Partnering Bridgewater Logistics, one of the country’s leading third-party logistics providers (3PLs), has enabled businesses of various sizes to significantly increase their capacity to execute transactional and tactical warehouse processes.
This is in addition to eliminating the need for fixed warehousing assets and reducing operating costs.
Importantly, businesses also have access to the insights of a transport logistics specialist that has kept pace with the latest trends in warehousing technologies, as well “best-of-breed” warehouse management systems.
“The pace at which supply chains are evolving requires a significant investment into warehousing. Increasingly, the focus is turning to improved speed and accuracy of order picking and real-time inventory visibility, among others. As a specialist, we are constantly refining and improving our warehousing operations to ensure that they are in line with the latest international trends. The technology, as well as specialised skills and experience needed to transition into this new era are readily available from us,” Quinton de Villiers, managing director of Bridgewater Logistics, says.
He points notes that modern warehouses are expanding their existing use of barcode scanning to improve, among others, efficiencies and the speed of handling inbound and outbound inventory.
Meanwhile, staff are being equipped with the latest technology to increase visibility and further optimise all process, spanning inventory validation and order picking all the way through to packing and loading.
Digital technologies, such as tablets, are also fast replacing pen/paper, spreadsheets and computers to provide real-time access to warehouse-management systems.
Moreover, large investments are anticipated to be made in RFID technology, which provides the ability to know exactly where any pallet, case or SKU can be located at any point in time.
Notably, Bridgewater Logistics’ warehousing solutions are tailored to suit the unique needs of individual customers. This is opposed to taking a “one-size-fits-all” approach which can be a major pitfall when outsourcing transport logistics to a service provider.
The company’s warehousing solutions are also complemented by state-of-the-art transportation, as well as crossdocking services to provide efficiencies throughout the supply chain. This ensures that efficiency gains are not only limited to inside the warehouse.
“Our skilled team of logisticians are also able to ensure a smooth transition from internal warehouse management to an external provider. This extensive upfront planning includes understanding our customers’ expertise and expectations, during the transfer of responsibilities to ensure that we deliver a high quality service,” De Villiers concludes.
