Following the increase in rental rates for new warehousing in the UK, shortages of warehouse labour, rising employment costs and volatile market conditions, we are seeing a step change in attitude from businesses in their logistics strategies. In the face of this uncertainty, companies are carefully considering their investment decisions and long-term cost commitments, focusing on maximising the use of their existing assets and infrastructure before committing to further investments.
These critical decisions are balanced with commercial objectives around sales growth, protecting market share and maintaining sufficient contingency stock to protect against interruptions in their supply chains.
Key elements of these long-term strategies will include:
- Reviewing inventory management processes – are you actively managing stock levels and clearing redundant SKUs?
- Managing processes to optimise use of your existing distribution infrastructure e.g. reviewing minimum order quantities and ordering patterns
- Redesigning warehouse layouts to maximise the cube of the facility e.g. consideration of dense storage solutions and ensuring layouts are aligned to the likely future needs of the business
- Promoting a Continuous Improvement culture of reviewing warehouse processes and opportunities to eliminate waste
- Taking a long-term view on how technology and automation can increase productivity to provide future cost certainty when preparing business cases
- Reviewing which elements of the supply chain can be outsourced to maximise the use of your own assets e.g. strategic external storage and optimal use of transport subcontractors
Davies & Robson has extensive experience of helping businesses restructure their logistics networks across all industry sectors through our team of warehousing and transport experts.
If you would like to know how we could help your business, please call Davies & Robson on 01327 349090 for an informal discussion.
Clients Include:
- The Wine Society
- Currie Solutions
- The Entertainer
- Wetherspoon
- London Fire Brigade
- Martin Brower
- Kilwaughter
- Glen Dimplex
