As the economy recovers from the effects of COVID lockdowns and the country continues to struggle with supply chain shortages, the world ahead looks very different for the warehousing sector. The acceleration of ecommerce and the departure of the UK from the European Union have both exacerbated labour shortages, while also driving the imperative for increased automation and digitalisation.
These issues, together with the need to embrace more sustainable practices towards meeting government’s net zero targets, are key topics for the UK Warehousing Association (UKWA).
There has been much focus on the lack of HGV drivers, but the true picture is of labour shortages across the logistics and supply chain industry, including in warehouses. As part of a strategy to address this situation, UKWA has linked up with organisations such as Tempus Novo, which supports ex-offenders in finding employment as part of a rehabilitation programme and DS WorkFit, the employment programme delivered by the Down’s Syndrome Association, to increase social inclusivity and significantly extend the available pool of people able to work hard and deliver results. Currently, fewer than 6% of people with a learning difficulty are in paid employment: surely we can do better than that. Meanwhile, UKWA is part of an industry-led coalition of supporters for Think Logistics, picking up the slack where the national curriculum and careers advice for those at schools and colleges routinely ignore our sector.
The way children imagine warehouse work is usually quite different from the reality. We believe the perceived lack of development opportunities creates a barrier to recruitment in warehousing, so UKWA is also looking closely at training support. Unfortunately, there are not enough high quality sector-specific courses available – nor much in the way of government funding, so our plans for the coming year include a major overhaul of our own training offering. Indeed, training and career development will be the theme for our forthcoming UKWA National Conference in March 2022.
UKWA will continue to support Members as they embrace robotics and digitalisation too. We understand that for many SMEs the challenges range from costs to operational disruption, but we are keen to highlight the opportunities to introduce automation in a small way initially. The Association has been working in partnership with the University of Cambridge Institute for Manufacturing on their ‘Digital Logistics on a Shoestring’ project to explore such options, and we are also supporting the University of Bath in their research project, aimed at understanding the barriers to adopting automation in our sector.
On sustainability, we are encouraging our Members to look at greener options on lighting, electric MHE and more, as well as feeding into the UK Green Business Council (UKGBC) vision for achieving Net Zero by 2050. While transport accounts for 25% of carbon emissions in Europe, 11% is from embodied carbon in the built environment, of which warehousing is of course, a critical part.
New practices are forging the future of warehousing, many warehouse operators are already closely involved with customer returns and increasingly are handling repairs, saving miles and supporting sustainability. New locations for warehouses, closer to centres of population, are facilitating efficient home delivery, generating jobs and reducing road miles.
UKWA is proud to represent – and provide a powerful voice for – this exciting, dynamic, essential industry, and we look forward to continuing to play our part as the future unfolds.
Clare Bottle
UKWA, CEO
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