There are growing
moves to warehouse
outsourcing in the
South African market.
According to Paul
Waldburger, managing and
financial director of Berry
& Donaldson, this comes as
more clients realise the value of
having specialists to handle the
warehousing component rather
than doing it themselves.
“Clients are realising it is
not their core business and
specialist involvement in this
aspect can add far more value
to their business and supply
chain” said Waldburger.
This, he added, was very
much in line with international
trends, “although there
are some nuances and
idiosyncrasies to how we do
business locally,” he told FTW.
“We are very aware that we
operate in a global marketplace
and are always on the look-out
for global trends that we can
learn from to improve our local
service offering.”
According to Waldburger,
successful outsourcing relies on
good integration between the
client’s system and that of the
warehouse specialist.
“The end result for the client
must be that their business
functions just as if their stock
was in their own warehouse –
with the advantage from their
side that they don’t need to
worry about the administration
or hassle of managing the
warehouse function and haven’t
got the overheads or start-up
costs associated with it.”
Waldburger said another
trend was the increasing
popularity of bonded
warehousing with importers.
“This is because it gives them
the ability to better manage
and maintain their balance
between stock holding and
available cash flow, with
minimum impact on speed to
market. Used properly, clients
are able to drastically improve
their cash flow, which plays a
critical role in any expanding
business,” he said.
Ettienne Phaal,
Johannesburg director of
Berry & Donaldson, told FTW
the past year had also shown
the importance of reverse
logistics.
“With more and more
retailers experiencing a sharp
decline in sales, and not
having had the opportunity
to optimise ordering and
planning for future seasons,
it has become an important
service offering from a logistics
provider’s perspective,” he said.
“The ability to “recycle” stock
and put it back into circulation
via outlet stores and online
“clearance sale” platforms and
the like in a timely manner has
enabled our clients to achieve a
better overall sell through rate
in an otherwise challenging
market.”
Both Waldburger and Phaal
emphasise the importance of
technology in the warehousing
sector.
“Without strong technology
one wouldn’t survive.”
CAPTION
Berry & Donaldson’s Johannesburg facility … successful outsourcing relies on good integration
between the client’s system and that of the warehouse specialist.
Growing move to warehouse outsourcing
10 Nov 2017 - by Liesl Venter
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FTW 10 November 2017
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