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Reshaping PV Technology
FEATURE
The Pressure is On
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As the supply chains of the supermarket industry face great pressure, companies must make their processes more sustainable and future-proof
By Alain Kaddoum, General Manager
Swisslog Middle East T he world is crippling with the adverse effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Border restrictions and lockdown measures were bound to cause a massive negative short-term impact on consumer spending, investments, and disruptions to international trade. On the other hand, the disrupted manufacturing operations around the world have definitely impacted the global supply chains. The most vulnerable sectors hit by the pandemic include automotive, textiles, electronics, and companies who rely heavily or solely on factories in China for parts and materials.
and Oxford Economics, Beyond COVID 19: Supply Chain Resilience Holds Key to Recovery, the pandemic has produced an unprecedented global supply chain crisis.
The global supply chain crisis came about due primarily to the pandemic creating temporary ‘manufacturing deserts’, whereby a city, region or a whole country’s output dries up so substantially due to lockdown conditions, they become a no-go zone to source anything apart from essential items such as foodstuffs and pharmaceuticals. It could also be attributed to a lack of understanding and flexibility of the multiple layers of a company’s global supply chains and a lack of diversification in their sourcing strategies. Due to an increased demand from stakeholders, companies struggled to take efficient action to be able to mobilise rapidly, set up crisis management mechanisms and build the supply chain resilience that would help them rebound in 2021.
The need of the hour is for businesses to focus on how to minimise supply chain disruption and to adjust rapidly to a changing landscape.
Covid-19 is now termed as the black swan event, and it is forcing many companies to rethink and transform their global supply chain model, making them more future-proof and sustainable.
Companies that implemented automation prior to the crisis are able to navigate their businesses easily, keeping up with similar levels of productivity by relying on automated activities or robots catering to the increase in demand. Automation processes can be devised to tackle a lot of challenges caused by Covid-19. For example, during the pandemic the local grocery stores were witnessing rapid surges in e-grocery sales and the industry was throttled by persistent labour shortages, traditional fulfilment models, and last-mile delivery challenges. Automation can help grocers monitor the inventories in real-time and automatically notify customers once the product is back in stock.
The automated warehouse solutions and the right automation technology can help grocers move their e-grocery fulfilment beyond manual picking. Other important benefits during such challenging times are energy-saving options for businesses, smart execution of processes with higher efficiency with less spending on utilities,
and other elements crucial to any business. Automation solutions for grocers can and should be customised for each business to fit their e-fulfilment strategy in the best way. When every second is valuable, such a modernisation project can actually be executed on the side without disruption to the main operations. This allows a business to continue its work, while upskilling.
The flexible, data-driven, and robotic solutions, such as a hub-and-spoke arrangement, a bolt-on store automation approach, microfulfilment centres or a fully automated grocery store, enable grocers to meet rapidly changing customer demands and make their operations more sustainable while allowing them to leverage new technologies as they emerge.
Hub-and-Spoke Arrangements enable an automated fulfilment centre to assemble orders for all non-perishable items and then bulk ship to the stores where they are topped off with perishable items, thus allowing the fulfilment facility and automation system to be designed hand-in-hand and eliminating the space limitations imposed by integrating automation into existing retail locations.
