About: Dale Johnston

Industry Snapshot Warehousing and Logistics. ... Logistics is the management of the supply chain, controlling the movement of goods from the point of origin to the point of destination using the most efficient, cost effective methods.

Some of the key issues facing the Warehouse and Logistics space:

• Warehousing has suffered from a poor image. It has often been viewed as a career with limited options and therefore has not generated a lot of interest from prospective job seekers.
• This industry, like many other transport sectors is faced with the challenge of an ageing workforce.
• The lack of Language Literacy and Numeracy skills is preventing further career progression of some workers and as technology is incorporated into operations, there are concerns that some workers may fall further behind. The skills and aptitude required of workers has risen as the duties are becoming more complex.
• With the growing need for technology within businesses to deliver real time information for analysis, companies are further investigating how to integrate items such as tablet computers into their day-to-day operations. Some of the challenges associated with this include the durability of devices in high impact environments and implications of downtime during maintenance.
• As the number of workers from culturally diverse backgrounds is increasing, a greater level of sensitivity is needed from management when engaging and communicating with workers.
• A greater level of investment is needed to train people at higher levels eg managers, but industry is faced with the challenge of not being able to release key members of staff for prolonged periods of time.

Ascend has worked with hundreds of clients in this space over the years and has unique knowledge, applications, and solutions to cover the myriad of issues facing this sector.