Rajesh Jagg i, Vice Chairman– Real Estate

rajesh jaggi

With the lockdown being lifted in most parts of the country and subsequent resumption of manufacturing operations, the pent-up demand for new supply of warehousing space is bound to increase, states Rajes h Jaggi,

Vice Chair man– Real Est ate , Eversto ne

Gro up. In an exclusive interaction with Ajeet Kumar, the expert elaborates that the focus will now be to maintain the highest degree of hygiene and safety standards in the warehouses, a situation of opportunity wherein organised nationallevel players will gain a competitive advantage over the unorganised ones.

launched the Tenant Communication App for easier and faster communica tion with our customers and responding quickly to their queries/requests. Additionally, we have been main taining good hygiene and safety standards at all our warehouses for staff and stakeholder wellbeing. We are Warehousing is a pivotal link assuring that everyone wears protective mask and uses sani tisers from time to time. Daily in the logistics sector in India temperature checks are con ducted, and all private and transportation vehicles are dis infected while entering the premises. Besides, we regularly H ow has your organisation been providing customer experience during the lockdown? virus since the beginning of its out break. We prepared, circulated and im plemented new standard operating pro cedures for maintaining smooth opera sanitise our premises and provide train ing to create awareness so as to curb the spread of the virus. Going forward, we plan to develop The priority for IndoSpace since the tions of our customers. We started peria roadmap for contactless digital opera beginning of the lockdown was to en odic communication, which continues tions with the perspective to further sure accurate planning, robust commutill today, about consistency in protocols enable digital customer experience nication, and seamless execution of opof international standards that we had transformation. erations. All our industrial and logistics set in motion to assure our tenants pre parks stepped up to the challenge and ventive measures and high operating The consumer sentiment being designed contingency and operational standards at all times. low now and considering economic frameworks to provide solutions to cus IndoSpace activated its business con downturn, what will be the scenario tomers promptly. tinuity plan in the middle of March for of warehousing services in the

Taking a cue from its international retaining the growth, ensuring service country in next couple of months? partners, IndoSpace had taken proactive excellence and safety and normalising Warehousing is a pivotal link in the logismeasures to prevent the spread of the the business sooner as possible. We tics sector in India and has been consid

ered as an essential service, due to which the sector was completely functional even during the successive lockdowns.

With the lockdown being lifted in most parts of the country and subse quent resumption of manufacturing operations, the pent-up demand for new supply of warehousing space is bound to increase.

We expect that to counter uncertain ties in the manufacturing process, companies will opt for larger inventory stock at warehouses instead of just-in-time operations, which in turn, will lead to greater demand for warehousing space. The shift could also come in the form of network realignment and de-consolida tion to mitigate risks.

Experts say the industry will also see a lot of automation across industries with less staff and more of machines doing the job. Is this a curious case of commercial consideration or a busi ness continuity necessity? Even before the COVID crisis surfaced, there has been a conscious shift towards technological advancement, modernisa tion and optimisation of warehousing operations along with the increased fo cus on developing Grade A infrastructure facilities and amenities.

Only large players can afford the transition to automation as technology is a matter of capital, and this trend is not expected to shift in the short-term. If COVID persists for a longer period and affects operations, then companies may decide to adopt technology faster as compared to pre-COVID times, which will have a profound impact on human intervention.

Do you see some modal shifts in the way the industry had been working earlier? How have you contributed to the objectives? Increased demand for efficient logistics space that facilitates quick movement of goods to consumers has necessitated the shift from Grade B to Grade A ware houses. According to a JLL report, India’s Grade A warehouse inventory reached 88 mn sq ft in 2019 from 65 mn sq ft a year ago. The share of total ware housing stock increased to 42 per cent in 2019 from 38 per cent in 2018.

Grade A warehouses are better equipped for efficient material handling along with access to the latest technolo We remain the torchbearer in the country’s contemporary industrial and warehousing space and continue to redefine and push the limits of endurance and sustainability.

gies. The facilities have ample clear height, optimised column spacing, flat and super-flat floors designed to support high cube racking, high dock-door ratios and extensive concrete truck courts. They allow abundant creativity in lay ing out the plant and equipment and also the smooth movement of people and vehicles inside buildings, resulting in optimised turnaround time and low er logistics cost.

IndoSpace is the only national net work in India providing Grade A worldclass light industrial and warehousing facilities. We remain the torchbearer in the country’s contemporary industrial and warehousing space and continue to redefine and push the limits of endur ance and sustainability.

Safety measures and risk management policies should be put in place and must be adequate to eliminate, control or minimise the impact of unforeseen situations that might impact manufacturing/ logistics operations.

Can we expect more automation coming into the entire supply chain for the handling of cargo in a multi modal network?

The world has been moving toward automation since the past few years; however we also need humans to run those machines. The scale of operations and size of warehouses influences auto mation decisions for boosting potential performance. Globally renowned and organised players may afford to auto mate processes but the unorganised ones will take more time to catch up on that front. How can the logistics ecosystem players need to gear up in support ing India’s dream of becoming a manufacturing hub? The presence of warehousing hubs at vantage points, i.e. in proximity to man ufacturing and consumption centres will boost the logistics ecosystem. The locations should meet the demand for modern, large, world-class warehousing and storage facilities with enhanced connectivity.

Warehousing providers should have the ability to quickly scale up/down to smooth out demand and supply fluctua tions. Safety measures and risk management policies should be put in place and must be adequate to eliminate, control or minimise the impact of unforeseen situations that might impact manufac turing/logistics operations.

How long do you estimate it would take for our industry to get back to business as usual? What will be the growth drivers? The advent of the pandemic have currently slowed down the growth rate of the warehousing sector, but the same is expected to pick up the pace in the last quarter of FY 2021. We anticipate strong growth in the medium-to long-term. However, in the short-term, we need to remain watchful of the changing busi ness climate.

Certain policy-level decisions are expected to be launched this year to cope with the variable demand-supply metric post-COVID-19. Also, the focus will now be to maintain the highest de gree of hygiene and safety standards in the warehouses, a situation of opportu nity wherein organised national-level players will gain a competitive advan tage over the unorganised ones.

What are the areas industry professionals globally need to keep an eye on, and put up a unified front? In these times of crisis, we believe that a knowledge-sharing mechanism should be developed by all of the world’s coun tries, wherein best practices are shared to deal with the crisis effectively and to adapt and rise.

The industry can also plan to de velop industry-specific standard operating procedures and conduct trainings/ certifications for warehouse operators for managing pandemic risks.