Articles, Research Reports and Information relating to Logistics and Supply Chain Developments in Asia

All economies in the Asia Pacific region continued their growth trends over the second half of 2009, with some nations seeing acceleration in economic expansion. Only Japan’s outlook remains relatively fragile compared with the rest of the region. While the Japanese economy had experienced three consecutive quarters of GDP growth by the end of 2009, this comes after some major declines in late 2008 and beginning of 2009.

Read more: Japanese Logistics Market by the end of Q1 2010

In general, the justification or business case for an automated system will be based on comparing the automated option to one or more alternatives.

The alternative may be to just continue as is, however, where an operation has outgrown its current facility, the comparison may be between moving now to a new manual site versus automating the existing site to prolong its life.   Where an operation has to move to a new site in any case, the comparison may be between building a new manual site versus building a new automated site.

Read more: Is Automation right for your business? Can it be justified?

Experience has shown that automated storage and order picking systems can deliver substantial operating savings in the DC while at the same time improving the quality of order fulfilment.

What benefits exactly can be expected from automated systems within the Distribution Centre and how are such systems justified?

Read more: The Benefits of Automation in the Distribution Centre

While past performance is the biggest indicator of future performance (and why job interviewers frequently ask about what you have done, rather then what you will do), sometimes we rely too much on the past and not in the future.

Read more: Your Job is not as Safe as you Think