MHD WAREHOUSING
There are a number of best practices warehouses can implement to manage the challenge of COVID-19.
THE CHANGING FACE OF WAREHOUSES
Will social distancing, swipe cards and shift patterns become the new norm? Raghav Sibal, Managing Director for Australia and New Zealand at Manhattan Associates offers his thoughts on how warehouses are set to change during and post COVID-19.
W
e are currently witnessing a time of unparalleled polarisation within different sections of the global economy. The impact of COVID-19 on economies around the world has resulted in massive increases in redundancies, wiping out much of the positive growth since 2008. However, there are green shoots of recovery emerging, with some organisations and sectors experiencing record levels of consumer demand. Warehouses servicing the grocery sector are certainly one of the areas performing strongly. Only last year the warehouse sector was experiencing a shortage in skilled warehouse workers, leading to fulfilment challenges around seasonal peaks such as Click Frenzy, Black Friday and Boxing Day Sales. Fast 46 | MHD JUNE 2020
forward six months and with so much labour now seemingly available you could be forgiven for thinking that the challenges of the last decade would now be a thing of the past – not so unfortunately. Instead, the challenges of 2019 have given way to a whole raft of new ones that COVID-19 has been a direct or indirect catalyst for, and which have fundamentally changed how warehouses operate.
EMPLOYEE AND TECHNOLOGY FLEXIBILITY The restrictions and rigidity of certain systems and business models have been put under the microscope recently and there is a growing recognition of the need for flexible and agile solutions
across all sections of the supply chain. But more than that, in a post COVID-19 environment, warehouse operations will likely be measured by more than just productivity and efficiency levels (while these will always remain important); they will also be measured by much ‘softer’ drivers too. As supply chains were put under pressure due to COVID-19 consumer demands - in particular for items like toilet paper, non-perishable foods or personal protective equipment warehouse staff had to step up their work output at the same time many others stayed at home. Now with the easing of lock down restrictions across Australia, the warehouse of tomorrow will need to put enhanced measures in place to support key supply chain
