Great opportunities for ambitious fresh graduates

Traditional, a career in logistics has been associated with low educated people, long working hours, and dirty warehouses and black smoking trucks. These times are far gone. You will see in the coming years a migration from paper to digital, from fire fighting to supply chain control towers with traffic controllers, and from continuous improvement to radical innovations. With the fourth industrial revolution, logistics will enter a new phase of automation, where supply chain networks are interconnected and using advanced information technology network solutions (e.g.: blockchain), advanced automation (e.g.: drones), as well as green technology. Future distribution centres will be far larger than what we see today and highly automated. In time diesel trucks will be replaced by electric vehicles. This transformation will require both distribution centres and vehicles to be harvesting and using solar energy.

The logistics industry is in dire need for a new generation of top talents, that are well educated and can lead this transformation of the logistics industry.

What are key characteristics of a logistics professional?

Logistics professionals are first of all specialists, with preferably a technical background like logistics, transportation, supply chain management, industrial engineering, chemical technology, or mathematics.

Logistics professionals have in-depth knowledge in areas such as purchasing, materials management, category & inventory management, transportation, distribution, and supply chain management.

Logistics is dealing with complex goods flows like dangerous goods, medical products, agriculture products that ripen, cool chains, halal supply chains, etc. This needs in-depth product knowledge and understanding of channel management requirements and hands-off management to avoid any breakage in the supply chain.

Logistics professionals are analytical, thinking in processes, and able to visualise & simplify complex problems.

A logistics professional needs next to hard also soft skills. People skills are important with a great diversity of people working in logistics operations. Second, relationship management with suppliers and customers is key in an effective an efficient management of supply chain networks. Many of these supply chain partners are located in foreign countries that speak a different language. Third, next to collaboration within their own supply chain, logistics professionals will need to seek collaboration with similar, often competing supply chains, in order to exploit synergy advantages.

According to the international recruitment firm Hays, the top logistics jobs of the future are logistics programmer/planner, supply chain data-analysis, auditor circular logistics, and transport traffic controller. Logistics has entered the boardroom of large companies under the function Chief Supply Chain Officer (CSCO). From a traditionally chief operating officer, focused on the tactical operations of moving products between two points, today’s CSCOs must deal with a great level of complexity and risk in supply chain operations.

Malaysia is destined to be the preferred location for supply chain control centres, leveraging on the economic growth of Southeast Asia. This requires well- educated ambitious logistics professionals in Malaysia to manage the next generation of mega distribution centres and supply chain control centres.

Salaries and career prospects in logistics are extremely good for the years to come. As a result there are great opportunities for ambitious technical fresh graduates to choose a career in logistics. My advise for ambitious technical students: get familiar with the logistics industry through a practical training or graduation project for a real jumpstart in your professional career.

More accidents in distribution centres

The Hari Raya period is a peak season for retailers and logistics service providers (LSPs), where volumes in a fast moving consumer goods Distribution Centre (DC) are easily three times the average volume. This increase in workload unfortunately also results in a higher number of accidents in DCs. In fact, over the years there has been an increasing work pressure in DCs in Asia. This is the result of continuous costs reduction programs, high performance contracts between LSPs and customers, as well as the introduction of e-commerce, leading to an explosion in number of order lines (high volumes of small orders).  What are the most common accidents in DCs?

The most common accidents are slips and trips. Slips and trips happen because of loose objects or liquids on floors, height differences or ridges, and dark areas. Falls contribute as second in DC accidents. This can be falls from equipment as well as falls from loading bays, containers and trucks. Third is contact of warehouse staff or visitors with moving objects, moving parts of equipment, as well as collisions between vehicles. Fourth are accidents in distribution centres caused by falling objects due to inproper stacking of loads on pallets or cylindrical objects rolling off shelves. Fifth in accident ranking is fire. A fire jeopardises an entire operation and causes serious injury, or even fatalities. Many warehouses store potentially flammable or combustable goods, such as chemicals, that can fast become an uncontrollable fire. Poor electrial wiring is in many cases the trigger for a warehouse fire.

Companies can take several measures to bring down accidents in distribution centres.

1. Safety education. The highest number of accidents happens with temporary labour and new warehouse staff. Therefore the foundation of warehouse safety is first of all a sound safety education program and effective follow through for fresh staff.

2. Warehouse design.
The design of the building contributes to a safe working environment. This addresses of course the basics such as proper lining of walkways & crossings, signboards, fire sprinklers & extinguishers, and electrical wiring. Research shows that splitting of bulk and picking zones in a warehouse has next to efficiency advantages also safety advantages. Walking in concentrated pricking zone for order pickers means less walking, resulting in less slipping and tripping. Trucks do not enter the picking zones during picking shifts, where order pickers walk. Finally, racks at picking zones are lower, reducing the chance of falling objects hurting order pickers.

3. Mechanisation and automation in warehouses.
Mechanisation of internal transport in warehouses minimises movements by people and trucks. An example is the use of flow racks with separate filling and picking for order picking in a warehouse, as well as the application of conveyor belts in DCs. Conveyor belts can be used for moving loose picked goods or full pallets in a warehouse. Furthermore, full automation of bulk pallet handling could be attractive when there is a need for high storage volumes at great heights.

In short, several measures can be implemented to reduce the number of accidents in DCs and at the same time increase efficiency of your facility. It is worth the investment to have an external warehouse expert to help you with this. A safe and efficient working environment should be top priority!