The very definition of warehousing has evolved to a much larger context in terms of providing value-added services and customization to customers. Shobhit Agarwal, MD & CEO - ANAROCK Capital expressed, “Warehousing has been utilized by manufacturing companies to manage their inventory and storage needs which is now not limited to just storage but also as assembly hubs, to reduce time and cost.”
Mitesh Kaul, Country Head – Integrated Services, Embassy Services Pvt Ltd concurred, “Warehousing sector has seen the fastest growth and the fastest maturity in s a short span of time. It is not just about the grade A players coming into space, but it's also about the amount of client interactions and inputs that are defining this sector. The larger firms like the Amazon along with the startup e-commerce companies are compelling the growth in a very organized way evolving the segment from a mere storage space.”.
Ashish Shah, Head Leasing & Business Development, Logos Property stated, “In today's world, warehouses are like living organisms playing an active part in the supply chain rather than just being a storage area. The whole appeasement part of the end consumer is driving innovation in technology and services for the occupiers, developers as well as warehouse providers.
The experts agreed that much of the value additions in the warehousing have been client driven. They are asking for industry regulations compliant, green compliant and safety compliant buildings and are willing to pay a premium for the same. This has also been the reason from a shift from local storage providers to Grade warehousing facilities. Given the demand, the developers too are integrating quality right from designing the right building and making sure it has got the scalability.
SUSTAINABILITY IN WAREHOUSING
Environment and Social Governance (ESG) is becoming inherent to warehousing development as the investors and occupiers are increasingly focusing on the ESG. Ashish Shah gave an example of one of their warehousing facilities in Delhi-NCR, “The estate will incorporate market- leading sustainability and environmental initiatives, including 20 acres of Miyawaki forest plantation, solar power generation and distribution for warehouse and common infrastructure energy provision. State-of-the-art monitoring to measure warehousing air circulation, temperature, energy, and water usage will also be employed within the Estate in conjunction with heat mapping on the movement of trucks and people throughout the property for operational control, thereby influencing the future design requirements of the estate.”
Mitesh Kaul elaborated on the technology aspect,” Technology plays a huge role, right from reducing the carbon footprint at the time of the building itself and then during the operations and maintenance. The complexity of the function is pushing us to migrate from a traditional approach to convergence of the man, the machine and the humanistic approach. Not only has technological advancements helped improve warehousing management, but have also made it more affordable for businesses.”
Shobhit Agarwal, agreed that technology integration starts right from the warehousing design and planning. “From layout to storage space planning, lighting, circulation and product mapping that can offer most efficient way of managing the stocks.”
NEED FOR CUSTOMIZATION
Ashish Shah explained,”Our focus is to make warehouses in shapes so that it allows our clients to speed up their delivery and assembly processes and reduce expenses. With the introduction of warehouse automation, optimal fire safety and global green standards, it has provided us opportunities to reach out to compete at a global level.”
Mitesh Kaul was of the opinion that the segment is mature and has efficiently addressed the service design, compliances and experiences aspects of the business. By adding value to processes right from managing the inflow materials to managing storage and delivery, warehousing has been defined by technology and customized offerings.
Shobhit Agarwal, concluded that while, technology driven systems are ensuring good quality services and cost efficiency, the government initiatives too have been encouraging for the sector. ”We are just scratching the surface as the sector is still very young. What would be critical in the long run is the value to the customer, pricing and the need of scaling up.”
