Can you brief us about your company?
The SSI Schaefer Group is the world's leading provider of modular warehousing and logistics solutions. Employing approximately 10,000 people across six continents, SSI Schaefer develops and implements innovative industry-specific answers to its customers' unique challenges, by designing, developing, and manufacturing systems for warehouses, industrial plants, workshops and offices. SSI Schaefer is also a leading provider of modular, regularly updated software for in-house material flows. Designed by a strong team of 1,100 engineers, SSI Schaefer's broad IT offering, including its WAMAS® and SAP products, delivers seamless support for all warehouse and material flow processes. The company plans, designs and produces systems for establishing and optimising warehouses and plants, manual and automatic storage, conveyor, order picking and sorting systems as well as solutions for waste technology and recycling. Our group is divided into the business units—logistics solutions, products & equipment and customer services.

What according to you are the key challenges faced by customers today while handling materials?
Today, the world is still facing post-pandemic tremors and the effects of the supply chain disruption have yet to dissipate. However, what’s most apparent amongst warehouses/dc material handlings is that the ‘Just in Time’ approach simply doesn’t work anymore. In this new environment, keeping minimal stock holdings and only buying what’s necessary to service customer requirements in the short term just isn’t effective enough and with its sea freight shortages, order profile changes, supply chain challenges and difficulties in staffing warehouses. Any slight disruption can leave a business without stock and unable to adequately supply the market.

How is your company helping customers to improve their efficiency in material handling?
For businesses seeking to optimise their logistics operations, SSI Schaefer specialises in innovative warehouse automation technology that can drive growth, improve efficiency, and reduce costs. All clients are unique and there is no cookie-cutting approach in delivering the solutions. Most of our solutions have flexible components and learning about our customer’s business to provide a solution that meet what they need for now and the future is our long-term strategy for long-lasting partnerships in the region.

What are key trends observed in the logistics and warehousing sector with respect to the usage of material handling equipment (MHE) and systems?
The most frequently discussed issues within the sector often revolve around the need for extra pallet racking, more space to store more products and the speed to handle and pick the products efficiently and accurately. These issues highlight the business operations challenges as well as their ability to grow the business and future-proof the business model. For warehouses that need to equip its operation to support an omni-channel business, the gap in the efficiency and accuracy of supplying to such channels become more apparent and, in most cases, manual operating picking and handling of the goods/operations tends to lose out in the long run.

Is the demand for automated (or semi-automated) MHE increasing in the logistics and warehousing sector? How is your company tapping this trend?
The biggest shift for warehouse operations moving toward semi or fully automated process probably came from the shift in consumer purchasing behaviour. Whether it is business to business e-commerce or consumer e-commerce, the online retail space is elevating the process from a “direct-to-store” model to a “direct-to-customer” approach. We hope to be able to assist businesses seeking to optimise their logistics operations to implement a sound and flexible approach towards automation. Eventually, the automated solution must be able to support the customers’ business growth and expand their distribution network in their region.

What are your growth plans in the coming future?
Regardless conventional, semi or fully automated warehousing and order fulfillment processes, we are able to respond to any intralogistics challenges with our comprehensive and continuously increasing portfolio. In SSI Schaefer, we believe in developing innovative solution concepts for customers of various industries and thus shape the future of intralogistics - in accordance with the company motto "Think Tomorrow".