Tackle the intralogistics challenges in e-commerce | Q&A
Order today, have it delivered tomorrow. What used to be a nice sales trick is now what customers have to come expect from your business. Rapid delivery is what e-commerce is all about. And if you don’t do it, there are plenty of others who do. The desire to satisfy customer expectations presents intralogistical challenges. CEO at FS Solutions, Peter Horselenberg, and engineer Rens Buschers look at the challenges with you.
E-commerce is undergoing exponential growth. Is that the biggest logistical challenge right now?
Peter: ‘Webshops are more easily found and demand continues to grow and yes, that introduces a number of intralogistical challenges. At least, it does if processes are not yet automated. When you’re processing a thousand packages a day, having order pickers walking around with a trolley is not sustainable. It takes time, and time is precious.’
So the solution starts with automation?
Peter: ‘Businesses that are just starting out or expanding are automating their internal processes as much as they possibly can. But this is a rapidly growing industry, so being able to scale up is just as important.’ Rens agrees: ‘Businesses need to think about expansion and respond with smart solutions. Think about how to go about expanding and modular transport systems that can grow flexibly as the business grows.’
What other obstacles does e-commerce face?
Rens: ‘A transport solution is not just a single system as the process isn’t singular. There are lots of different parts – packing, sorting and labelling. Employees need to be able work around the systems safely and in comfort. In some cases, work may be ongoing on multiple floors. These are all factors that make logistics in e-commerce a challenge.’
How should businesses overcome these challenges?
Peter: ‘Wanting to take care of it all yourself is quite the task and often detracts from the core business that someone wants to become involved in. Instead, it’s a good idea to hand it all over to the expert, like FS Solutions. We advise on the logistics process, think about potential growth and realise modular transport systems that satisfy requirements. One good example of a business we have done this for is DHL.’
For DHL, it was important that the work process was fast and that the systems were flexible in responding to changes at the DHL logistics centre. Project Manager at DHL Franz-Jozef Schulte-Austum: ‘In my lengthy career, I have been able to supervise many a project. The project with FS Solutions was one of the best collaborations in my career.’ [CLICK HERE ] and read more about the case
