TOWARDS SMART HANDLING

The growing demand for efficient handling solutions in warehousing & logistics, industrial and infrastructure segments have driven the need for advanced material handling technologies and equipment in the recent past. The lesson learnt from Covid has also lead to the realization of the importance of advanced features in material handling that paves the way for contactless and safe handling of goods and cargo.

Market on a revival

As the market is opening and fear of Covid is going down, customer purchase has been on the rise. This has resulted in factories increasing their output to meet this pent up demand in the market.

Anil Lingayat, Executive Vice President, and Business Head, Godrej Material Handling, says, “With increase in consumption driven demand in smaller cities, warehousing need is expected to expand in these markets. Several sectors like e-commerce, pharmaceuticals, food, agriculture, FMCG, and  even retail are supporting the growth of the warehousing industry. Last mile delivery services have increased exponentially over the ecommerce industry supporting the growth of the warehouse industry.”

After a de-growth in 2020, the material handling market in India has bounced back strongly in 2021. The market has grown exponentially as compared to the previous year, as the Covid impact is easing out. The warehousing market is witnessing a phenomenal growth after a boom in the E-commerce & retail sectors. “In fact, after going through the difficulties of Covid impact, there is a renewed thrust on e-commerce and FMCG,” says Manojit Acharya, Managing Director, Jungheinrich Lift Truck India. He adds, “The manufacturing sector, which was witnessing a dip in output last year, is also returning to normalcy after many manufacturers are involved in capacity addition. The successful rollout of PLI scheme is also propelling the growth prospects of manufacturing sector. The pharma sector has clocked considerable growth during the period due to the need for lifesaving drugs and medicines in the pandemic conditions. All these have driven the demand for material handling equipment and solutions for the respective industry. The massive vaccination drive has eased the pandemic conditions, setting the path for a revival in the market which will also reflect in the warehousing and material handling equipment sector. We strongly feel that the trend will continue in 2022 as well and a robust growth is expected in material handling and warehousing segment.” 

The Budget push

Multimodal logistics parks and cargo terminals shall improve connectivity and cost efficiency. The Budget 2022 has proposed implementation of multimodal logistics parks at four locations in 2022-23. Also, 100 PM GatiShakti cargo terminals to be developed in three years is another major announcement in the budget. According to Acharya, these budget proposals will definitely add more impetus to the growth of warehousing and material handling equipment. “The demand for high quality warehousing will grow and 3PL will be one of the major growth drivers and it will eventually lead to high demand for material handling requirements,”  he adds.

Lingayat with a similar view says, “The focus on the logistics sector through the PM Gati Shakti plan will give a fillip to the economy. Logistics cost in India is higher than the world benchmark. Creation of infrastructure is the best way to reduce the costs and introduce competitiveness in the economy to serve both the domestic market and exports.”

Technology push

Warehouse storage and material handling are undergoing a transformation from traditional to modern infrastructure, with an emphasis on productivity, safety, accuracy, assurance of consistency, efficiency in operations as well as quicker turnarounds and faster services physically and digitally. They also need to economize on their footprint, utilize vertical space and conserve energy. Customers are looking for remote assistance and expecting longer battery life. This is where IoT plays a key role as it can monitor fleet health, provide proactive or predictive maintenance, and optimize fleet size for higher productivity and safety. These factors have indeed driven faster adoption of various kinds of forklift trucks in warehouse operations. According to Lingayat, Godrej has been very focused over the last 5-7 years in developing a wide portfolio of fork trucks that are specially designed to work in warehouses.

Technology adoption

Large warehousing and logistics players are looking for a completely integrated Warehouse Management System (WMS) to have complete visibility of man, machine and material in the warehouse. With WMS, the forklift operator is informed of the position of package/pallet to be unloaded and also the most optimal route to access it. Warehouse operators have also raised the loading height to increase their storage capacity. This has led to increased adoption of reach trucks and special equipment such as the high level stock pickers in the warehouse industry. 

Acharya says, “As the modern warehousing facilities are growing vertically, we are witnessing good demand for our semi-automatic very narrow aisle (VNA) trucks and order pickers. The demand for our digital solutions, viz. fleet management systems, warehouse management systems, and AGVs are increasing. Also a continuous growth trend is visible for our environment-friendly, highly efficient and reliable Li-Ion battery technology.

Going green

Acharya explains, “We combine automation, digitisation, IT and software to deliver optimum intra-logistics solutions. Jungheinrich is always ahead in providing solutions as per future demand of the market. We provide solutions to warehouses like Logistic Interface which provides customers paperless operation within the warehouse. Logistic Interface and Warehouse Navigation along with our VNA truck is used for semi-automatic operation within the warehouse racking system by communicating with WMS of the customer. This overall system helps customer maintain inventory management within the racking system and results in efficient error-free operation.”

 Due to operating economics, there has been a growing transition toward battery operated trucks. Customers are looking at cost of ownership when investing in material handling equipment.

Gearing for future

The Indian economy is estimated to grow by 9.2 percent in real terms in 2021-22 as against a contraction of 7.3 percent in 2020-21, according to the economic survey 2021-22. Acharya says, “We expect the market for material handling equipment grow 10% to 15% in 2022. The growth in Indian economy, investment-friendly budget and policy initiative by the government, need for efficient supply chain shall act as the growth drivers.”

According to Lingayat, supply chain in the country is evolving continuously to reduce the time and cost involved in logistics. “We are expanding our dealer network to ensure that these warehouses are serviced in the shortest possible time. We are constantly reinforcing our service basket to offer customised offering to cater to ever changing market needs,” he concludes on a positive note.

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