Spotlight on India Warehousing Show

For logistics players, IWS is a platform that addresses their collective problems and raises pertinent issues concerning their trade. Attended by more than 200 exhibitors, the show had eminent speakers deliberating on processes, role of airports in improv

The India Warehousing Show (IWS) was held at Pragati Maidan, took place from July 1-3, 2015.

Speaking at the conference, SL Sharma, President, Air Cargo Agents Association of India (ACAAI), states, “We have to be patient while analysing the changes happening at airports, in the ground handling segments and warehousing. The Government is working towards the issue; simultaneously we also have to come up with an innovative idea to become competitive at a global level. As far as manufacturing goes, it needs to be understood that the Government is in the process of simplifying procedures and once that is done, the cost and time will reduce, thereby helping the warehousing industry.”

Hemanth DP, COO - Aerospace Business, Asia Pacific Flying School, Cargo, Hub development & FTZ, GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited (GHIAL), speaks about how airports can add efficiency to the warehousing business.

“The first priority should be to create a warehouse with safe and sustainable processes. Local and environmental laws must be followed. There is a need to keep warehouses lean and green. These will help us to satisfy people and partners. Focus must be to lessen waste, variability and inefficiency,” shares Deepak Sharma, Vice President Supply Chain Management, Indus Towers.

Commenting on the much awaited GST, Shreyas Malkan, CEO & Founder, Passion for Logistics says, “It is a year of freedom for supply chain and warehousing; along with this freedom, there are a few responsibilities to follow. It is necessary to tell the LSPs to provide green warehousing; upon analysing, it is 70 per cent energy saving and 30 per cent savings in packaging. For the success of ‘Make in India', we have to tune up our warehousing to world standards.”

Rajdeep Datta, Assistant Vice President Head, Snapdeal Plus says, “For infrastructure, our automation, racks and warehouses are not at par with international standards. The second gap in our infrastructure is in the cold chain, that comes up in the form of hyper local solutions in warehouses and from there to the final consumer. Selling FMCG and various other perishable products via Snapdeal is definitely on the cards.”

Speaking on the industry’s requirements, Ankur Bedi, Director Business Development & Projects, Cold Steel Corporation says, “We need warehousing experts on PEB who can formulate the entire blueprint from the infrastructure to execution, up to the operational level and create the facilities in a way that the industry can easily use them.”

He adds, “Growth in the warehousing sector is slow, but inevitable. Infrastructure of a warehouse must be built with thorough integration of the end user, without which it ends up being unsuitable.”