Category Archives: Warehousing

Pepperfry has launched its first ever built-to-suit home and furniture warehouse in Bengaluru. This automated and tech-led warehouse, located in Hoskote area, is spread across 3,60,000 sq ft, making it the largest built-to-suit facility in the segment, in India. South India forms the biggest market for Pepperfry and the facility will thereby help the company provide best-in-class services to its customers. The facility is located along the highway and is equidistant from key demand centres in Bangalore, which results in a reduction in overall transit time and long-haul movement cost across markets, as well as allows hassle-free movement of vehicles. This improved infrastructure will also ensure overall customer experience will go up with faster delivery rates. The launch is in line with Pepperfry’s aim to build the largest big-box logistics network in India and particularly strengthen its services in South India, which contributes to 40% of the marketplace’s overall business.

According to the warehousing Asia Pacific vision study by Zebra Technologies Corporation, warehousing, distribution and fulfilment operations are undergoing a modern-day makeover as they transform to meet the growing needs of the world’s on-demand economy. 57 per cent of decision makers plan to enable partial automation or labour augmentation with technology in the warehouse. 70 per cent of respondents believe human interaction is part of their optimal balance in warehousing, with 43 per cent citing partial automation (some human involvement) and 27 per cent citing augmentation (equipping workers with devices) as their preference. Decision makers anticipate using robotics for inbound inventory management (27 per cent), packing (24 per cent) and goods in/receiving (21 per cent) by 2024.

FM Logistic has broken ground on its new multi-client logistics facility (MCF) in Jhajjar, near Gurugram, Haryana. The new warehouse will have a storage capacity of 100,000 pallet positions and provide a dedicated area for co-packing and other value-added services. Furnished with best-in-class safety and security features, the warehouse will offer cost efficient, quality storage and handling services. This warehouse, which is expected to be completed in December 2020, is part of the five-year US$ 150 million investment plan the company announced in March 2019. Located on a 31-acre site, the future facility will provide cutting-edge warehousing, handling, value-added and omnichannel services to FM Logistic’s clients in the northern region of India.

ESR announced partnership with Future Group to develop two logistics parks with an investment of ₹300 crore. To be located at Nagpur and Gurugram, the logistics parks will span 75 acres with a potential development of around 1.3 million sq. ft. It is estimated that this investment shall be made to develop two state-of-the-art industrial and warehousing parks to service northern and central regions. The logistics parks will be jointly developed by Future Group’s Future Market Networks and ESR, with the latter as the majority partner. “This partnership will strengthen ESR’s presence in India to six cities and we expect this strategic alliance to expand further in several newer geographies in the next one to two years,” said Abhijit Malkani, Country Head, ESR India. He added that, in association with CONCOR Dadri, it is the commitment of CMA CGM Logistics Park Dadri to work out all modalities and deliver efficient services to its customers in every possible way.

With a total area of over 41 acres, IndoSpace announced the launch of parks in Mevalurkuppam and Koodapakkam. The facility is situated near national highway NH-48, which runs from Delhi to Chennai, providing easy access to nearby industrial hubs. The company’s Sugal industrial park, located in the Tiruvallur district in the state of Tamil Nadu Koodapakkam, is spread across 26 acres. It is positioned on State Highway 50, and closer to NH-332 which runs across Tamil Nadu and Puducherry giving road connectivity within state. Both the parks come under Irungattukottai micro-market which has a large concentration of medium and small-scale enterprises supporting the large-scale auto and auto-ancillary units

Container Corporation of India (CONCOR) and Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) have entered into an agreement to set up a rail-based logistics terminal in Haridwar, Uttarakhand. This would be BHEL’s strategic entry into a new growth area as the terminal would soon be developed into a multi-modal logistics facility. The terminal would cater to the need of Exim and domestic trade of Haridwar. The facility would work as a Private Freight Terminal (PFT) which will facilitate the handling of railway wagon also. Moreover, the Haridwar plant is advantageously located near the upcoming Eastern and Western Dedicated Freight Corridors. BHELCON, a joint working group agreement has been signed with equal financial participation by CONCOR and BHEL.

The 9th edition of India Warehousing Show, underway at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, gained a good start through numerous product promotions and an increased number of footfalls this year. The summit was graced by N Sivasailam, Special Secretary (Logisitcs), Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce & Industry. Commenting on the National Logistics Policy, he says, “We are trying to integrate players at one platform through National Logistics Portal. A flavour of that is available, called PCS, to those who are dealing with the ports wherein we are trying to sort out the issues relating to transactional data protection.” The summit aims to cover pertinent interesting subjects of the industry, be it the building smart warehouses, the changing face of technology in a warehouse, skilled manpower deterrents, to name a few. The summit will conclude on June 22, 2019.

The 9th edition of India Warehousing Show, underway at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, gained a good start through numerous product promotions and an increased number of footfalls this year. The summit was graced by N Sivasailam, Special Secretary (Logisitcs), Department of Commerce, Ministry of commerce & Industry. Commenting on the National Logistics Policy, he says, “We are trying to integrate players at one platform through National Logistics Portal. A flavour of that is available, called PCS, to those who are dealing with the ports wherein we are trying to sort out the issues relating to transactional data protection.” The summit aims to cover pertinent interesting subjects of the industry, be it the building smart warehouses, the changing face of technology in a warehouse, skilled manpower deterrents, to name a few. The summit will conclude on June 22, 2019.

Schenker India plans to strengthen its local footprint and become one of the largest warehousing players in the country over the next three years. The company plans to double its warehousing capacity, from the current 3.5 million sqft spread across 53 warehouse locations, and enhance efficiencies through technology deployment for faster processing and real-time updates across the value chain. “India is a priority market for DB Schenker globally, and with the growth spurt triggered by the implementation of GST, we are well-poised to increase capacity and expand aggressively to better serve our customers. The expansion of our warehousing capacity will make us one of the largest 3PL players in the next three years with a special emphasis on transforming our customers through innovative technology solutions,” said Vishal Sharma, Chief Executive Officer, Schenker India, Cluster India and Indian Subcontinent.

The industrial warehousing segment has witnessed rapid growth in recent years due to healthy demand from occupants in sectors such as automotive manufacturing, third party logistics services, and e-commerce. In addition, regulatory interventions such as implementation of the GST and infrastructure status being accorded to the sector are also driving demand for large integrated warehousing parks. As per an ICRA note, this has attracted foreign investors who are entering the sector through investment platforms with the mandate of investing in industrial warehousing parks across major cities of the country. Often, this is done by partnering with a local developer or in some cases a global warehousing operator. The total amount of equity commitments to such platforms is at least US$2.5 billion over the last two years. Such investment commitments can support assets under management of more than 130 million sqft as per ICRA estimates. This is almost double the size of the current estimated stock of Grade-A industrial warehousing in the country and around 10 times the operational portfolio of such platforms as on date. Shubham Jain, Vice President and Group Head – Corporate Ratings, ICRA, says, “There is increasing demand for Grade-A warehousing space because of the operational conveniences and cost benefits. The demand is concentrated in metro cities, supported by the presence of manufacturing hubs in the vicinity, access to transport networks and Exim facilities, as well as the rising urban population in the metropolitan areas for consumption-driven demand for warehousing.”