varying shapes and sizes, this can take up large amounts of time on the warehouse floor.

Automation drastically cuts down labour spent on packaging products and

Accessing Packsize integrated technologies leads to overall productivity enhancements. time-costly change overs. By designing right-sized boxes in any shape or size, an integrated packaging system reduces the number of packing stations, resulting in increased line efficiency and overall productivity.

LABOUR ISSUES The labour force is often the first area to show signs of strain in a fastpaced warehouse environment. If your packaging team is not able to keep up, you are experiencing increases in work-related injuries, a high labour turnover rate, or find your labour force doubling in size during peak seasons, it’s time to review options in automation. Packaging automation can handle everyday demands and seasonal surges, while significantly

reducing labour costs. Within months of implementing On Demand Packaging systems, Packsize customers reported significant savings in labour costs, and a 20-30 per cent reduction in employee training. A leading retailer and Packsize customer reduced its workforce by 11 full-time employees during the holiday season after streamlining its packaging operations through automation.

EIGHT FEATURES OF A TOTAL PACKING SOLUTION To design a custom packaging solution, it’s important to determine your packaging needs and enlist an automated packaging professional to help develop a streamlined process that meets your unique operational MHD DECEMBER 2021 | 19

MHD MATERIALS HANDLING 5. CARTON ERECT Packsize X7 machine, automatically erects a box around a completed order in seconds.

Erecting a box can be performed by hand or by machine. Packsize offers a variety of systems to provide full or partial automation depending on each unique packaging environment.

The Packsize X4™ offers partial automation with human assistance, while the Packsize X7 automatically erects a box around a completed order in seconds.

6. ID / MARKING Most cartons need to be identified or marked with bar codes, labels, or print.

7. SORTATION requirements. Utilising automated processes in a packaging operation can greatly increase packaging efficiency through increased throughput. On Demand Packaging systems deliver customised solutions that integrate with one or more of the following eight features that occur in every packaging process.

1. DATA INTEGRATION When a purchase order generates work to be done, the data must be understood and translated for the rest of the process to work.

An integrated software platform can be customized to provide this framework.

The Packsize PackNet™ software platform automatically calculates the best box style and packaging for each shipment with automated dimension capture and WMS integration.

2. PRODUCT TRANSPORT To efficiently transport a product from point A to point B in the packaging process, the product must be routed to be packed or sorted for shipping.

With Right-sized Packaging on Demand™ products can be transported by both conveyor and by cart.

Packages can be automatically sorted by purchase order, customer, or destination and placed on specific pallets or into assigned trucks.

8. BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE

“

Assessing your current packaging operation is critical in identifying where productivity issues may occur and assisting in determining needed process improvements.

”

Gathering accurate analytical data is important to review productivity and make future improvements.

PackNet software provides the necessary level of business logic and framework to accomplish On Demand Packaging functionality, such as the ability to prioritise box production, meet workflows, manage multiple machines, and create insightful reports.

“It’s clear that using automated machine systems can increase packing efficiency while cutting costs through both waste and damage reduction,” Sean says.

“Assessing your current packaging operation is critical in identifying where productivity issues may occur and assisting in determining needed process improvements.” ■

3. CARTON PRODUCTION Creating right-sized boxes produces substantial savings in warehouse space, labour, and shipping. There are various automated packaging systems available to make a variety of right-sized designs.

4. PRODUCT PROTECTION By creating a right-sized box, products are not moving around inside the box, resulting in less damage during transit. Depending on product size, shape, and fragility, Packsize packaging experts can advise if additional product protection is required.

20 | MHD DECEMBER 2021

A Packsize On Demand Packaging complete automated warehouse solution.

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MHD SUPPLY CHAIN

THRIVING IN A SUPPLY CHAIN TRANSFORMED

BY COVID MHD covers some of the key issues discussed at the Körber Supply Chain Elevate APAC conference roundtable on how to thrive in a supply chain shaken up by the pandemic.

N

ishan Wijemanne, Managing Director, Asia Pacific for Körber Supply Chain Software , chaired a roundtable at the recent Körber Supply Chain Elevate APAC conference roundtable to discuss the subject ‘How to thrive in a supply chain transformed by a pandemic’.

The impact of COVID-19 posed significant challenges for global supply chain, bringing many existing issues to the forefront. In the aftermath of the pandemic, with organisations pushing for collaboration, resilience, and agility, Nishan asks his roundtable guests what the post-pandemic supply chain would look like and what strategies should companies put in place to strengthen their position moving forward.

Nishan notes that Catch.com.au – a leading e-commerce retailer and Körber’s customer – is one of the great success stories in Australia in recent years. With active customers doubling through the pandemic, he asks Ryan Parker, Supply Chain Project Manager at Catch.com.au what strategies his team is putting in pace to deal with the steep growth curve.

“It’s been both an exciting and a challenging time for us,” Ryan says.

“First and foremost for us has been ensuring our team members within the warehouse work in a safe environment.

Beyond that it’s been a matter of consistently meeting customer delivery promises, meeting their expectations, as well as devising ways of getting closer to our customers.”

With so many competing demands, Ryan says that a key notion for Catch has been to not become overwhelmed by the sheer volume of demand growth, but

22 | MHD DECEMBER 2021

Catch has opted for AMR technology to future-proof their warehouses.

rather “take a step back” and re-align with the foundational principles of the company and shaping forward-looking initiatives around them.

“Starting with those principles that we use at Catch allows us to get a wellrounded view of what we’re trying to achieve,” he says. “Our customer is who we’re trying to look after, so we’ve worked to improve on our customercentric network to bring us closer to customers, increase delivery speeds, and improve delivery options. That’s our first principle.”

Undergirding that foundational principle, Ryan says, are the additional principles of “flexibility” and “resiliency”.

So, what initiatives has Catch put in place to follow through on these principles?

“Catch’s main warehouse is located in Victoria,” Ryan says. “And a big initiative we’ve undertaken over the past 12 to 18 months has been working with Nishan and the Körber team to

build additional automation into that warehouse. We’ve added over 100 AMRs into that existing Victorian footprint in order to meet additional demand.

The rollout of this flexible solution has helped us with our picking and packing capacity to meet not just new peaks but an elevated new average throughput.”

In addition, Ryan says that a key Catch initiative has been to commission a new brownfield fulfilment centre in Sydney encompassing over 350 AMRs so that the company isn’t “bottlenecked” in Victoria – thereby increasing resilience – and is closer to the key NSW market.

But with the inherent unpredictability of forecasts three to five years ahead, Ryan says that Catch has opted for “modular” styles of automation – like the AMRs deployed in Victoria – so that they aren’t locked into too big a wholescale automation that might not be fit for purpose a decade hence.

With the impact of home-schooling and at-home offices, Nishan points out that Officeworks has played a key role in

MHD SUPPLY CHAIN

Nishan Wijemanne, Managing Director Asia Pacific for Körber. keeping the whole economy moving in the COVID-19 pandemic.

What was the biggest initiative Officeworks implemented to keep up?

Tom Weinmann, Head of Transformation at Officeworks, notes that Officeworks was already “very much an omni-channel retailer” prior to the pandemic. The challenge for them was coping with massive demand volume spikes.

“Like all organisations, we saw a huge spike in demand,” Tom says. “And it was across everything – education, early learning, arts and crafts, homeschool, you name it – with spikes of 200 to 300 per cent a day, which placed significant strain on all aspects of our supply chain capability.”

The single biggest initiative that put Officeworks in good stead in the past 12 months, says Tom, was utilising and re-tooling the retailer’s existing store network.

“Now we have a store network where stores have a true online pick-pack capability,” Tom says. “When the pandemic hit, we took the opportunity to really enhance that. We built more capability into our existing store network, not only in terms of physical capability but also in terms of visibility for our customers.”

According to Tom, Officeworks used an order management tool that enabled them to draw inventory from any store for any customer around the country.

“We then worked on building a front-end engine that gave customers visibility around where the orders will be picked,” he says. “When you’re shifting from a store network to an essentially online network – with 200 to 300 per cent growth in demand – it would have been hard for our fulfilment centres to keep up. So, transitioning our store network and getting them enabled to fulfil online in a capacity

complementary to our existing network of fulfilment centres was key.”

Mark Chaston OAM, National Innovation Manager, Border Express, contributed to the roundtable discussion with the unique perspective of a major logistics provider.

“Initially, like a great many others, we were gravely concerned in March 2020 for our future if – as many experts predicted then – global markets were to collapse,” Mark says. “Fortunately, that didn’t happen, and in fact what did occur really defied the odds – our business grew at a rate that it was frankly difficult to keep up with. The profile of shipments changed – bulk consignments got smaller, smaller parcel freight consignments become more frequent, and our customers were selling more products.”

Mark is refreshingly honest about the struggle for Border Express over the Christmas 2020 period, where although “we turned over a lot of revenue” and made a profit, “some of customers were upset with the service we were providing.”

He says that the company re-assessed its outlook from the vantage point of one of its key values – “to be real”.

“Post-Christmas-peak we took a really long hard look at how we’d become better,” Mark says. “We’ve introduced better S&OP planning to allow us to forecast with greater weekly accuracy. We’ve invested in and deployed additional hand scanning hardware to give our people and our customers greater transparency on the goods we’re moving. And we re-assessed some of our customer relationships, exiting some customers where we felt they weren’t right for us and we weren’t right for them.”

It was a real “reality check” says

Tom Weinmann, Head of Transformation at Officeworks.

Mark. But the steps Border Express has taken and is taking were imperative to living up to their reality-focused valueset. This, Mark says, has been important in setting them up for the future.

“We’ve invested over $1.2 million to date in COVID-Safe work practices, including rapid antigen testing in our high-risk locations,” he says. “We’ve had to become more agile and more adaptive – and things change from state to state – but the challenges we’ve faced have really improved our overall operation moving forward.” ■ Körber’s Elevate APAC conference covered an array of supply chain and technology topics with real stories, educative series for supply chain professionals and Körber’s roadmap for solving supply chain complexity now and beyond as we look ahead to a post-pandemic outlook.

The virtual conference can be watched OnDemand by registering for free via the QR code below.

The roundtable discussion “How to thrive in a supply chain transformed by a pandemic’”was hosted at Elevate APAC 2021.

MHD DECEMBER 2021 | 23

PROPERTY FOCUS MHD PROPERTY FOCUS (COLLIERS)

INDUSTRIAL AND LOGISTICS PROPERTY UPDATE Colliers’ Gavin Bishop, Head of Industrial Capital Markets, and Luke Crawford, Director of Industrial Research, explain to MHD the important developments for Q3 2021.

2

021 has set new benchmarks for the Australian industrial and logistics sector as leasing and investment demand reach new heights. Leasing demand is forecast to well exceed four million sqm for the 2021 calendar year, up from the previous record of 3.3 million sqm in 2020, while investment volumes have already surpassed $12 billion, which is well above the previous high of $7.0 billion set back in 2016.

“As a result of the record levels of occupier and investment demand, the sector completed its best year on record, providing a total return of 23.2 per cent in the year to June 2021,” Luke Crawford, Director of Industrial Research at Colliers, says. “This is above the previous record set back in late 1988, and the performance spread over the retail and office sectors is currently at record highs.”

As reported in Colliers’ Industrial Research and Forecast Report for the second half of 2021, the flow-on effect from lockdown management strategies has accelerated online shopping, which has increased by almost 30 per cent year-on-year to August 2021. As a result, online sales now represent 13.9 per cent of total retail sales, and Colliers’ research forecasts suggest this will grow to approximately 18 per cent by 2025.

LEASING DEMAND IS AT RECORD LEVELS WITH A QUARTER TO RUN In the first nine months of 2021, almost 3.7 million sqm leased nationally (>5000 sqm) and has already surpassed the 3.3 million sqm of take-up recorded in 2020, which was a record year in itself.

“It has been a phenomenal result for the sector as occupiers scramble 24 | MHD DECEMBER 2021

to find warehouse space,” Luke says.

“Sydney and Melbourne markets have underpinned the strong result for 2021. However, we have also seen a sharp rise in leasing activity in the Brisbane and Adelaide markets, which reflects the improvement in local economic conditions.”

The report states that occupier demand has been most pronounced for prime space, with substantial take-up being recorded for pre-lease and speculative space. Over 1.5 million sqm of take-up in 2021 has stemmed from pre-lease or speculative developments, representing 41 per cent of total demand.

VACANCIES FALL FURTHER At a national level, vacancy rates for facilities >5000 sqm have fallen to 2.8 per cent in Q3 2021 from 3.5 per cent in Q2 2021 and 5.1 per cent in Q3 2020.

“The fall in the national vacancy rate over the quarter was underpinned by a large fall in the Brisbane market while vacancies in Sydney and Melbourne remain at historical lows,” Luke says.

Colliers research forecasts that

despite the increase in speculative construction, vacancy rates are expected to remain below 4.0 per cent in 2022, placing further upward pressure on rents. Over the past 12 months, rental growth has increased 4.3 per cent nationally for prime space and 5.2 per cent for secondary. “While the national rate has been strong, there have been selected markets where rental growth has well exceeded 6.0 per cent and includes the Central West in Sydney and South East in Melbourne,” Luke says.

Heightened demand has prompted a surge in speculative developments Colliers’ Report states that developers and institutional groups have progressed speculative developments with leasing demand currently running at record levels. Over one million sqm of speculative developments are currently under construction along the East Coast, 30 per cent of which will reach completion in Q4 2021, and the balance will complete in 2022.

Melbourne accounts for the largest share of speculative space under construction at 52 per cent of the

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

Colliers’ research shows new benchmarks in the industrial and logistics market for the 2021 calendar year.

national total, followed by Sydney at 35 per cent. For Brisbane, speculative completions in 2021 have increased 57 per cent on the levels recorded in 2020 and are forecast to accelerate further in 2022 with several large facilities in the pipeline.

PORTFOLIOS HAVE DOMINATED TRANSACTION ACTIVITY Strong occupier trends and favourable structural changes more broadly have led to a significant re-weighting of capital towards the industrial and logistics sector.

As a result, in the nine months to Q3 2021, over $12 billion in industrial and logistics transactions have occurred (>$10 million), compared to $5.5 billion for the entire 2020 calendar year.

Gavin Bishop, Head of Industrial Capital Markets at Colliers says, “Where 2020 was the year of sale and leasebacks, 2021 is the year of portfolio transactions with $8.4 billion trading from portfolios in the first nine months of 2021, representing 70 per cent of total investment activity.

“Investors are actively seeking scale and are willing to pay a premium to acquire portfolios. We have seen this multiple

“

Where 2020 was the year of sale and leasebacks, 2021 is the year of portfolio transactions with $8.4 billion trading from portfolios in the first nine months of 2021, representing 70 per cent of total investment activity.

”

times throughout the year where price expectations have been well exceeded.”

Another trend highlighted in the report was the pick-up in fund through arrangements with approximately $840 million trading from such deals so far in 2021. “We estimate that there is upwards of $50 billion in capital looking to enter the sector, and as a result, groups are needing to be creative to meet their investment mandates,” Gavin says. “This is also why we have seen several groups focus on a build-to-core strategy.”

YIELDS TO SHARPEN FURTHER The rate of yield compression within the sector continues to beat expectations, with Colliers finding that almost 110 basis points of firming was recorded in the prime market in the 12 months to Q3 2021. The national weighted prime yield now measures 4.39 per cent, while it’s higher at 5.23 per cent for secondary. Prime core markets are well under this level, with selected assets trading below 3.5 per cent in key East Coast markets.

“Recent sales evidence has provided significant upside to industrial and logistics values for Q4 2021 and into 2022,” Gavin says. “We expect there is more scope for compression over the next six months before stabilising thereafter. In combination with a pick-up in rents, capital values are expected to grow substantially over the next 12 months.” ■ To download the latest Industrial Research and Forecast Report H2 2021, use the QR code to link straight to the research paper. Colliers welcomes any questions about the research and how it can best assist you in your property needs.

MHD DECEMBER 2021 | 25

MHD MATERIALS HANDLING

MUDEX GOES GREEN WITH HELP OF TOYOTA FORKLIFTS A Western Australian drilling fluid company has taken steps to reduce its carbon footprint with the help of electric Toyota Material Handling Australia forklifts.

Reliability and aftersales service were key factors in Mudex’s decision to buy its forklifts from TMHA.

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erth-based drilling fluid business Mudex has made the decision to reduce the carbon footprint of its business by enlisting the help of Toyota Material Handling Australia (TMHA) and its range of zero-emission Toyota electric forklifts.

With its head office and manufacturing hub in the Perth suburb of Canning Vale, Mudex wanted to replace its fleet of rental gas forklifts, and the superb reliability, outstanding safety, and ease of servicing that form part of the Toyota Advantage were significant factors in making the switch to a fleet of fully owned equipment.

Mudex Commercial Manager Pete McCormack says it was an easy 26 | MHD DECEMBER 2021

decision to choose TMHA for its fleet of new equipment not only due to the availability of electric models, but the fantastic reputation that Toyota forklifts have in the industry.

“We made the decision that we want to be more eco-friendly, take our carbon footprint down and go electric,” Pete says.

“We did have a look at all the major forklift brands, but we decided on Toyota basically because of their reliability and aftersales service – it was a no-brainer, really. We wanted the best and Toyota has the best.

There’s a reason they have such a large chunk of the forklift market.”

Another major Toyota Advantage factor in Mudex choosing Toyota

was the assistance provided by local THMA area sales manager Danny Carbery, who helped guide Mudex through the long and complicated process of finding exactly the right set of equipment.

With more than 10 years of experience procuring the right TMHA forklifts for customers’ needs, Danny worked extensively with Mudex to tailor the perfect solution for the business, walking them through a range of different options before settling on the chosen machines.

Danny says that through a range of face-to-face meeting and product demonstrations, they were able to narrow down whether to use gas or electric forklifts, and exactly what type

MHD MATERIALS HANDLING

TMHA’s range of zero-emission electric forklifts is helping Mudex reduce its carbon footprint. of equipment would be best suited.

“They had been renting, and they wanted to find their own gear and had a bit of a focus on safety, so it was a fairly involved process to narrow down what they wanted,” he adds.

“I realised how important to them being green was, and they are trying to go in a more environmentally friendly direction – that was a big focus for them. They’re fantastic forklifts. Quiet, easy to use and better for the environment. I think that was a big factor in why they went with what they did.”

Pete McCormack says Danny’s comprehensive assistance was crucial for Mudex finding the exact solution it wanted, with nothing but praise for the entire purchasing process.

“Danny has been really brilliant, if you could give above five stars you’d give above five stars,” he says.

“He’s held our hand throughout the whole process. We went through several different make-ups of the forklifts that we wanted, lots of different things and he’s been great. He guided us through to our final configuration and he’s been really good to deal with, nothing was ever an issue.”

Mudex purchased three Toyota 8FBE20 and one Toyota 8FBE18 threewheel electric forklifts along with one Toyota 32-8FGK25 gas counterbalance forklift, having transitioned from a rental fleet of equipment to one

“

We did have a look at all the major forklift brands, but we decided on Toyota basically because of their reliability and aftersales service – it was a no brainer.

”

owned by the company itself.

When deciding which forklift provider to choose for their new fleet of forklifts, Mudex considered a range of different manufacturers but took advice from within the industry that inevitably steered them towards TMHA. As any manufacturing operation will know, the people you really need to impress with new warehouse equipment are the back-of-house staff, and initial reports from Mudex are certainly positive, Pete says.

“We’ve been slowly giving them out to the crew in manufacturing, and they all like them. The turning circle is very good on those models,” he notes.

“The safety features, it’s been all positive from the guys in the back, and they are really who we have to convince.”

The partnership between Mudex and TMHA shows that making a positive change to one’s environmental impact does not have to come at the cost of usability, reliability or safety, all key pillars of the Toyota Forklift Advantage.

The adoption of an electric forklift fleet is sure to mark the start of a fruitful partnership between TMHA and Mudex, as the latter continues to supply drilling fluids and parts to mining businesses both domestic and international. ■ For more information freecall Toyota Material Handling Australia on 1800 425 438 or visit www.toyotamaterialhandling.com.au MHD DECEMBER 2021 | 27

MHD SUPPLY CHAIN

STRATEGY AND VISIBILITY VITAL TO AUSTRALIAN SUPPLY CHAIN

Nate Rosier, SVP Consulting at enVista, is a globe-trotting supply chain strategist with a global vision to match. He talks about global and Australian bottlenecks, and why better strategy and visibility are imperative down under.

N

ate Rosier, SVP Consulting at enVista, operates primarily out of the United States while consulting on supply chain strategy projects across the world, including Australia and the APAC region.

“I run our consulting practice, which consists of about 100 people,” Nate says. “We do supply chain strategies across the world. Some are in Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, a few in the UK and India – and the rest in the US. We work projects everywhere.”

Nate notes that nowadays most supply chains are global – even those for basic goods like groceries – but that companies across the world are still hamstrung by old modes of thinking.

“Supply chains still mostly operate on a basic linear process basis,” he says. “It’s still largely the practice to have just enough trucks, just enough containers, and just enough ships to handle a ‘steady state’. Such processes assume that tomorrow will be the same as today; whether there’s capacity to handle disruption is not built into supply chain thinking.”

The exceptions to this rule, Nate says, are the big-name companies – Walmart, Amazon, Nike, Apple – who truly do consider supply chain strategy as integral to their overall business strategy.

Most companies, though, are stuck in the past, Nate says. “And one of the worst things that companies do is to operate a just-in-time global inventory model,” he says.

“It’s a horrible mistake.”

Why is the just-in-time 28 | MHD DECEMBER 2021

model ineffective?

“Before COVID, those of my clients who were operating on a just-in-time basis – I pulled them out of it because it costs more money to operate that model globally than it does to just preposition inventory strategically,” Nate says. “The reason for this is the length of planning cycles. To get components from Asia to a factory to assemble things in the United States – the stretch of time involved is so long that forecast accuracy of actual future needs and demand is very low. With such low predictive ability, whatever you order in this manner is going to be wrong for the situation you actually find yourself in.”

Inevitably, he says, this means that airfreight shipments will be used at the last minute to compensate for inaccurate earlier predictions.

“The companies that effectively manage global supply chains strategically position what I call ‘shock absorbers’,” he says. “When you’re importing product, you have long lead times and therefore a lot of risk associated with it. What many companies will do is simply flow their product into distribution centres across different countries. What they should be doing instead is holding inventory closer to ports as a hedge, so that it can then be deployed flexibly and within a shorter timeframe to accommodate changing demand patterns in different locations. Unfortunately, everybody usually just wants to buy a bunch at once, do a big load, and sell it through.

Well – the reality is – you don’t always know where it’s going to sell.”

Nate Rosier, SVP Consulting at enVista.

The short shrift afforded to import supply chain strategy is compounded, in the Australian context, by two major limitations, Nate says. “Firstly, Australia has a far higher percentage of imports compared to other countries.

Secondly, there isn’t much in the way of port development.”

He says that the US has excellent port operations and a variety of competing options to get goods to the same place via different routes.

“We have a lot of inland ports in the US – where there’s a drop off at the coast and it goes straight from ship to rail and is received at a port that’s inland,” Nate says. “So, if I’m trying to get something to Chicago, I can access via LA, or Oakland, or Prince Rupert up in Canada – and it’ll get there in about the same amount of time.”

The variety of backup options in the US provides a safeguard against specific port disruptions. Indeed Nate adds that the variety of port development

MHD SUPPLY CHAIN

owes a lot to a series of port strikes that occurred in the past decade, as well as to the naturally greater level of competition and economic activity in the US. “Australia has a low-density population and a broad landmass, with populations clustered on the east and west,” he notes. “Sydney to Melbourne, or Sydney to Brisbane isn’t bad – but there’s a lot of infrastructure work that ought to be done elsehwere. Governments should plan for the rainy days – not just the sunny ones. An analogy might be the strategic oil reserve that we have in the United States – it’s a backup option if international supply is shut-off.

Australia doesn’t have enough focus on infrastructure development around ports, which is a little surprising based on the volume of imports the country has.”

With most activity occurring via the Sydney port – because it’s the cheapest – much work could be done

“

The basic thing to keep in mind is that the longer your supply chain, the better visibility you need.With port bottlenecks and disruptions the best way to combat this is with better visibility.

”

in terms of opening up constrained roads and building out better direct rail lines, he says. “There’s a lot of simple bottlenecks that could be addressed – and the same goes for Brisbane, Melbourne, and Perth. That would be a good government investment.”

But if such infrastructure must wait for government to catch up, what can companies do in their own right?

“The basic thing to keep in mind is that the longer your supply chain, the better visibility you need,” Nate says.

“With port bottlenecks and disruptions the best way to combat this is with better visibility. Australian companies need to invest in better visibility systems and control towers.

“Visibility is more valuable to a company in Australia than it is for a company in the US, China, or Brazil – because you have lower volumes going farther distances. That means better initial strategic pre-positioning and visibility are paramount. If you have goods coming in on a ship, and you have to change mode, you need to know where things are going to land and how best to re-arrange transportation if you’re trying to speed things up or slow things down. It’s about knowing where your inventory is in the supply chain. A lot of Australian clients I’ve worked with haven’t been focusing enough on that – and they need to.

Visibility is key.” ■

RENAULT TRAFIC it’s my business it’s my van

“When you need a van to deliver its top notch.”

“We rely on Renault Trafic to deliver freight safely. There’s loads of room for bulky items and plenty of anchor points for securing cargo. We’ve got plenty of tech inside and it keeps the drivers comfortable. They’re really fuel efficient, and we get plenty of k’s out of a tank. When you need a van to deliver its top notch.”

Daniel, Team Tank Logistics renault.com.au

MHD SUPPLY CHAIN

DIVERSIFYING THE SUPPLY CHAIN WORKPLACE

Seventy per cent of surveyed Australians think logistics is a male-dominated industry.

New research by Amazon has revealed that four in five women would be more interested in male dominated jobs if they saw women succeeding within the industry. MHD speaks to Rachel Smith, ALC Policy and Advocacy Director about the best strategies for attracting more women into supply chain and logistics roles.

I

t is no secret that transport and logistics are considered to be male-skewed industries. Despite this, Rachel Smith, ALC Policy and Advocacy Director, is beginning to see a shift in attitude.

“There is a genuine desire to attract more female talent to the industry,” Rachel says. “For example, apart from our CEO, ALC is an all-female team. It’s all about challenging the perception of what the transport and logistics and supply chain industry is – because it’s more than just truck and train drivers.”

The increase in automation and ever-

changing technology in supply chains has sparked demand for a completely different skillset to that of traditional warehouses. These days, one logistics company can cover a suite of roles: engineers, data scientists, managers and forklift operators all contribute to the flow of products in and out of a distribution centre.

Of all participants interviewed in Amazon’s Australian research report, 70 per cent signaled logistics to be a male-dominated industry. Women participants identified clear strategies to reduce this imbalance, with 86 per cent

Rachel Smith, ALC Policy and Advocacy Director.

MHD DECEMBER 2021 | 31

MHD SUPPLY CHAIN saying they would be more interested in male dominated industries if they saw women succeeding within the industry, there was a clear career progression in those industries (85 per cent) and they could see more women in the industry (85 per cent).

“Telling stories about women succeeding is so helpful,” Rachel notes.

“Your typical year 12 student probably isn’t going to pick up the latest edition of MHD, so capturing wins on social, in workplaces and the STEM community will make a big impact.”

ALC’s advocacy work has a focus on developing skills for the future, which is crucial considering the changing supply chain landscape.

“Educating young people about the range of skills used in the industry will create a more even playing field,” Rachel says. “The beauty of the pandemic is that, probably for the first time, young people can see how important supply chain is to getting everything we need.”

Jacqui Marker, Amazon’s Human Resources Operations Director for Australia, Singapore and China, recently shared with MHD some of her top tips for supporting and encouraging women in the logistics workforce:

1. BE CLEAR ON DIVERSITY GOALS AND THE ACTIONS REQUIRED TO MEET THESE For business leaders in the logistics industry, this involves critically and regularly reviewing talent pipelines.

Rather than waiting until there is a specific role to recruit, have regular career conversations with your teams and consider how you develop and nurture internal talent from entry-level positions onwards in order to build a female contingency bench.

2. FOCUS ON INCLUSIVE HIRING EFFORTS Intentionally focus on inclusive hiring efforts and recruit top female talent.

“Seeing is believing.”

3. PROMOTE AND SUPPORT DIVERSITY IN OPERATIONS. As a leader, this means providing a safe space for everyone to have a voice and raise ideas or concerns. It’s equally important to engage a diverse range of people to have a seat at the table in order to actively participate in 32 | MHD DECEMBER 2021

“

There is a genuine desire to attract more female talent to the industry. For example, apart from our CEO, ALC is an all-female team. It’s all about challenging the perception of what the transport and logistics and supply chain industry is – because it’s more than just truck and train drivers.

”

decision-making and listen to ideas on how to authentically encourage diversity within the business. Not just in terms of gender, but across national origin, sexual orientation, education and life experiences.

4. ENCOURAGE WOMEN TO MENTOR AND COACH JUNIOR FEMALE COLLEAGUES It makes a huge difference in their development by having a trusted advisor that can provide guidance and also act as a sounding board.

5. NETWORKING Prioritise participation in industry networking events and special interest groups. These events and groups exist to support women in the industry

Francine Klein works at Amazon’s Brisbane fulfilment centre as a forklift driver. and promote their advancement.

They provide a great opportunity for professional development, connection and inspiration. They also provide a platform to promote women’s success stories which becomes critical to shifting the optics of female representation across the logistics sector.

ENTERING THE LOGISTIC SPACE After 27 years of working with QANTAS, Francine Klein was one of the 20,000 workers out of a job in May last year because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Having decades of experience as a flight attendant, Francine says she didn’t see forklift operating as an obvious succession plan.

“Amazon was looking for more forklift drivers, so being new to the company I threw my hat in the ring and was accepted,” she says. “There’s actually quite a few female drivers here.”

Francine attained her forklift license to work at Amazon’s Brisbane Fulfilment Centre – where the inclusivity of the warehouse makes her feel at home – and says the skills required for a job in logistics are applicable across a range of industries.

“I didn’t realise just how big of an operation it is here, with data scientists, HR, warehouse staff and so many different roles,” she says.

“Getting the message out there that these jobs aren’t just for big, burly men is fantastic.” ■

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MHD INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY

BOOSTING PRODUCTIVITY WITH OPERATIONS UNDER ONE ROOF Munro Footwear Group has committed to a new $50 million distribution centre in Melbourne’s west on the back of online growth. The footwear wholesaler and retailer – together with supply chain consultancy TMX – talk about the efficiencies to be gained from consolidating all operations under one roof.

M

arcus Bartlett, Chief Operating Officer at Munro Footwear Group (MFG) says the company’s major investment in supply chain operations supports its multi-year growth plan to expand the business. Critically, moving two separate operations to one distribution centre helps iron out existing inefficiencies, for example working with two warehouse management systems. MFG will consolidate its currently separate operations – a self-run facility in Thornbury and a third-party-run operation in Truganina – in a new $50 million facility strategically located as part of the $600 million MidWest Logistics Hub in Truganina.

“Having all of the inventory accessed from one location will be critical,” Marcus says. “Internally transferring products between buildings is inefficient – and having two differently-run facilities adds further operational complexities. This move will help increase productivity and efficiency, with our customers directly benefiting from reduced lead times and improved service.”

MFG has a long history in the bricks and mortar retail and wholesale world, so the new distribution centre will cater to all aspects of the business.

“We are experiencing increased online growth – which is a significant factor to be sure,” he says. “But before embarking on this investment we had to be certain the size and operating 34 | MHD DECEMBER 2021

MFG’s new facility will host one of the largest AMR deployments in the country.

model was going to be fit for purpose for the long-term across all different parts of our business.”

WORKING WITH TMX TO BUILD THE RIGHT FIT MFG partnered with supply chain and property consultancy TMX to review its supply chain network, design new operations with an automated solution, and run the property procurement process. TMX secured a 10-year lease for MFG with Charter Hall – and will now project-manage the development of the new facility.

As is customary for the property and supply chain consultancy, the full gamut of solutions and experience was brought to bear by TMX’s team in its objective of establishing the Truganina facility as a vehicle to support MFG’s accelerated growth.

“Having the subject matter experts

on our side along the journey gave us full confidence in the exciting opportunity,” Marcus says. “Having the right information – receiving the support to decide on the technology, the developer, the location – will allow us to transition from a primarily manual operation to using more future-proof solutions.”

AMRs LEADING TO HIGHER THROUGHPUT Sam Dellios, Director at TMX, says the Truganina facility will have one of the largest AMR goods-to-person deployments in Australia, capitalising on MFG’s recent growth from online and in-store sales.

“One of the biggest benefits of AMRs is the flexibility they provide,” Sam says.

“Historically, goods-to-person and automated picking systems have been largely fixed units that effectively form

MHD INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY

Marcus Bartlett, Chief Operating Officer at Munro Footwear Group. part of the building as long as the tenants are there. An AMR layout such as this one allows businesses to adjust to different throughputs and offers maximum flexibility.”

The scalability of the solution particularly interested MFG, whose sales ramp up at specific times of the year depending on online events and seasonal shifts.

The new AMRs will increase picking speed and accuracy, creating greater productivity and efficiency in operations while reducing lead times to customers.

“The dynamic grid is intuitive and designed to help MFG reach a significantly higher level of picking accuracy and productivity while providing a safe working environment,” Sam adds.

The facility as a whole will assist in optimising inventory levels, integration with transport carriers, and enhancing customer experience across the group’s 260-plus store network and –importantly – its 11 e-commerce sites, which have been experiencing significant growth.

SUSTAINABILITY The Green Building Council of Australia’s Green star rating system is Australia’s largest holistic sustainability rating system for buildings and fit-outs. The facility is being

“

One of the biggest benefits of AMRs is the flexibility they provide.

Many of the first goods-to-person and automated picking systems have largely been fixed units that effectively form part of the building for as long as the tenants are there.

But an AMR layout such as this one allows businesses to adjust to different throughputs.

”

designed to meet a five-star rating – the Australian category reserved for excellence in meeting sustainability standards.

Sam notes that a variety of sustainable building initiatives contribute to a highly-rated facility, but that – among them – creating a comfortable, inviting work environment is a key pillar of the rating system.

“It’s about including a lot of green space instead of a fully built-up environment,” he says. “There’s a big push towards creating a happier, healthier work environment centred around wellbeing and user-comfort.”

A 600-kilowatt solar system will power all operations and around 20 electric vehicle charging points will also support the current push towards electric powered vehicles. “The solar capability will power the entire facility, and then some,” Sam adds.

LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION Marcus Bartlett says the facility’s advantageous location will allow for faster access to transport and carriers. MFG will join existing tenant customers – including Coles, Uniqlo, Toll, Ingham’s, Encore Tissue, and Bridgestone – at MidWest Logistics Hub, providing access to distribution channels, including the Port of Melbourne. While examining various parts of Melbourne, TMX’s location analysis identified the west as the best nucleus for MFG’s operations.

“The transport savings – being close to the airport, ports and CBD – provide a significant financial advantage, as well as contributing to a more sustainable operation,” Marcus says. “We’re hoping to unlock benefits for our customers by more closely integrating with domestic carriers to provide greater fulfilment options.” ■

SCAN THE QR CODES FOR A VIRTUAL TOUR OF MFG’S NEW FACILITY Sam Dellios, Director at TMX.

MHD DECEMBER 2021 | 35

MHD SUPPLY CHAIN

ENTERPRISE UNCOVERS THE POTENTIAL OF FLEET ELECTRIFICATION Enterprise Fleet Management and Geotab together conducted one of the largest fleet EV Suitability Assessments. By taking action on this data, Enterprise Fleet Management can continue to provide its customers with the industry-leading support they’ve come to expect.

W

ith the impending transition to electric vehicles (EVs) on the horizon and real-world factors informing decision-making, the team at Enterprise Fleet Management recognised the importance of basing their long-term business strategy on reliable data — not assumptions.

The fleet EV Suitability Assessment was designed to better understand how the shift to EVs will affect Enterprise Fleet Management’s business today and in the future.

In all, 91,252 Enterprise Fleet Management leased vehicles were included in the study. The results surprised both teams: • 13 per cent (approximately 12,000) of the analysed vehicles could be economically replaced by EVs today.

• Near-term electrification could achieve a total potential saving of $45 million and 194,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions over four years.

• Up to 45 per cent (approximately 42,000) of the analysed vehicles could be electrified as EV utilities enter the market.

THE CHALLENGE: HOW THE SHIFT TO EVS WILL AFFECT FLEETS The transition to EVs is underway across North America, a fact not lost on the team at Enterprise Fleet Management.

As a leading fleet management provider with more than 649,000 managed vehicles and a presence in over 50 local markets in North America, Enterprise 36 | MHD DECEMBER 2021

Thirteen per cent of analysed vehicles in the assessment could be economically replaced by EVs.

Fleet Management partners with companies, government agencies and organisations operating mediumsized fleets of 20 or more vehicles. The Enterprise Fleet Management team provides industry-leading expertise to customers through local, hands-on account management and personalised support during a vehicle’s full life cycle.

Dain Giesie, Assistant Vice President at Enterprise Fleet Management says the team understands the importance of putting the right pieces in place in the short term to aid in long-term success — and a successful EV transition is top of mind for this forward-thinking team.

“Our goal with this study was to map out what we need to know and what we need to provide our customers now and in the near future so we can continue to be the best fleet management provider possible,” he says.

Enterprise Fleet Management offers total transportation solutions to

customers together with their affiliate Enterprise Holdings.

Chris Haffenreffer, Assistant Vice President of Innovation at Enterprise Holdings, says a long-standing relationship with Geotab led to a unique opportunity for the two innovative companies to do something that had never been done before.

“Working together, we started to better understand the big data capabilities Geotab has,” he explains.

“We realised that if we could combine Geotab’s analytics with Enterprise Fleet Management’s real-world data on a large scale, we could develop a unique perspective on how we expect our fleet to evolve in the coming years.”

THE SOLUTION: CONDUCT AN ELECTRIC VEHICLE SUITABILITY ASSESSMENT Calling it a large-scale study might actually be underplaying the greatness

MHD SUPPLY CHAIN of what was accomplished, according to Dain Giese. Not only did the study of over 91,000 vehicles allow the team at Enterprise Fleet Management to better understand the market opportunity today, but it also provided valuable insights to further support their customers into the future.

“This wasn’t just a study on vehicle availability today versus tomorrow”, Dain says. “We contributed real-world experience that informed data inputs for depreciation, fuel costs, vehicle costs, after-market costs and more to give us a deeper perspective into our customers’ potential future needs and how we can best support those needs”.

By using aggregated data from Geotab to show how vehicles were being used by Enterprise Fleet Management clients, the two teams were able to produce a factual and reliable suitability assessment on an unprecedented scale.

“Having accurate, real-world data from the fleet helps us reduce as many assumptions as we can for our analysis and projections”, Hani Hawari, Senior EV Product Manager at Geotab says.

Dain Giesie adds the study

“highlighted the opportunities and needs of our customers for us, so we could keep our strategic planning process on track and continue to be a fleet management leader for those we serve.”

As Enterprise Fleet Management’s fleet is largely made up of mediumduty work vehicles and utilities, it was interested to learn what data the EVSA could provide to help compare the EV opportunity today versus what the opportunity would be in the near future with the coming wave of commercial EVs. “Doing this type of analysis across the entire fleet was an enormous opportunity for us,” Chris Haffenreffer says. “We believe that EV pickups (utilities) will play a huge role in the future, but we wanted to use this study to help quantify that opportunity to better understand how EV pickup introductions will impact Enterprise Fleet Management.”

DRIVING CUSTOMER SUCCESS USING REAL-WORLD DATA With some of the most robust tools in the industry for understanding total cost of ownership, like Geotab’s EVSA, Enterprise Fleet Management enables

customers to make informed decisions for their business by understanding what their fleet costs look like today versus what they’ll look like in the near future.

“This is critical today with ICE vehicles, and the same will be true for EVs,” Dain Giesie says. “Our customers need the right vehicles—and the right number of vehicles—to achieve their business goals.”

Each year, Enterprise Fleet Management re-evaluates its customers’ fleets in addition to looking at different factors like market and business fluctuations, to determine if adjustments need to be made.

“The market and macroeconomic factors change. And you’ve got to have an expert like Geotab that can help you with that every year, or you’re going to miss an opportunity,” Dain adds.

“As more vehicles become connected, and more reliable information is gathered, this type of study can only get better. We’re not in the business of guessing how things will impact our fleet. We want to use real-world data to help our customers any way we can.” ■

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MHD INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY

THE uTENANT & JLL PARTNERSHIP

For the first time since uTenant secured the backing of global real estate services business JLL, MHD talks with uTenant’s top brass – together with JLL’s Head of Industrial & Logistics Brokerage in Australia – to explore the warehouse disruptor’s early success, and why JLL realised that backing them was the right bet.

W

hile the partnership between warehousing disruptor uTenant and global property services firm JLL is relatively recent – formalised earlier this year, with JLL taking a minority shareholder stake that bolstered uTenant’s growth potential while maintaining the latter’s unshakeable commitment to complete independence – the seeds of its inception were planted many years ago, says Greg Pike, Head of Industrial & Logistics Brokerage in Australia for JLL. “My relationship with Matt Sampson [Founder & Managing Director of uTenant] goes back many years to when we were colleagues at another agency,” says Greg. “I went to JLL, and Matt struck out on a new path to create uTenant.”

Nevertheless, the conversation between the two never stopped, with Greg half-jokingly admitting that in the early days, “Matt would be bouncing ideas off me over beers and I’d be telling

him all the reasons they wouldn’t work.

It would be fair to say I’ve modified some of my positions since then.”

Kyle Rogers, Co-founder at uTenant, corrects Greg’s somewhat selfdeprecating take on events. He says the current partnership wouldn’t have been possible but for Greg’s willingness to keep on listening and probing and. Greg and JLL soon realised this was a perfect partnership and could see the potential benefits to clients.

Both sides agree that JLL and uTenant’s partnership was the result of transparent dialogue, a relationship built on trust, and a mutual interest in bestserving the tenant-side customer.

Matt Sampson’s original innovation in starting uTenant was to create a platform that connected landlords and tenants on a fixed fee model, whereby potential tenants could tap into uTenant’s vast ecosystem of landlords with ease and transparency – something that previously could not be done – and know

they were getting the best deal because uTenant didn’t take commissions from and wasn’t beholden to any commercial real estate agent.

Kyle – whom Matt brought on and whose role in expanding uTenant merited him his title “Co-founder”– added to uTenant’s original business proposition the idea of “pallet matching”, whereby those with excess warehouse capacity could be matched with product owners in need of extra storage capacity.

Kyle recalls sitting with Matt in uTenant’s original office – just the two of them – with a whiteboard up and ideas flowing, when the “lightbulb moment” hit. At the time, uTenant was already offering its on-demand warehouse matching service but looking to charge a margin during those initial stages. “We had a major lightbulb moment when we started to truly listen to our customers – finding out exactly what they needed and how we could add more value,”

uTenant Founder & Managing Director Matt Sampson and Co-Founder Kyle Rogers.

MHD DECEMBER 2021 | 39

MHD INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY Kyle says. “This was when we decided to change the business model to provide the on-demand service without a margin – to really put the service at the forefront of uTenant’s offering.

“We suddenly recognised that product owners didn’t have the time to call up numerous 3PLs to find which was the cheapest, which had the best location, and which was the optimal cultural fit to store their excess product. So, we decided to find the best 3PLs at the best cost at the right time and right place – create a platform that allowed product owners to access them – and charge nothing for it.”

It was an extension of Matt’s original insight – that simplicity and transparency built into a pathbreaking technological platform would engender trust with the tenant. And as Kyle, Matt, and Greg all agree – trust is perhaps the most important asset a firm can have long-term in the commercial real estate market.

For Matt, this was another winning opportunity for fresh disruption.

“Offering a pallet-matching platform as a value-added service was something no one else globally was doing,” he says.

“Previously, there were always margins involved which ended up costing product owners more money to store their goods because they had to add in the margin the broker would take. With our goal being to service the tenant, this was a no-brainer. Not only could a tenant or product owner avail themselves of more options with greater transparency – but we fundamentally disintermediated the market. So, for the pallet-matching service, we took out the broker and the brokerage fee, and we didn’t charge anything extra.”

When Greg Pike recalls this new pivot and pitch by uTenant, he uses similar language to Kyle. “It was a penny drop moment for me – and for us – at JLL,” he says. “Because we realised that uTenant’s new platform would work to the benefit of our own landlord customers, too. We realised that this was a value-add for all parties involved.”

Greg elaborates. “Let’s say I’ve just facilitated a 15,000 square metre property deal with a 3PL provider, but for the moment that 3PL is only filling 10,000 square metres of its new property.

We can now team up with uTenant by introducing the 3PL provider to the uTenant ecosystem – and a product 40 | MHD DECEMBER 2021

Global real estate services businessJLL backed uTenant in becoming a minority shareholder.

owner using this value add service might end up matching perfectly with our 3PL customer, backfilling the tenants’ space until such time they need it, or better yet, helping that 3PL party continue on their mission to grow.

“I’ve just helped put revenue back into a 3PL customer’s bottom line. So, our customer the landlord is happy to have filled a vacancy; the 3PL – or the tenant – is happy because their excess capacity is now generating revenue; and the product owner – the 3PL’s new customer – is happy to have quickly and transparently been able to outsource overflow pallet work to a reputable provider. Neither JLL or uTenant charge for this service and any fees generated from the leasing of the property are transparent. So, what we have gained is trust, and bolstered our reputation for solving problems, which pays off in the long run for all parties concerned.”

That’s why JLL partnered with uTenant, because the value of – in Kyle’s words – “a transparent and connected warehousing ecosystem made possible by digital technology” was valuable to JLL in and of itself.

THE ROAD AHEAD While uTenant has added many new staff this year, the company doesn’t add more personnel for the sake of it, nor aspire to become a traditional “endto-end” supply chain service, says Matt. “For me it’s always been about iteration after iteration – persistent experimentation and verifying the value of new disruptive ideas.”

Greg sees great potential for uTenant to expand into APAC, but such expansion will occur at its own pace. “From my perspective, uTenant’s primary focus is

innovation, and ensuring the innovation adds value to the customer before focusing on other markets.”

And to continue to innovate, you need to hire innovators. The notion of “transparency” applies as much to uTenant’s own hiring process as it does to its platform. “We need to be transparent with ourselves – knowing that there are skills we don’t have and that we must find the people who have them,” Kyle says.

To that end, uTenant recently brought on board Marie Varrasso to be uTenant’s Chief Operating Officer.

With more than 25 years of supply chain experience – including senior roles at Oxford University Press, Nike, and Officeworks – Marie brings extensive knowledge and experience across all facets of the supply chain industry.

Coupled with her deep knowledge of wholesale and retail – as well as managing her own warehouses, and those run by a 3PL – Marie also brings detailed customer insight to help uTenant continue to develop its roadmap for the future. “uTenant’s philosophy gels with my own – to innovate and simplify,” Marie says. “I’m a ‘one page’ sort of person – if an idea or a solution can’t be conveyed effectively in one page, it’s probably overly complicated. To me, uTenant’s values completely resonate with my own – transparency, simplicity and authenticity across their ever-expanding supply chain ecosystem.

“I want to help them create simple solutions for complex problems. uTenant’s ambitions dovetail with my own – to provide simple but highly effective solutions to our customers.” ■

WAREHOUSE SHOWCASE 2021 SPONSORD BY CBRE MHD’s inaugural Showcase Edition is this year sponsored by CBRE. Read on for an interview with two CBRE experts on the year past and the road ahead, followed by our showcase of some of the top warehouse innovators in 2021.

MHD DECEMBER 2021 | 41

WAREHOUSING INNOVATION – LOOKING BACK, LOOKING AHEAD CBRE is this year’s sponsor of the MHD Warehouse Showcase. The real estate services group’s Christine Miller, Head of Supply Chain Advisory – Pacific, and Cameron Grier, Regional Director – Pacific, Industrial & Logistics Services, sat down for a discussion around the long view in warehouse innovation – explaining developments over the past couple of years, as well as what the future might have in store for the warehousing sector.

Warehousing space is tight, and the market is only going to get tighter, especially in Sydney.

42 | MHD DECEMBER 2021

Cameron Grier, Regional Director – Pacific, Industrial and Logistics Services at CBRE.

E

ven had Australia not been afflicted by the COVID-19 pandemic, we would still be experiencing a shift to e-commerce – and therefore an accompanying transformation in how warehouses operate – says Christine Miller, Head of Supply Chain Advisory – Pacific, at CBRE. “The underlying trend was already there with regard to consumption patterns,” Christine says. “Back in 2018 and 2019 I was doing work with CBRE and the Property Council of Australia – identifying patterns and planning around them. The pandemic just accelerated that trend and created a sudden surge that no one was truly prepared for.”

With consumers increasingly desiring multiple channels to browse, sample, purchase, and receive products, this has resulted in far greater complexity for warehouse operations.

“If you look at warehouses in a historical perspective, even as recently as five years ago they would predominantly have been dealing with full pallets and full cases of product,” she says. “Now warehouses need to access individual items in a case, which introduces much more variation into the process. There is an increased need for space in warehouses, as well as new technologies that can adequately deal with items as opposed to cases and pallets.”

Prior to the pandemic, Christine says, the conversation around e-commerce was more relaxed insofar as it was construed in terms of how retailers would adjust to meet customer demands and manage costs. When COVID-19 hit, the conversation shifted

“

Rather than just having one large warehouse, many operations are decentralising to have a lot of smaller warehouses spread out – which not only is useful for more agile last mile fulfilment, but also disperses the risk associated with having all your inventory in one location.

”

from a focus on optimisation to a focus on necessity.

“To take technology as an example, the question that used to be asked was, ‘If I automate my warehouse, how much can I save on footprint? How small can I go?’, whereas now no one asks that question anymore,” she explains. “Now what we’re talking about is how automation can increase throughput so that companies can achieve more volume within the same footprint. The emphasis on automation, last mile, operational complexity – all those drivers were already in place. With the onset of the pandemic, they just suddenly became imperative to address.”

Cameron Grier, Regional Director – Pacific, Industrial & Logistics Services at CBRE, adds that in fact the “footprint” perspective for most companies has flipped on its head.

“If anything, what we’ve noticed this year is that companies are wanting to increase their footprints, to accommodate increased inventory capacity that can be ready in the event of supply chain disruption,” Cameron says. “What we’re also observing is the desire for multiple warehouse locations as well. So, rather than just having one large warehouse, many operations are decentralising to have a lot of smaller warehouses spread out – which not only is useful for more agile last mile fulfilment, but also disperses the risk associated with having all your inventory in one location.

When COVID hit, groups sharpened their focus on contingency-type warehouses – and that remains an ongoing focus.”

Cameron notes that Christine has previously observed – from her perspective as an expert in supply chain – that in terms of total supply chain costs, the real estate component accounts for only five per cent.

“This supports what I have seen this year with an increased appetite for more warehousing space,” he says. “With the real estate component being a relatively small proportion of overall supply chain costs, I’ve seen groups willing to commit on more speculative basis – just to ensure they have the space so they can sell their stock. I’ve never seen leasing demand like this in 20 years.”

THE AUTOMATION FACTOR Christine says that recent innovations in automation have presented fresh and more broadly available opportunities for warehouses.

“Until relatively recently, automation was MHD DECEMBER 2021 | 43

it’s still quite low in the overall scheme of things, but this will change.”

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENTS

Christine Miller, Head of Supply Chain Advisory – Pacific at CBRE.

often considered only in terms of major, full scale automated operations,” she says.

“These kinds of heavy, steel based, large capital expenditure solutions require such a scale of volume that it was only ever going to apply to a small segment of the market.”

But now, Christine says, recent innovations in automation are available to the “middle ground” of the market – automated solutions that can be more easily incorporated into existing premises.

“These types of automation don’t necessarily require a bespoke custombuild,” she says. “Only very large companies can afford steel based ASRS [Automated Storage and Retrieval] systems, with high bay capacity and reinforced floors to carry X amount of weight. But with AMRs [Autonomous Mobile Robots] – these are fantastic for e-commerce and can be flexibly deployed in existing warehouses at a much lower capex, which means it appeals to a broader range of the market. Management is more attracted to making those kinds of investments, as there isn’t such a huge capex hurdle to actually get it across the board or management level.”

Cameron agrees, noting that the prohibitive costs for ASRS style automation has often meant that – even in cases where companies wanted it – the majority of landlords don’t really have an appetite to fund it.

Cameron notes automation is still far from a majority consideration for most warehousing and logistics operations.

“I’d ballpark that roughly 20 per cent of inquiries I’m working with include automation as part of the conversation. So, 44 | MHD DECEMBER 2021

“

The question that used to be asked was, ‘If I automate my warehouse, how much can I save on footprint?

How small can I go?’, whereas no one asks that question anymore.

Now what we’re talking about is how automation can increase throughput so that companies can achieve more volume within the same footprint.

”

“Another big change I’ve registered in the past year or two has been the emphasis placed on solar power in warehouses – as part of an overall sustainability strategy,” says Cameron.

For a long time prior, he says, when a commercial negotiation was taking place, considerations around solar would often come in only at the end – more or less as a “box-ticking exercise”.

“The difference today,” Cameron says, “is that especially with major international companies – solar is right at the forefront of the conversation and an important commercial item rather than just a social one.”

He says that this trend has become particularly pronounced in the past 12 months, as companies embrace net-zero targets – an ambition that is widely shared at the international level among corporations and governments.

“I recently ran a property procurement process for a global occupier and the developer they ended up partnering with for their new fulfilment centre had a better solar solution than other short-listed competitors – which was a major factor in their decision.”

MHD asked Cameron whether this push towards solar and sustainability was primarily attributable to government pressures, PR considerations, or simply a shift towards greater cost effectiveness in solar technology. He says he couldn’t be 100 per cent sure – although it’s his impression that it’s coming from the top down – from senior management and investors – as well as expectations from the end-customers.

“I agree with Cam in that I think it’s coming from the investment community,” Christine says. “Whether there’s a groundswell from participants in super funds, or from senior management – I think at the investor level, ESG [Environmental Social Governance] is now really important.

And that extends to ‘sustainability’ broadly construed. I’ve seen warehouses and offices where there is bicycle parking for employees, where there are basketball courts, where there are open spaces between warehouses. These in addition to solar, rainwater catchment and all these other more obvious sustainability developments people are doing. I think there is a major push to make sure workers find warehouses

or offices to be places they really want to work in; companies are taking increasing pride in that notion.”

Cameron adds that there is a clear customer demand component to sustainability considerations, too.

“I know that one of the major 3PLs has found that, when they’re pitching work to potential customers, those customers are asking these questions relating to sustainability capabilities and policies,” he says. “So, it’s become part of the opening pitch to customers – they’ve got a vested interest to make sure what they’re doing is sustainable.”

WAREHOUSING AND INNOVATION IN 2022 AND BEYOND In the November issue of MHD Christine discussed the new developments occurring around converting shopping centre locations to hybrid retail-distribution locations to flexibly accommodate last-mile fulfilment.

Looking ahead into 2022 and the next five years, what are some other potential innovations that CBRE sees approaching across the horizon?

“I think beyond the shopping centre and distribution hybrid model, Australia is going to get better at defining mixed use more generally,” Christine says. “Previously, mixed use has been defined really only in terms of retail and residential. I think we will get more flexible in terms of adding a logistics component into mixed use properties.”

She is sceptical about the potential

Driverless trucks operating between major warehousing hubs could be utilised sooner than many expect.

of some warehouse-distribution possibilities while optimistic about the near-term viability of others.

“For instance, I don’t think drones are going to take off like everyone thought they would, two years ago,” Christine says. “I know that there are some pilot programs out there, but I personally don’t think drones are the answer. On the other hand, I actually think that autonomous trucks could have a real impact on warehousing sooner than some might suspect.

The possibility of autonomous trucks doing pickups and drop-offs between major warehouse or distribution hubs is an exciting possibility. I know that Walmart in the United States has been running trials with autonomous trucks operating within a closed loop, doing deliveries from warehouse to store.

We’ll need to figure out precisely what that looks like in an Australian context, but there is a real opportunity there – with interesting implications from automation, sustainability, and safety perspectives.”

While noting that predicting the future is an often-fraught business, she is quietly optimistic about the potential for autonomous trucks in Australia within a five-year time horizon.

“I don’t think we’re going to see autonomous trucks doing deliveries into Sydney’s CBD,” she says. “But what I could see is trucks being despatched from Adelaide out to Perth. There’s no reason those kinds of long, straight hauls – from hub to hub, occupying that middle part of the distribution process – couldn’t be

done with an automated truck without a driver.”

From Cameron’s vantage point as an expert in industrial and logistics property, he thinks that there will be some notable multi-level warehouse developments in the coming years.

“This isn’t an Australian innovation, as we have significant experience with multi-level warehousing and logistics properties in APAC more broadly,” he notes. “But in the case of Sydney – where land pricing has gone up 30 per cent on average, just this year alone – the scales have tilted to the point where multi-level is more viable for developers. We expect there to be two to three multi-level developments that could be built within the next two years in Sydney. It’s too early to accurately predict the timeline for multilevel in Melbourne. But certainly, with Sydney, I think we’ll see some genuine multi-level warehousing of the sort that we’ve already seen in more population-dense Asia.

The need for multi-level warehousing may become more imperative, given Cameron’s view of vacancy rates, increasing land costs, rental growth and oncoming developable land supply in the next few years.

“The market is extremely tight right now, and it’s my view that it will continue getting tighter for the next couple of years on the east coast,” he says. “Vacancy is currently sitting at around 1.5 per cent nationally and just to keep up with the growth in e-commerce alone, we’ll need 35 per cent more supply every year than we’ve had historically over the last ten years. While we don’t have a shortage of zoned industrial land in our country, because of the infrastructure required for servicing it – and the longer lead times being experienced in planning approvals – we will see demand outstrip supply in the near term.

“Therefore, it’s incumbent on occupiers to really be planning a lot further ahead than they’re used to, in order to secure their supply chains.

As Christine has pointed out, across supply chain in Australia there has been a relatively sudden realisation around how important your warehouse is to your operations.” ■ MHD DECEMBER 2021 | 45

AMAZON ROBOTICS FULFILMENT CENTRE Australia’s biggest warehouse will hold more than 20 million shoppable products on the back of the country’s e-commerce boom.

Amazon Australia’s mega robotics centre in the heart of Western Sydney will be the same size as Taronga Zoo, doubling the company’s footprint in Australia.

The ground floor will control the in and out movements, with conveyors to send inventory to levels two, three and four. The products are stored into four sided towers or ‘cubes’ with different sized letter box spaces for certain products. The drive units or ‘bots’ then slide underneath the cubes, picking them up and moving them to a specified location.

The fulfilment centre will have a total floor area of around 200,000 sqm across four levels – which Craig Fuller, Director of Operations Amazon Australia, says is equivalent to eight standard storeys.

The robotic technology will increase the building’s storage capacity by up to 50 per cent versus a traditional building design, creating more space for inventory for Australian sellers and enabling Amazon to increase selection for customers. They also help speed order processing time by moving shelves to employees, thereby reducing the time taken to store items for sale or pick them for new customer orders.

“The beauty of the technology is that all the spaces that you would normally require in a normal warehouse for aisle movement where

forklifts or people move up and down aisles to pick products from the shelves, just disappear,” he says.

“You don’t need it anymore because the robotic drives can move sideby-side and this can basically double the inventory footprint.”

Craig says once complete the centre could theoretically deliver products to 85 per cent of the population in 12 hours from its location in Western Sydney.

“When we receive the customer order the the inventory might be in multiple locations around the building,” Craig adds. “The order triggers movements among the drive units to move the different storage pods to a pick station where they present themselves in the right order so that we pick and then pack the product to be shipped out.”

Amazon has leveraged its international pedigree for the project, consulting with its teams around the world who have already developed

Craig Fuller, Director of Operations Amazon Australia, at Amazons first robotics fulfilment centre.

“

The beauty of the technology is that all the spaces that you would normally require in a normal warehouse for aisle movement where forklifts or people move up and down aisles to pick products from the shelves, just disappear.

”

similar robotics facilities, and adapting the design to reflect local nuances.

For example, the Australian site uses an adapted dock layout and design to reflect the typical vehicles used in Australia. The local team also considered ways to future proof the building in light of the pandemic, widening major thoroughfares and larger breakrooms to better enable social distancing.

“There’s lots of learnings we’ve taken from Italian and UK teams who built a similar centre a couple of years ago,” he says. “We’ve got the systems in place to capture those learnings so that the playbook we run with is being built from experience.”

Despite timelines being impacted by the challenges facing Western Sydney during the pandemic, construction and fit out of the facility is nearing completion and it is set to be operational in the first quarter of next year. ■

The fulfilment centre will have a total floor area of around 200,000 square metres.

46 | MHD DECEMBER 2021

Australia Post’s Brisbane Parcel facility can process 700,000 parcels per day.

BRISBANE PARCEL FACILITY, REDBANK Australia Post’s Brisbane Parcel facility in Redbank opened its doors in late 2019, and not only is it the organisation’s largest parcel processing facility, it’s the largest in the southern hemisphere. The size of eight football fields and featuring both large and small parcels automation, the facility is capable of processing up to 700,000 parcels per day.

With the incredible growth in e-commerce brought about by the global pandemic, the Brisbane Parcel Facility has been instrumental in enabling Australia Post to continue delivering for customers, with almost 200 million parcels processed at the site since it opened.

Over the last two years, a number of improvements have been made to further boost capacity and increase efficiency, which has resulted

“

We know our customers want their parcels delivered as quickly as possible which is why sites like our Brisbane Parcel facility are so important for Australia Post.

”

in a 20 per cent improvement in processing throughput.

To further increase capacity across its network, and as part of a three-year $1 billion dollar network investment plan, Australia Post has introduced new facilities in Sunshine West (VIC), Adelaide (SA) and Botany (NSW) over the last 12 months. An

additional four processing facilities are also underway in Perth (WA), Bayswater (VIC), Western Sydney (NSW) and Tullamarine (VIC) and all due to go-live by mid-2022.

Rod Barnes, Australia Post Executive General Manager Deliveries says these investments are part of Australia Post’s ongoing efforts keep up with the ever-increasing demand for e-commerce and deliver for the 9.2 million Australia households that are now buying online.

“We know our customers want their parcels delivered as quickly as possible which is why sites like our Brisbane Parcel facility are so important for Australia Post,” Rod says.

“Australia’s habits have changed, and online will continue to be a critical shopping channel post-COVID so the additional capacity these new sites provide will be critical in enabling us to continue delivering for our customers right across the country.” ■

MHD DECEMBER 2021 | 47

CEVA’S SUSTAINABLE WAREHOUSING For assessing the performance of its facilities in Australia and New Zealand, CEVA Logistics uses the Green Building Council of Australia Green Star rating tool, a standard that focuses on several main criteria, including reducing the impact of climate change, enhancing health and quality of life, restoring and protecting biodiversity and ecosystems, driving resilient outcomes for buildings, fit outs, and communities, and finally, contributing to market transformation and a sustainable economy.

Four CEVA facilities currently possess a six-star rating, indicating world-class leadership, with four other facilities receiving five stars, signifying countrylevel excellence. Across Australia and New Zealand, the sustainability efforts of CEVA Logistics are estimated to reduce annual emissions by 4300 tonnes of CO2 equivalent.

As part of the CMA CGM Group, CEVA Logistics commits to the protection of the environment. The CMA CGM Group aims at becoming carbon-neutral by 2050.

“

CEVA helps its customers make the best decisions when planning their logistics and freight transport operations to reduce environmental impact as they balance the business and timing needs of their supply chain processes and shipments.

”

CEVA helps its customers make the best decisions when planning their logistics and freight transport operations to reduce environmental impact as they balance the business and timing needs of their supply chain processes and shipments. CEVA believes estimating carbon footprint and planning accordingly is the first step towards a more sustainable supply chain, and the company offers

customers an eco-calculator on its website and through its MyCEVA digital booking platform to estimate the logistics carbon footprint of a shipment via ocean, air or ground.

The company also regularly assesses its environmental footprint to look for areas to further improve its environmental sustainability and support of local communities. The teams in local facilities around the world are committed to sustainable development and reducing waste at CEVA locations.

CEVA’s presence in Australia and New Zealand highlights these commitments. The company manages programs in waste control, energy and water conservation, operational improvement and knowledge sharing to enhance the sustainability of its activities and to positively contribute to the local communities around its facilities. From solar panels, automatic lighting and AC systems to efficient truck routing to eliminating plastic and foam cups to repairing and reusing damaged pallets, the company takes a holistic approach to its operations. ■

CEVA’s site at Truganina is one of the biggest warehouses in the southern hemisphere and home to many of CEVA’s largest clients in Australia.

48 | MHD DECEMBER 2021

“

Saul Resnick, CEO, DHL Supply Chain, Australia and New Zealand.

The Life Sciences and Healthcare industry is one of the most heavily regulated industries. DHL has seen growing interest for our industry-leading cold storage facilities which in turn, drives better outcomes for the storage and distribution of healthcare products.

Increasingly, we have also seen a growing appetite for local distribution centres to be an ongoing part of global supply chains.

”

DHL SUPPLY CHAIN DHL Supply Chain has launched a number of new healthcare-grade warehouses in Australia and New Zealand over the past year, with a combined total floor space of more than 75,000 sqm.

Featuring DHL’s leading cold-chain facilities, which store pharmaceutical products at between 2-8 degrees Celsius, the warehouses also support the storage and management of medical devices, vaccines, animal health, diagnostics, and consumer health products. The additional capacity also enabled DHL to efficiently manage the storage and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines in both nations.

Flexible operations are a key part of ensuring supply chains stay resilient,

especially when it comes to critical cargo like healthcare products. While some healthcare products must be stored between 2-8 degrees, some require 8-25 degree Celsius temperatures. Others require extreme cold temperatures to maintain their integrity – this is why DHL Supply Chain augmented its cold chain capabilities with 12 specially designed freezers capable of storing vaccine products at below -70 degrees Celsius.

But storing products in a freezer is only one link in the cold chain.

In order to safely and efficiently transport healthcare products around the country, DHL Supply Chain also launched 60 new, purpose-built temperature-controlled trucks that feature an Australian-made dual

temperature cab solution with 2 -8°C and 15-25°C temperature ranges, to ensure label claim compliance (delivery as per the temperature instructions on the packaging of the product) as prescribed by the manufacturer. This solution is a first for the Australian market and ensures healthcare manufacturers can stay ahead of evolving compliance regulations. DHL has also invested in a new multi-million-dollar transport management system and national control tower, to support more efficient consignment planning and offer customers greater visibility of their deliveries.

To best manage the distribution of cold-chain products, DHL Supply Chain has proprietary packaging solutions which are designed specifically for pharmaceutical products to ensure health supplies are delivered in the perfect condition.

This includes Woolchill, a FSANZ Food Safe certified natural cooling system made from sheep wool, which maintains chilled products for up to 50 hours, removing the need for refrigerated vehicles and plastic or polystyrene packaging. ■ MHD DECEMBER 2021 | 49

Dematic’s GTP solution delivers items directly to pick stations.

“

The competitiveness of the pharmaceuticals industry today is very high.

Pharmacies are constantly pushing Sigma as their sole distributor for increased service levels, which were just not achievable at previous operation rates. By initiating a more innovative approach to fulfilment, we can make the most of our DCs with advanced automation ensuring the highest efficiency.

”

Paul Brown, National Operations Manager, Logistics for Sigma.

SIGMA HEALTHCARE Sigma Healthcare has one of the largest pharmacy networks in Australia, distributing to both community and hospital pharmacies nationwide. At its new distribution centres (DCs) in Perth and Brisbane, Sigma implemented innovative automation solutions for order fulfilment.

“The competitiveness of the pharmaceuticals industry today is very high. Pharmacies are constantly pushing Sigma as their sole distributor for increased service levels, which were just not achievable at previous operation rates,” says Paul Brown, National Operations Manager, Logistics for Sigma. “By initiating a more innovative approach to fulfilment, we can make the most of our DCs with advanced automation ensuring the highest efficiency”.

The overarching goal was to modernise its new DCs with the latest in automated picking technology.

50 | MHD DECEMBER 2021

Sigma selected a Goods-to-Person (GTP) Picking Solution from Dematic, to provide enhanced speed, productivity, and accuracy rates through the reduction of manual put away, replenishment, and picking processes.

The GTP solution delivers items directly to ergonomically optimised pick stations – eliminating the need for operators to manually locate and retrieve items by travelling across the DC floor. The solution enhances operator performance by combining high-density, secure storage with the rapid rates and accuracy of the pick stations.

The solution also provides a safer workspace for all DC staff, meeting all regulations for Work Health and Safety, OH&S, Guide to Good Distribution Practice (GDP) for Medicinal Products, and the government health regulations around COVID-19.

The DCs efficiently handle current

order volumes and the increased number of SKUs, with room to accommodate future volume growths.

Accuracy has improved markedly, and product damage has been reduced.

“The modular and scalable solution provides us with the flexibility to optimise current operations and to expand as our business grows,” says Paul. “Likewise, the ability to manage logistics costs and forecast budgets has been a significant benefit to Sigma.” ■

CAVPOWER GROWING FOR THE FUTURE Cavpower’s Service Operations Centre in South Australia is helping the official Caterpillar dealer service customers in the mining, construction, energy and transportation sectors.

Partnering with Ahrens, Cavpower was able to see this $20 million facility brought to life, with Ahrens’ work allowing Cavpower to more efficiently distribute, maintain and repair Caterpillar equipment such as new and used machines, work tools and power systems.

Drawing on a complete range of in-house capabilities and their own structural steel fabrication, Ahrens worked alongside Cavpower to deliver a variety of works that spanned across two levels.

Ahrens’ work on the specialised workshop for Cavpower comprised of 26 bays which are fitted with

“

Drawing on a complete range of in-house capabilities and their own structural steel fabrication, Ahrens worked alongside Cavpower to deliver a variety of works that spanned across two levels.

”

heavy duty overhead cranes, ranging from 12.5 to 25 tonne in capacity for large off-highway Caterpillar trucks and dozers.

Catering for Cavpower’s bespoke design requests, Ahrens also completed an additional mezzanine fit-out to house a first-rate training

facility for the client’s apprenticeship and upskilling programs, training technicians entering the industry and developing new skills for future technologies.

In order to aid in the relocation of key components of the Cavpower business from Enfield to the new headquarters in Gepps Cross, Ahrens have been developing multiple facilities on the site over several years and have completed over 1000 sqm worth of work.

This includes construction of Cavpower’s world-class Component Rebuild Centre and its recent extension providing a stand-out laboratory, store room, open plan office, meeting rooms and all associated modern amenities.

Cavpower’s partnership with Ahrens has ensured their ‘world class standard’ is met, safeguarding their facilities for both current and future generations. ■

Cavpower’s specialised workshop is comprised of 26 bays.

MHD DECEMBER 2021 | 51

JAYCAR’S HIGH BAY FACILITY Frasers Property Industrial successfully completed its first high bay facility for Jaycar at Eastern Creek Business Park in Western Sydney on March 20, 2020. The $80m facility, including automation fit-out, features 21,688 sqm of floorspace and a soaring 25.5m dedicated high bay section that is capable of a 20,000 pallet capacity. The technical design is leading the way in industrial innovation in Australia and was constructed as the first of its kind in NSW by Frasers Property Industrial.

The facility also features a specialised low bay tote area for assembly and trade pick-up, 33m wide super awning structure and 1000sqm mezzanine office.

The mammoth warehouse doubles

the height of a standard Australian warehouse and has successfully streamlined Jaycar’s supply-chain systems and improved the company’s productivity. Highly automated, specialised engineering by Frasers Property Industrial was required to ensure the slab could withstand 29 tonnes from the automated pallet storage and retrieval system area.

Fire engineering considerations were another design triumph, with sprinklers built into the high bay racking.

Proven high bay success has sparked a trend in the industrial development industry, where more facilities will be built to reach new heights as land scarcity increases. Frasers Property Industrial received more inquiry for

Jaycar’s facility has 21,688 sqm of floorspace.

“

Frasers Property Industrial received more inquiry for pioneering high bay designs in the past three years than it did in the past 20 years, partly due to the proven cost efficiencies of the Jaycar facility.

”

pioneering high bay designs in the past three years than it did in the past 20 years, partly due to the proven cost efficiencies of the Jaycar facility.

Jaycar will save significant supply chain costs in the first year alone due to improved operational efficiencies owing to the design. High bay construction requires significant design input from the project engineering group and delivery team, with engineers, project managers and construction workers navigating structural steel, roof cladding and wall cladding requirements at more than 20m high.

Significant analysis of what sequence trade work should be performed in was undertaken. ■

The warehouse doubles the height of a normal facility.

52 | MHD DECEMBER 2021

“ The facility is Marley Spoon’s most environmentally friendly fulfilment centre.

MARLEY SPOON RAMPS UP PRODUCTION IN NEW FULFILMENT CENTRE Meal kit delivery company Marley Spoon began production in a new fulfilment centre in Sydney’s Wetherill Park in July 2021. The meal kit company’s brands – Marley Spoon and Dinnerly – grew substantially throughout 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the demand for reliable food delivery services.

In the 14,200sqm purpose-built, temperature-controlled fulfilment centre, Marley Spoon associates pick and pack fresh, dry and chilled ingredients and recipe cards for customers to cook at home into delicious meals. The nearly 250 Sydney staff working across production, sourcing, supply chain and people operations will now be based out of a facility that accommodates the growing demand of the meal kit business and allow for further innovations to improve the customer experience.

The facility features multiple cool rooms for repacking ingredients and storage, as well as an oversized cool room where staff members pack boxes on conveyor belts using a unique, selfdeveloped packing system.

In a highly competitive, consumer

driven industry, offering flexibility and choice have been at the heart of the meal kit company’s brands, so the purpose-built facility will allow further automation and efficiency, while also allowing the company to expand its offering to customers, including launching a brand new pet food business, bezzie.

The new facility is Marley Spoon’s greenest and most environmentally friendly production facility in the

In a highly competitive, consumer driven industry, offering flexibility and choice have been at the heart of the meal kit company’s brands, so the purpose-built facility will allow further automation and efficiency, while also allowing the company to expand its offering to customers, including launching a brand new pet food business, bezzie.

”

world. To achieve this, the company is preparing for a 5-Star (“Australian Excellence”) Green Star certification on the base building. Green Star is Australia’s only national, voluntary rating system for buildings and communities. With this in mind, the Wetherill Park facility has been outfitted with state of the art LED lights and motion sensors, 500kw solar PV systems, and rainwater harvesting systems. ■

Almost 250 staff work to pick and pack products.

MHD DECEMBER 2021 | 53

MHD ASCI

ASCI STATE OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT SURVEY

Associate Professor Flavio Macau, of Edith Cowan University – and ASCI’s WA Chapter President – talks with MHD about the ASCI State of Supply Chain Management Survey.

Flavio Macau, Associate Dean | School of Business and Law | Edith Cowan University, and ASCI WA Chapter President.

Associate Professor Macau, could you briefly describe your career and experience to date – either as a practitioner in supply chain, academic researcher, or both?

I started working at Mercedes-Benz in the mid 1990s, moving parts from Brazil to South Africa and China. In the 2000s I shifted to the resources industry and started my journey as an academic. My unique domain of expertise is global logistics, a topic in high demand due to COVID-19. In the past months I have talked about supply chain disruptions, parcel delivery challenges, and panic buying to ABC News, BBC, The Guardian, The Washington Post, and other media services.

When, how, and why did you join ASCI and what is your current role within the organisation?

I joined ASCI in 2019 to develop my network in Australia and New Zealand, and also benefit from the continued professional development opportunities.

This year I obtained my registration as an Operations Management professional and became president of the WA Chapter. My duties involve hosting and organising webinars, site visits, and networking events, contributing to the discussion of the future of SCM. 54 | MHD DECEMBER 2021

What is the ASCI State of Supply Chain Management Survey and how is it conducted?

The survey assesses the state of supply chains in Australia and New Zealand and offers a comprehensive picture of how businesses are navigating the COVID-19 storm. It provides benchmark across eight categories: Collaboration, Technology & Automation, Integration, Compliance & Regulation, Logistics & Distribution, Risk Management, Sustainability, and Procurement.

We found that most organisations collaborate with third parties, but rarely engage in joint new technology development. They recognise the emergence of automation, but few have a digitisation strategy. And while internal compliance and regulation are adequate, they rarely are extended to other tiers of the supply chain.

What were some of the most interesting insights you took away from these researches and the final report?

Collaboration is paramount. It has brought down the boundaries of mistrust and conflicting objectives, with 40 per cent of respondents sharing expertise with others. On supply chain integration challenges, geographical dispersion ranked last (7 per cent), evidencing that distance plays a minor role nowadays. Good service provision and guaranteed delivery date and time are the main criteria for selecting 3PL/4PL. Cost is important but not the top priority, especially given the many disruptions supply chains are facing. About 70 per cent of respondents report longer lead times and 60 per cent mention reduced container availability. Automation is key to face these challenges, with

“

The key to success is firmly based on more integration and collaboration through automation, effective risk management, and the revitalisation of the procurement function around sustainability.

”

cloud-based applications at the top of the technology list. While several organisations are working to manage their environmental impact, few collect data from suppliers on emissions (14 per cent). And geopolitical tensions are evident in that most opportunities in the next 12 months shifted from China to other countries.

What are the implications of these insights for supply chain professionals?

Organisations were faced with extraordinary disruptions this year: lockdowns, bottlenecks, supply scarcity, lower service levels, increased costs. The key to success is firmly based on more integration and collaboration through automation, effective risk management, and the revitalisation of the procurement function around sustainability. To achieve that, organisations must gather a pool of talented supply chain professionals like never before, able to cope with the unknowns, ready to up the game, and find opportunity in a difficulty market. ■

MHD ASCI

ASCI UPDATE The latest information and updates from the Australasian Supply Chain Institute.

AUSTRALASIAN SUPPLY CHAIN INSTITUTE CONTINUED PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT UPCOMING EVENTS AND PROGRAMS FIRST QUARTER OF 2022 APICS CPIM Part 1 (Basics of Supply Chain Management) - Online Certification Review 1 February to 12 April 2022 7.00pm - 9.00pm 11 sessions | online This 11-week short course is the first module of the APICS Certified in Planning & Inventory Management which is a designation held by over 130,000 supply chain practitioners all over the world.

APICS CSCP - Online Certification Review 7 February to 6 June 2022 7.00pm - 9.30pm 16 sessions | online Eight modules delivered over 16 weeks. The APICS Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP) program arms you with end-to-end supply chain knowledge to help you and your business remain competitive in today’s economy. Boost your confidence in supply chain management and master the skills needed to bring new ideas to suppliers, plants, and distributors while improving customer satisfaction.

With a CSCP Certification, you’ll gain valuable experience to effectively manage global supply chain efforts and implement essential concepts and strategies to improve day-to-day operations.

APICS CPIM Part 2 - Online Certification Review 17 February to 2 June 2022 7.00pm - 9.30pm

16 sessions | online This 16-week course covering eight modules, is the second part of the APICS Certified in Planning and Inventory Management which is a designation held by over 130,000 supply chain practitioners all over the world. It is a requirement that all students have completed CPIM Part 1 prior to commencing the course, please see ‘What’s on’ on our website to enrol in Part 1. The final exam is optional, however if passed with Part 1 certificate, allows participants to obtain their CPIM certificate.

APICS Certified in Logistics, Transport and Distribution (CLTD) - Online Certification Review 2 March to 25 May 2022 6.30pm - 9.30pm 13 sessions | online Certified in Logistics, Transportation and Distribution (CLTD) proves an in-depth understanding of how to streamline logistics, transportation and distribution including order management, distribution inventory management and warehouse management.

By earning the CLTD designation, you join a network of professionals in logistics, transportation and distribution who are dedicated to reducing their industry’s impact while providing new, innovative solutions.

This course is over 13 weeks and covers nine modules. ■ How to register: For all 2022 programs information and to register visit www. asci.org.au/events

ASCI CORPORATE MEMBERSHIP ASCI corporate membership is available for any group, organisation, industry body institution or business that wants to join ASCI and demonstrate its commitment to best practice and excellence, whilst ensuring its team’s proficiency in the supply chain industry.

ASCI membership provides access to professional pathways including complimentary practitioner registrations, global best practice knowledge, industry involvement and networks.

ASCI corporate members receive individual benefits for employees, including ASCI plus VIP prices for certifications, courses, complimentary tours and networking events and early bird releases.

For more information or to become a member visit ASCI website www.asci.org. au or contact enquiries@ asci.org.au.

Join ASCI and take the steps towards your professional career pathway now and for 2022. Membership starts at $275 with concessions available upon evidence of your employment situation or membership to another association. For more information on membership benefits please visit www.asci.org.au/join.

MHD DECEMBER 2021 | 55

MHD SCLAA

THE MARCH ASCL AWARDS Stephen Lakey, VIC/TAS Director for SCLAA, discusses the forthcoming ASCL Awards and his role chairing the 60th anniversary event.

Could you describe your background in the supply chain industry – your career and expertise?

I first joined SCLAA in 2008 as a member, I was elected President of the Victorian & Tasmanian Division in 2020 and I am currently a Director on the National board and Chair of the Australian Supply Chain & Logistics Awards (ASCLA). My other hat is a supply chain & logistics consultant at Gamma Solutions where I have worked for the past 13 years helping companies gain efficiencies and provide greater visibility of their supply chain.

What attracted you to SCLAA as organisation?

In 2008 I was given membership to the SCLAA as part of my employment with Gamma Solutions. When I later joined the VIC/TAS division committee I found an amazing group of people – dedicated to supply chain industry and supporting each other. I saw people grow in skills and gain confidence.

The ASCL Awards have been a landmark event for six decades.

I saw career advancement and newly graduated members get their dream jobs. It was something that I knew I wanted to be a part of.

Reflecting on the past six decades of ASCL awards, could you tell us why they remain such a pivotal event for the industry?

Sixty years is a long time and over the decades the ASCL Awards has cemented itself as the most recognised and influential awards in supply chain. Supply chain is invisible to most people when working well – the right goods get delivered to the right place at the right time. We can take it for granted. The past 18 months has of course put the spotlight on supply chain as many disruptions have slowed or even paused the movement of goods around the world – putting immense pressure on supply chain professionals globally. That’s why this year, in particular, recognising the efforts & achievements of those in the industry are more important than ever.

Stephen Lakey, VIC/TAS Director for SCLAA. How do you feel about chairing this forthcoming ASCL awards?

Given the history of this event it is a great honour to Chair the event this year – and wonderful to bring the event to Melbourne. Our generous sponsors have meant we have an amazing venue at Crown Palladium while keeping ticket prices affordable.

We’ve noted in previous editions that there are some new awards categories at the next ASCL awards – could you recapitulate what these new categories are and how and why they were chosen?

This year there are three new awards that reflect the forever changing landscape of supply chain. Technology and innovation are key drivers of supply chain efficiency and the new categories reflect areas that have had a significant and increasing impact on our industry.

The new awards are: • Automation, Robotics or Emerging Technology Award; • Big Data, IT & Business Intelligence Award; and • Start-Up Award.

Is it exciting to have Shane Jacobsen on board as MC for the event?

We are so thrilled that Shane has agreed to MC the 60th Anniversary Awards.

The MC of the awards is a key role and

56 | MHD DECEMBER 2021

MHD SCLAA

can make or break an awards event. We had discussions internally and with several talent agencies who all came back with the same suggestion – that Shane Jacobsen would be perfect to MC the awards. It was really uncanny given all the talent out there – so I think it was meant to be. Shane of course is best known for his lead role in the Australian 2006 hit move Kenny where he won an AFI award for best lead actor and has appeared alongside Hollywood greats in movies such as The Bourne Legacy, The Dressmaker, and The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee – just to name a few.

Shane will bring elements of wit, humour, and star power to this year’s awards.

Could you provide some background on Keynote Speaker Shane Walden?

The keynote speaker’s address is the meat in the sandwich of the awards – it’s the time where you sit up and listen to an industry heavyweight discuss a subject that really matters. Shane Walden is MD of ANL container line, which is part of the CMA group – the third largest shipping line globally.

Shane will be speaking on the hot topic of challenges in the global shipping market

“

Sixty years is a long time and over the decades the ASCL Awards has cemented itself as the most recognised and influential awards in Supply Chain.

”

and – specifically – in our area, Oceania.

Shane is a genuinely approachable person and a very connectable speaker – I am looking forward to hearing his insights on an industry that has been the focus of attention over the past 18 months.

Why was the decision made to move the event from November to March?

We have been working closely with the team at Crown Events and, given the outlook, it was ultimately an easy decision to move the awards to March. The ASCLA awards is very much a national awards and the restrictions on interstate travel would have meant that many people would not have been able to attend or even be presented with their awards. The March date is considered a safe month by most observers and we have a digital option on standby if for any reason a state or states go into lockdown at short notice. In that case the event will still be held live – and for anyone in a lockdown state they could be presented virtually on the big screen digitally. We also have a lenient ticketing policy should ticket holders not be able to attend due to a COVID-lockdown. ■

Cubiscans & DWS Systems Supercharge your Warehouse Management System with accurate SKU dimensional master data Cubiscans Automate the capture and export to your host WMS, TMS, or FMS precise SKU, partcel, or pallet cubic and weight in real time. Systems Integration is a standard value offer from Diverseco.

In-Motion Dimension-Weigh-Scan (DWS) Systems Capture legal-for-trade weight and dimensions of outbound parcels in a DC or express freight facility.

Dimensioning Automation For scanning items into custody and determining sortation lane destinations from information embedded in parcel item barcode data.

Diverseco: Weighing, Dimensioning, Robotics, Packaging, and Inspection.

MHD SUPPLY CHAIN

SUPPLY CHAINS ARE A ‘PEOPLE BUSINESS’ AND THE PRESSURE IS ON The Australian Logistics Council explains why the end-to-end supply chain faces a looming talent shortage, with demand for skilled professionals expected to outstrip supply by six to one by 2023.

Less than 15 per cent of the trucking industry are under the age of 30.

S

killed workforce shortages were a problem pre-pandemic, but the closure of international borders has further impacted the ability of employers to recruit staff in areas ranging from truck driving to the engineering skills necessary to deliver sophisticated infrastructure.

The freight and logistics sector is evolving and with it are the needs and skills of its workforce. While over 600,000 workers are currently employed, this will need to increase to service growing populations and 58 | MHD DECEMBER 2021

rapidly increasing consumer demand.

A recent Deakin University study showed demand for skilled professionals is expected to outstrip supply by six to one by 2023.

COVID-19 challenges including international border restrictions affecting skilled migration, a sharp increase in e-commerce and disrupted training programs have exacerbated labour shortages, placing the industry under real pressure. However, the broader structural challenges have predated the pandemic.

Truck drivers have certainly been the focus both here and globally.

Dominated by an ageing workforce, less than 15 per cent of the trucking industry are under the age of 30, and because the average age of a commercial truck driver is 53, many are retiring faster than younger drivers can be hired. Truck driver shortages have also dominated global supply chain headlines this year. Britain reports a shortage of 100,000 drivers, while the US reports needing 80,000. In Australia, anecdotally, we know there

MHD SUPPLY CHAIN are thousands of vacancies across the supply chain for heavy vehicle drivers.

It’s not just on the road where we have a problem, rail freight has recruitment challenges as well with shortages of drivers, signalling engineers, maintenance workers and broader roles to meet construction projects that expect to peak in 2025.

Data management and data literacy form newer skill sets that have emerged to meet evolving supply chain needs. As the supply chain continues to digitise, these skills are essential to support an increasingly automated environment and mitigate growing cybersecurity risks. As organisations continue to evolve we are witnessing a swell in demand for new skills in the fields of robotics and artificial intelligence, data manipulation, and ‘softer’ skills that enable humans and machines to become effective co-workers.

Meeting these skills shortages is a challenge but also an opportunity to build on some of the momentum and visibility the supply chain has generated through COVID, to showcase what a great career choice the sector can be.

Research commissioned by Wayfinder and undertaken by Deakin University’s Centre for Supply Chain and Logistics (CSCL) Talent and Capability Laboratory found that there were some recurring themes when it came to recruitment challenges in the freight and logistics sector including a poor image, education gaps and difficulties of attracting staff to the regions or outer urban areas.

Organisation leaders have been proactive in setting up programs to promote career pathways and attract more diversity into the workforce. Initiatives including the Inland Rail Skills Academy and digital career maps such as Wayfinder have gone some way to address labour needs.

There’s more to do and governments

“

Organisation leaders have been proactive in setting up programs to promote career pathways and attract more diversity into the workforce.

Initiatives including the Inland Rail Skills Academy and digital career maps such as Wayfinder have gone some way to address labour needs.

”

have a role to play.

To address workforce shortages and at the urging of the Australian Government, the Transport and Logistics Industry Reference Committee (IRC) is proposing a new Heavy Vehicle Driver Apprenticeship in response to calls to professionalise the Heavy Vehicle Driver occupation. The apprenticeship is a medium-term solution that will hopefully address driver shortages across Australia, create career pathways and ensure the safety of workers and all other road users.

Additionally, Infrastructure and Transport Ministers have supported the creation of a National Rail Skills Hub to improve access and pathways to the current and future rail skills needed to build and operate the national rail network.

OTHER INITIATIVES THAT SUPPLY CHAIN PARTICIPANTS ARE PUSHING FOR INCLUDE: • Apprentice level training programs to assist smaller operators with access to trained staff for data and cybersecurity requirements.

• Establishing infrastructure as a standalone category in the Global Talent Visa Program, to help technical road and rail construction shortfalls.

• Recognising truck drivers as a shortage on the Priority Skilled Occupations List will also provide businesses with access to an international skilled talent pool.

As an industry we can also work to build on the sector’s image and the visibility generated through the pandemic – to promote the breadth of career opportunities and pathways, as well as the growing diversity of the workforce.

Investing in our future skills will yield benefits beyond local economic growth, ensuring our supply chain will remain resilient and globally competitive. ■

MHD DECEMBER 2021 | 59

REIMAGINING T H E S U P P LY C H A I N

PROUD PARTNER

Department of Transport

S U P P O R T I N G S P ONS OR

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M E L B O U R N E C O N V E N T I O N & E H

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W I L L N OW TA K E P L AC E F R O M

24-26 AUGUST

I B I T I O N

One of the first trade expos post-COVID, MEGATRANS is the critical event for the freight and logistics supply chain to get your brand in front of customers again.

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CO N F E RE N C E SP O N SO R S

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MHD PRODUCT SHOWCASE

AUTOMATE YOUR FLOOR CLEANING PROCESS WITH NEO 2 BY AVIDBOTS Designed for cleaning and sanitising vast commercial spaces with hard-flooring, Neo 2 by Avidbots delivers a fully autonomous floor clean that is efficient, consistent and measurable. With Neo 2 autonomously cleaning the floors, organisations can reallocate their workforce labour to revenue-generating activities. With advanced dynamic planning and real-time obstacle avoidance, Neo 2 maximises cleaning productivity while minimising human intervention. Neo 2 is a world-leading, fully autonomous, floorscrubbing robot platform.

To find out more, visit www.avidbots.com

BONFIGLIOLI’S A-SERIES The A Series of helical bevel gearmotors remains a firm favourite in the materials handling and logistics industry.

The A Series combines high efficiency and reliability, low maintenance costs and a wide torque range. The right-angle layout between INPUT and OUTPUT makes the A Series particularly compact. The gear set combination makes this right-angle product the most efficient and durable in Bonfiglioli’s light- and medium-duty portfolio. The A Series can be completed with a wide range of electric motors entirely manufactured by Bonfiglioli. Asynchronous motors both IEC and compact (BN-BE-BX/M-ME-MX), servomotors (BMD) and reluctance motors (BSR) can be coupled with the A Series.

For more information, visit www.bonfiglioli.com/australia/en/

MICROLISTICS WMS SOLUTION

ADIONA TECH’S ROUTE PLANNING PLATFORM

Featuring hundreds of enhancements to the core Microlistics WMS platform, the new release of the Microlistics WMS offering includes a fully managed cloud offering, a consumer-grade user interface for touchscreen Android RF devices, re-engineered web portal and warehouse insights modules and streamlined integration of hardware automation.

Adiona’s powerful route planning and optimisation engine is used to power millions of global deliveries and is adapted specifically for Australian conditions. Its proprietary machine learning engine automatically adapts the routing to real traffic conditions and road network differences between metro areas and regional areas, enabling customers to achieve over 99.5% on-time and in-full deliveries across many industries such as FMCG, grocery and meal kits, retail, parcels, and more. Adiona has a unique licensing model with unlimited users and vehicles that scales predictably to the size of the business. It features a fast and easy integration capability to a range of ERP and TMS systems, and it is also commonly used as a network planning and simulation tool for innovative business models.

With new eLearning materials, the update enhances interactions for all parties engaging with the warehouse management system – starting with ground floor operators, through to upper management, suppliers, customers and other third parties.

The new version will be deployed standard in all new Microlistics WMS implementations and as an upgrade for existing customers.

For more information, visit www.adionatech.com

For more information, visit www.microlistics.com

MHD DECEMBER 2021 | 61

MHD PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

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

JLL ADDS NEW NATIONAL HEAD OF INDUSTRIAL BROKERAGE SERVICES

ESTORE LOGISTICS RECRUITS NEW LOGISTICS LEADER

Greg Pike has joined JLL as National Head of Industrial Brokerage Services to grow institutional leasing on a

Duane Smile has recently joined the eStore Logistics team as the Continuous Improvement Lead. He is a skilled logistician, project manager, and

national level, connecting the company’s industrial brokerage teams around the country. Greg has more than 17 years of industrial property experience.

continuous improvement professional, with experience managing complex supply chains . He has previously worked for the US Marine Corps, Linfox, Toll Group and Ixom.

NEW PROJECT DIRECTOR AT DEMATIC

TMX RECRUITS NEW MANAGER TO NZ TEAM

Dematic has appointed Oliver Baumann as Project Director, leading Dematic’s teams in the delivery of projects in Australia and New Zealand. Oliver is a self-driven Engineer (M.Sc.) with 25 years international

Ailish Swinbank has recently joined the TMX NZ team as the Project Manager, Construction. She has delivered large infrastructure projects

and national experience in construction.

He has effectively delivered multiple complex projects as Project Director in Tier 1 companies for blue-chip customers – creating value and transforming business.

in the United Kingdom and several land development projects in New Zealand. Most recently, Ailish has been working on a large automated ambient distribution centre in South Auckland.

Do you have career news to share? Email Edward Cranswick at Edward.Cranswick@primecreative.com.au to be featured.

62 | MHD DECEMBER 2021

UP TO

17.2m IN HEIGHT

Increase productivity up to 25% with a more efficient route Crown TSP Series Auto Positioning System

Productivity. Safety. Accuracy.

The optional Auto Positioning System available on the TSP Series very narrow aisle turret truck guides the forklift along the most effective route to the next rack location, increasing productivity up to 25% and improving pick accuracy. In addition, the TSP Series’ optional Auto Fence feature helps promote safety by automatically slowing travel speed and stopping or limiting truck height within the very narrow aisle based on its location.

To learn how Crown’s Automation Solutions can help maximise productivity, call 131 604 or visit crown.com.

crown.com