Between the blistering heats outside to
the furnace like enclosure of warehouses,an unsung story of warehousing is slowly
unfolding across the East. While people
have given scant recognition to this
profession in the past, it is poised to be a game changer for all yearning for a piece of untapped business potential in the
east and north east, opines Anindya Gupta of IBM, Kolkota
Traditionally warehousing has been one of the activities of select business families who started off as stockists
and distributors who were cajoled to
offer these services as a value add by the larger business houses. Among them came a few
exceptional first generation entrepreneurs as well as failed manufacturers
whose factory sheds were lying vacant after they went bust in the seventies and
eighties.
So what do we have today? There are defunct granaries which are being rebuilt,
cold storages which have been converted into warehouses, factory sheds highly prized inside the city
area and outside, and then some! This is what is on offer in terms of billable
warehousing space for business houses for stockade; available at unheard of premiums. The same is truer for filling up the gaps in
hub &spoke model for small C grade
towns that are the last mile spending hubs for the booming middle class.
Understand that along with warehouse space
providers have emerged warehouse service
providers, logistics service providers, material handing equipment sellers,
manpower contractors and the techies who
all are still trying to figure out a long term vision in the grand
scheme of things.
Talk to average warehouse man about your
troubles in finding the right infrastructure, or the one perfect warehouse that
was described in the check list that
came from the head office and you will find his eyes soft with empathy. The check list is not
Martian in nature but it does talk about a clear approach to the road, enclosed
to open space ratios, dock heights,
regular dimensions etc something which may be
very basic to the planned operation.
Another major obstacle that east will face
for years to come is the apathy of
multiple governments to this essential cog of the business machine. Many of the warehouses have no
security or infrastructure in terms of roads, potable water and electricity to
run a sustained operation.
Let us put some more perspective. The security services that we hire are
seldom trained on basic logistic practices as to what needs to be done when a vehicle / individual
leaves or enters the premises. Same
is also true for the basic logistics operator. For most of the courses offered
by the logistics institutes none of them
prepare the practitioner for what awaits him or her in the warehouse.
None prepare you for what the industry/ trade
expects one to know in terms of inbound,
outbound and internal warehouse processes like stock reconciliation, load planning, slotting,
basic house keeping, kiting etc. So the
hard advice to them is GET REAL!
Govt Apathy
The government apathy becomes more apparent
also because there does not seem to be a strong warehousing lobby that would
work to define modern warehousing road
map and the way government could come up
to help at the centre and the
state. Of course, setting up logistic parks
are a step in the right direction and but to make them grow is
another story.
The best indicator may be to find out the
increase in employment numbers as a whole on a yearly basis along with the
revenue generation. What more can be
done? Also involve them in disaster
management drills as they are simply the best wherever they are.
All
is not lost though. Companies are trying out new avenues in terms of financing
capital for a long term partnership to set up modern warehouses with proper infrastructure
starting with civil construction, having
large loading bays, moving to standard reusable
pallets, racks, refrigeration facilities.
So be it AT Road in Guwahati or Anisabad in Patna things are looking up.
It is a pleasant surprise to see
structures coming up at Dhulagarh , Dankuni , Barasat on the outskirts of
Kolkata which would look the same to the untrained eye but for those in the trade visiting East after
a decade or so , I am sure it would be
hypnotic. Else how do you think are the retail
biggies making money unless they got their infrastructure right?
With due respect to the CA profession, they
are not meant to be warehouse auditors.
They are not trained to count stock or have any inkling of best Supply chain
best practices or metrics .This is seriously
separate profession & yet to have a proper launch in this country.
Technology Inputs
Finally, we come down to technology. Let us
understand that it is an entire architecture we are talking about here and not
a single piece of pirated accounting software on a standalone Pentium
three processor. Oh, we did manage without
them long back but then today the game has changed as we all are well plugged
into the Matrix!
I doubt
there is a single entity which tries to sell a design to the SMBs
of the warehousing trade who actually
cater to around 90% of the entire trade. So what is the expected infrastructure say
some one at say at Rasulgarh at Bhubaneswar for 10,000 sqft in order to cater
to an apparel giant? What should be his
investment in terms of a computer, phone
lines, access to the company’s ERP system, basic office software, a fax/scan/copier, the cost of
associated AMCs, options in terms of
hiring trained manpower, number of printers, etc? How does he approach this?
What kind of lease hire options does he have? What about a similar requirement at Dimapur (Nagaland)
or Deoghar (Jharkhand) or Singtam (Sikkim).
Note one size does not fit all!
Last,
but not the least, let us say kudos to all those operators out there who are on some of the toughest terrain
the country has to offer not only
geographically but also politically. Not only do you manage with the least but are even getting better at
managing your aisles and lanes and highs and deeps!
So is it time now for us to check out the
evening dispatch plan or…. Probably, the
next month’s stock indent with the sales team?
Send your
feedback to chandaarup@gmail.com
