Page 26 - Logistics News - September October 2022

L O GI S T I CS R E A L E S T A T E

E-commerce driving new strategies

in logistics and warehousing

The Warehouse Advantage webinar hosted in September highlighted the many opportunities that
exist in the logistics real estate industry, including the future of logistics and all the dynamics at play.

oderated by Bruce Whitfield, the this country is to integrate the whole model and transfer
#WarehouseAdvantage webinar included an of products because rail works on bulk, on inbound, on
Minteresting panel discussion between Marcel containers, on export – it doesn’t work on the last mile, so
Basson (Retail Executive, Pick n Pay), Mike Benfield (CEO you need a last mile system that integrates with rail.” South
of Macsteel), Gary Benatar (Chairman of Relog) and Africa has its major economic hub the furthest away from
Steven Brown (CEO of Fortress). The webinar included any navigable water in the world. “Most of our clothing
discussions on why logistics real estate is so explosive retailers have their DCs near the coast because they’re
right now, the opportunities that are available for the bringing in containers of clothes and it’s very expensive
sector, the role warehousing plays, the longevity and to get containers to Johannesburg. So, they store the
state-of-the-art innovation required and how building containers in Durban and then everything is transported
surrounding infrastructure is so important for the to other areas by road, which could be on rail, but we don’t
economy. have the infrastructure and we don’t have anyone driving
that process,” continued Benatar.
In summary, the panel discussed:
The progress of the new Pick n Pay super distribution E-commerce and dark stores: Due to the massive
centre (DC) currently under construction at Eastport growth of e-commerce, the logistics industry has had
Logistics Park: This 164,000m² single roof super- to adapt to cater for requirements for dark stores. A
distribution centre would not be possible if it weren’t for dark store is a DC/warehouse that retailers can create
the partnerships that have been established between all the for an online and omni-channel solution. There is
participants. The panel discussed the scale of the project as a threshold where the demand for this sector and
well as the technological and sustainability aspects of the channel will mean that retailers must look at dedicated
design and construction process, and how the move from facilities to be able to service that channel, otherwise
the current Longmeadow facility is expected to take place. stores get too congested. The main DCs are too large
for this process and bring too much complexity into
The role of rail: The panellists agreed that a return to the process.
rail is the best way forward for the industry. Trucks as the
main transporter of goods are inefficient and expensive. A major issue with online sales is availability, which
They also agreed that many efficiencies could be created a dark store can solve. Basson says: “A dark store doesn’t
throughout the entire supply chain system if rail were need the same amount of people working in the facility as a
more widely utilised. Brown said: “Transnet needs to standard warehouse and DC, and a lot of retailers go high-
engage more proactively with the private sector to unlock tech in these environments. This speeds up the process,
the opportunities. We cannot do it on our own and we enabling us to get orders to clients in a short amount of
need the government to be more flexible within the PFMA time.”
structure.” Basson agreed: “Transport as part of our The e-commerce model is demanding in that customers
L O GI S T I CS NEWS escalating, it needs to make economic sense that your travel want the products now and expect retailers to be efficient
supply chain is by far our biggest expense. With fuel costs

in this space. Retailers must be able to respond quickly
distances are something that you can control because that
and deliver accurately in a very short time frame. The only
adds cost to the product.”
way this can be done is through the accurate availability of
Benatar added: “The only way to make rail work in

24 SEP T E MB E R/O CT O B E R 2022 products. www .l o g ist i csn e w s .c o .z a