Warehousing is changing. Post-pandemic, the impact of the e-commerce explosion during lockdown has put our sector in the spotlight as never before. Our role has become more complex and the days of warehouses as simple facilities for storage and despatch are long gone.
One of the key changes has been the growth of Value Added Services, where responsibility for product assembly, customisation, specialist packaging and more, has been devolved downstream to warehouses by manufacturers and upstream by retailers.
Naturally, this increases the importance of warehousing in the supply chain, driving cost-efficiencies as well as more sustainable practices and – where Value Added Services include returns and recycling – contributing to the circular economy.
There are many examples. For instance, the confectionary for Celebration chocolates is shipped separately in boxes of individual flavours, then the distinctive red tubs are filled with the correct mix of each popular variety at DHL’s East Midlands facility, ready to be called off on demand. This ‘postponement’ means that inventory can be managed better, transportation is more efficient, and fewer goods go to waste.
Recently, UKWA led a visit to Amazon’s Fulfilment Centre in Daventry with our first cohort of Warehouse Management learners, where we saw a demonstration of the company’s on-site T-shirt printing facility. Thousands of SKUs are available, with blank T-shirts of every colour, size and style being held in readiness to be printed: made to order for major events such as St Patrick’s Day or the Rugby World Cup.
UKWA recognises the significance of these activities within our industry, at our annual Awards for Excellence. Last year, the trophy for Value Added Services was won by Malcolm Logistics and customer Diageo for their management of Merchandising Units (MUs), specially configured pallets used as display-stands in the major supermarkets.
Key challenges included the seasonal nature of alcoholic drink sales, the variety in size and capacity of the MUs, the wide range of bottles, packaging designs and promotional materials, and the build and transportation of the units.
The scale of the Value Added Services requirement from Diageo resulted in Malcolm converting a dedicated facility in Glasgow to manage the production of the MUs. 100,000 sq ft of warehousing is available to house base packaging and wet goods stock and hold up to 10 days finished inventory for Diageo, with a flexible multi-workstation MU pre-assembly and production environment incorporated into the HMRC Bonded space.
If you excel in Value Added Services or have an innovative project that you’re proud of, we’re actively seeking entries to our UKWA Awards for Excellence 2023 via our website right now – and we’d love to hear from you!
Clare Bottle
UKWA, CEO
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