How to make warehousing and distribution a strategic advantage

4 七月 2023

Female in a warehouse looking at the shipments

This year looks set to be a tough one for business. With operational costs increasing across the board, many companies are reviewing their supply chain for efficiencies to help protect the bottom line, with McKinsey estimating that properly managed supply chains could enable European retailers to achieve 5-10% cost savings.

So, should logistics professionals, like you, also review your supply chain and, perhaps, look to warehousing and distribution for answers? Let’s take a closer look.

Why should you rethink warehousing and distribution?

Post-pandemic, today’s retailers are facing macroeconomic pressures on multiple fronts, from the fallout from the Ukrainian conflict and rising energy prices, to growing inflation and dramatically slowing global economies.

Within this climate, businesses are facing increased warehouse rents, with rent growth expected to exceed 10% in 2023, which is on top of the 8.4% growth seen in 2022.

Another key concern is that having experienced the “Amazon Effect”, consumers are constantly expecting faster delivery and high levels of real-time delivery transparency, so they can track their packages 24/7.

This confluence of factors requires flexible thinking from logistics leaders. ‘Good enough’ warehousing and distribution is no longer sufficient. To protect their bottom line and build greater resilience, retailers today need to extract every possible ounce of efficiency from their warehousing and distribution. But how exactly?

A male and a female working in the warehouse

How to make warehousing and distribution a strategic advantage

There are several ways retailers can implement new warehousing and distribution strategies to drive efficiency. For some companies, that might mean adopting a hub-and-spoke distribution model. For others, it might mean investing in localised warehousing solutions.

However, the most effective way to turn warehousing and distribution into a strategic advantage is by integrating it with other supply chain operations.

That’s because, when you consolidate logistics to a single logistics partner, you reduce the number of handovers in your supply chain, and your operation becomes less fragmented. Take customs as an example. By integrating it with warehousing and distribution, you can find synergies to ensure your goods flow across borders smoothly and without delay, or you can identify opportunities to leverage bonded warehouses for greater cost efficiencies. Integration makes it easier to tie an operation together as a whole.

Of course, technology plays a big part in this process. It’s a lot harder to streamline your supply chain without a fully integrated system that helps you see where your inefficiencies lie. Technologies built with application programming interface (API) or electronic data interchange (EDI) capabilities give you the connectivity to make this a reality.

Making this transition with an integrated logistics partner

A good logistics partner can add value in helping you turn warehousing and distribution into a strategic advantage.

With their support, you can streamline your end-to-end logistics strategy and reduce complexity in your supply chain for real-time visibility, control and speed.

And that’s where a partnership with Maersk can help.

Across the globe, we have operational control of 450+ warehousing facilities, including 20+ existing facilities in Europe and more planned for operation in 2023 and 2024, giving you a strong and resilient network upon which to build your supply chain.

By integrating your warehousing and distribution with other logistics disciplines, we can help streamline your supply chain for a healthier bottom line, continuously improving operations and creating a key strategic advantage for now and the future.

To find out more about Maersk's warehousing and distribution capabilities, visit our European Warehouse and Distribution page or for more information on warehousing strategy, download our latest eBook on efficient warehousing.

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