If there is one trend that is making warehouse management more challenging it must surely be the impact of online shopping on facilities management, already a broad church, but now one that is calling for a revision of long-standing practices. This is especially so in the area of warehouse security which is undergoing a sea-change. But the e-commerce revolution is also having its impact on the need for temporary buildings which can give that competitive edge of flexibility to cope with even daily changes in production layouts caused by the e-commerce dynamic periods.
This article was first published in the March 1st 2020 issue of Warehouse & Logistics News, subscribe to the magazine by clicking here.
A good example of the latter is Coprisystems supply of a 4,000ft extension to Sports Wear International that gave it the flexibility to transform the space into a different working layout every day. These structures, says Coprisystems, have never been more relevant than in the world of e-commerce. But the need for such buildings is also driven by the need for keeping options open, says Spaciotempo, another provider, owing to the Brexit uncertainties, but it warns to make sure dealings are with companies that will be around for the longer term to provide dedicated customer care to help with any future building changes.
Temporary is something of a misnomer for these buildings because they can last 25 years or more, providing most of the facilities one would need at a fraction of the cost of permanent buildings. Whether bought or rented, another valuable attribute is their relocatable aspect owing to their modular design, an asset that shines through an insulated structure supplied by Aganto for Unipart Logistics Nuneaton waste management processing centre.
Site security has always been part of facilities management but such is its changing nature brought on by the changing logistics landscape forced by e-commerce that management might care to unburden building facilities managers with this growing responsibility. The fact is that losses within the logistics sector due to theft are rising, with very specific consequences because online retailing has changed the face of a retailer relationship with their customers.
In pre-internet days whole pallet loads moved from warehouses to shops but now far more single item picking and packing occurs in e-fulfilment centres which means the thieves within are much more of a risk than those without. This means the emphasis has gone from keeping perimeters and buildings safe from external breach to protecting products from internal threat. Break-ins from outside are much rarer now than theft based on inside knowledge. Consequently, there has been a reduction in the use of alarms and big developments in technology that does more than just flag a breach of security. Now technology provides early alerts of unusual activity with detailed feedback of where and when it was detected.
If these thefts are serious enough to prevent promised delivery times to online customers, then dissatisfaction can be aired online to a wide audience and so future business could be permanently lost. This can reflect on the carriers as well as suppliers and so security assumes critical importance. If that were not disturbing enough there is also the growing risk of cyber crime.
Arguably, security should now be a board-level responsibility rather than the traditional facilities management. Clearly, it has become far more complex and so that is where outsourcing the security function would not only allow warehouse operators more time to focus on their core capabilities but also reassure them that they can leverage the experience of security professionals. Such outside providers, like Cordant Security, can also provide a more holistic approach across the whole of the supply chain, including manufacturing and logistics.
Bill Redmond, Features Editor
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