‘Invest wisely’ – logistics expert

The growth in e-commerce is putting pressure on logistics organisations to speed up delivery to keep up with demand, says David Bingham, director for Europe of distribution specialists Fortna. And careful investment in logistics technology solutions makes huge commercial sense – but companies need to take the time to make wise decisions. “What is concerning is that we are seeing companies invest big amounts of money in warehousing technology, but that will not necessarily bring the operational efficiency they need.” He said in one particular case, more than a £100 million pounds had been invested into a facility

only to find that another £25 million was required to achieve what they were after. “Investing wisely means understanding the business requirements and not just the logistics requirements,” said Bingham. “Implementing the latest technology just for the sake of it will not result in operational efficiency.” Logistics investments, he said, also had to be future proof. “That means they have to be scalable, adaptable and flexible considering the uncertainty of the future and the current global economic environment. “Logistics is never really the sexy part of any business which makes the investment case for it so much more difficult.” Implementing the latest technology just for the sake of it will not result in operational efficiency. – David Bingham