There’s been a trend shift
in the warehousing industry
over the past few years
from being everything to
everyone to a much more
focused approach.
According to Kevin
Higgins, national
warehouse and distribution
manager for Kintetsu World
Express South Africa
(KWE SA), this approach
is also a key differentiating
factor.
“A warehouse is
a warehouse – but
it’s your approach to
understanding your
customers’ expectations
that makes the difference,”
he told FTW. “It is not
just about the service
offering you give, but
also truly understanding
their strategic intent and
what obstacles they are
facing. So it’s no longer
about being everything
to everyone but rather
becoming everything to
fewer customers.”
For Higgins that is only
achievable if one is in
partnership with clients and
intrinsically involved in
their successes and failures.
“This is really a true supply
chain approach whereby
you integrate both up and
down the supply chain and
that will inevitably allow
you to treat the cause and
not just the symptoms of
obstacles being faced.”
He maintains that being
able to offer a flexible
and customised service
becomes easier through this
approach – allowing one to
add true value to clients.
“It is very much
dependent on having a
vested interest in the
clients’ businesses and
understanding what their
strategic objectives are,”
he said.
It is an approach that
he believes is working. In
2007 KWE SA celebrated
its tenth anniversary in the
country, having seen steady
growth in the business
over the past few years. A
growth it is continuing to
see despite ongoing global
economic turmoil.
“By changing the
focus of the warehousing
business we have managed
to secure some exciting
contractual accounts,” said
Higgins.
To ensure capacity the
company has invested in
the development of new
facilities due for completion
in April this year.
“This has allowed us
to consolidate more of
our contractual accounts
and thus centralise our
operations which provides
sustainability from
downward cost pressures
that we were experiencing
in 2012.”
At the same time the
company has also started
to expand its warehouse
service offerings into
Zambia which has proved
to be successful despite the
steep learning curve when
working in another country.
Higgins said the next
few months would see the
company expanding on
the models developed to
service its clients on an
even more personal basis.
“The approach that we
take is definitely more
hands-on. Our clients’
business is our business
and therefore we engage
to understand their needs
and the expectations of
their markets. Once we
have that understanding we
can develop a customised
model that best suits their
needs.”
CAPTION
Kevin Higgins in KWE’s Jet Park warehouse ... partnership approach.
