MHD E-COMMERCE
EMERGING LOGISTICS TRENDS AND TECHNOLOGIES
Stockland explores what changes have occurred in the logistics industry throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. It tells MHD how revolutionary technology such as warehouse automation and data analytics – to name a few – are shaping the ever-increasing area of e-commerce with commentary from Craig Lenarduzzi, the company’s National Development Manager for Logistics.
M
any trends and technologies have emerged in response to COVID-19 driven disruption and increased demand for logistics space. Restrictions on people’s movements and social distancing requirements are impacting how industrial occupiers use their space. There’s been an increase in warehouse automation, more importance placed on data and analytics, artificial intelligence, and hub-and-spoke supply chain models (Source 2021 Asia Pacific Logistics Occupier Survey). Smart warehouse technologies have seen rapid uptake in recent years and play a key role in helping e-commerce platforms improve efficiency, augment order handling capacity, and address manual labour shortages. The use of robotics in logistics property continues to rise as integrated technology solutions support the speed and efficiency of supply chains. Stockland’s logistics portfolio provides modern facilities already designed to accommodate potential future changes for our customers. Automation and robotics have boomed in industrial property – another trend that we are supporting through an open management style and deploying facilities designed to allow for future automation, driven by the rise of e-commerce, such as appropriate floor loads, access, and racking heights.
AUTONOMOUS TRUCKING CBRE has examined how autonomous trucking technology will impact industrial real estate and concluded it will profoundly shape the 32 | MHD JUNE 2022
Yennora Distribution Centre, NSW. logistics sector in Australia. With the adoption of electric and driverless trucks, the trucking industry will be able to cut both its fuel and labour costs, shifting its focus toward building technological systems that can meet the demand for goods more efficiently while focusing more on inventory and occupancy costs. As future vehicles become increasingly autonomous, we will see direct effects on logistics facilities, from electric and selfdriving trucks. 1. Lower transport costs will mean that, at a given level, a supply chain will need fewer warehouses. It is expected this will strengthen the already visible trend of warehouse consolidation and increase in scale. As a result, there are likely to be fewer but larger warehouses being built in remote locations. 2. Last-mile delivery facilities will be crucial elements in the network, as they need to be able to make the modal shift from diesel to electric. They will need to be able to receive large (semi-) automated truck convoys and deploy electric city delivery vehicles. The sites will of course need to be equipped with extensive battery loading stations. 3. All warehouses will need a courtyard that allows automatic manoeuvring,
accommodating the self-driving trucks as they pass to and from facilities. Automated driving will allow driver restrictions to be relaxed, increasing both distance and coverage and thereby bringing remote storage locations into play. The result will be lower delivery costs for the consumer; with compression in industrial and distribution cost structures, e-commerce sales likely will increase. In Asia Pacific, several governments, in partnership with private companies and universities, are road testing self-driving technology, with Australia, Singapore, Japan and China leading the region. In late 2015, Volvo partnered with industry bodies to road-test autonomous vehicles in southern Australia. The rise of self-driving trucks will lead to growth in IT infrastructure and data centres, as there will be a need for real-time traffic data and for providers to be located near their end users (source: Automated Trucking - a CBRE Research Perspective, 2017). This proliferation will support the development of the “Internetof-Things,” with electronic sensors and software devices, vehicles, buildings, and other items collecting and exchanging data.
