Vanderlande will share a number of market insights relating to automation and storage solutions at this year’s PARCEL Forum at the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center in Dallas, Texas. The company’s Postal and Parcel Market Director, Rob Qualm, will be a featured speaker at the event on October 30 and discuss the need to reshift storage to multi-functional hubs. Consumer demand is at an all-time high and parcel companies must cope with the increasing demand for speed, flexibility and higher service levels. In addition, building space in urban areas is already at a premium and labor is increasingly hard to find.
Until a few years ago, the ‘push’ concept was the standard procedure, in which products were pushed through the supply chain to be sent out for delivery. However, this led to high levels of consumer dissatisfaction due to the limited delivery options available. In the ‘pull’ concept, the buyer is firmly in control by demanding convenient delivery windows and keeping track of items at all times.
Automation is essential in realizing these new requirements and Vanderlande has vast experience in the smooth integration and installation of automated storage and retrieval systems. The inherent flexibility of such sorting solutions will allow parcel hubs to seamlessly move away from traditional ‘pull’ methods, embrace new business models and rapidly respond to changes in the market.
“Adaptability within the supply chain is needed to support this new approach and parcel center operations must change to remain as efficient as possible,” says Sean Wallingford, President Warehouse and Parcel North America. “Market trends predict that more delivery routes, additional local storage near consumers and multi-functional hubs are necessary to meet the increasing requirements for final-mile deliveries and to manage costs more effectively.”
“Modular sort-on-demand solutions offer the potential to create a temporary storage option to quickly adapt to changing delivery times or locations,” adds Qualm. “Hubs will benefit from higher levels of service, flexibility and operator efficiency, as well as shorter loading times, the effective consolidation of orders and enhanced route planning. In addition, integrated and intelligent automation software can provide full control over the entire process.”
