Keeping up with the growing demand for warehousing

According to a CBRE report, leasing activities reached an all-time high of 33 million sq. ft. in the year 2019 growing by more than 30% on an annual basis. The new absorption is estimated to double by year 2023.

One of the key reasons for this is the expected demand in the rise of e-commerce. With shift in buyer behaviour and as more and more customers adopt online shopping, this will increase demand for high-end warehouses from direct e-tailers, e-commerce logistics and express logistics companies thereby.

A global pandemic like COVID-19 has brought to the fore, various loopholes in business supply chains and also had a far-reaching impact on customer behaviour patterns. Businesses now understand the need for keeping buffer goods in stock.

Even in terms of their business supply chains, companies in countries like Japan and USA are looking to de-risk by relocating their manufacturing activities and diversifying their supply chains outside China. The space demands, particularly land and warehousing, are set to rise in India with equal focus on manufacturing and industrial development.

Allcargo Logistics, through its entity Allcargo Logistics and Industrial Parks Private Limited (ALIPPL) is expanding its nationwide warehousing footprint and giving businesses the benefit of warehousing facilities customised to their specific requirements.

Location – the main driver for business

Spanning important business hubs and consumption centres, Allcargo’s logistics parks are spread across cities like Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Nagpur, Indore, Ahmedabad and more.

A lot of consideration has gone into finalising the location of these warehouses. They are located near important industrial clusters and in places that enjoy good road, rail and air connectivity.

Location is one of the most important components that drive efficiency in the entire supply chain. For most businesses that want to optimise their business supply chain, having a warehouse that is well-connected and enables the tenants to offer their customers a faster delivery and high level of service is a great advantage.

Especially in sectors like e-commerce, where customer expectations are skyrocketing, a warehouse with good connectivity is essential to be able to provide timely deliveries and offer value-added services. Even when it comes to the manufacture and stocking up of essential goods, the location of the warehouse significantly impacts the ease with which these goods can be delivered to their desired destinations.

“We have been a fast-growing player in the warehousing space and in a very short span have become a force to reckon with in the Indian logistics real estate. Monetizing on our existing land-banks in key logistics hubs across different cities, and with the advantage of being a dominant logistics company with our ears close to markets, we were in a position to quickly capitalise on the demand for built-to-suit requirements of our leading customers. Today, we are more than well-equipped to bolster businesses with Grade A warehouses that can be built-to-suit to the most stringent and high specification requirements of leading tenants and adhere to international building and safety standards”, says RK Narayan, COO, ALIPPL.

Ensuring ‘Grade A’ excellence in every warehouse

Allcargo offers Grade A construction quality with state-of-the-art amenities, world class infrastructure, environment-friendly technology and fully compliant building with all approvals in place for warehousing operations.

Our developments are built to the FM II Global Standards when it comes to Fire Protection Systems and flooring standards. Our buildings are designed as per AISC-MBMA and IS codes, and NBC norms.

Built with 12-13 metre clear height at eaves, wide column spacing and standing seam buildings, ventilation systems with six air exchanges, the warehouses offer top-of-the-line facilities including fire-fighting systems, STP with treated water for flushing and landscaping, rain water harvesting mechanised loading capabilities using dock-levelers, conveyors, stackers etc., wide roads for 40-feet containers, and much more.

Amenities like a security room and first aid centre, drivers’ rest area, canteens, green belt along the perimeter with necessary trees, add to the usability and convenience of the warehousing facilities.

Construction that integrates sustainability and a concern for the environment

In Allcargo’s warehousing facilities, rainwater harvesting, provision for space for waste handling and recycling of the STP treated water for the landscaping form some of the sustainability measures undertaken. Over 50 years of rainfall data has been considered while designing the storm-water drains.

Lighting with 100% DG Backup for the external lighting and for common services makes sure the facility is well-lit and safe.

In keeping with the consideration towards environment and sustainability, Allcargo’s logistics parks are designed to use minimum electricity (with skylights in the building to have proper sunlight during day time), proper utilisation of rain-water by having rain water harvesting systems and a definitive plan to install solar panels on roof-tops in the near future.

The main focus inside the park is to efficiently use energy, water, and other resources, while protecting occupant health and improving employee productivity as well as reducing waste, pollution and environmental degradation.

Our design and construction of the warehouse structures are done keeping in mind the need of our customers to install and use state-of-the-art automation as well as Warehouse Management Systems. Our construction supports their use of automation, robotics, use internet of things (IOT), and RFID devices in their operations. As we move forward, we shall look to upgrade such enablers in our warehouse offerings.

Building on a glorious heritage

Allcargo has been a logistics industry leader for more than two decades now and brings to the table its expertise across a wide spectrum of logistics services.

Having already established its credentials in the warehousing space, partnering with Allcargo also gives businesses the opportunity to count on a single, reliable service provider for truly end-to-end logistics services that include NVOCC, Container Freight Stations-Internal Container Depots, Contract Logistics, Project Logistics and more.

With a global network that operates via more than 300 offices in over 160 countries and now also strengthened by its deep coverage into more than 19000 PIN Codes across India with the strategic acquisition of Gati, Allcargo truly brings the world to businesses while its world-class warehousing facilities enable them to ‘build your world in ours.’

Keeping pace with growth

A potent way to enhance supply chain efficiency is to push infrastructure development. And even the Indian government is focussing on building warehouses, cold storages through the Public-Private Partnership model and providing viability gap funding to spread the network of efficient warehouses to the remote parts of the country. This will help to reduce unnecessary wastages and boost profitability.

Even the National Logistics Policy which espouses the idea of cohesive development of the logistics sector will boost the logistics park sector. By facilitating seamless multimodal freight transfer, it will make freight movement for key commodities cost-efficient. The proposed policy also aims to standardise the key elements of a warehouse which will lead to new demand and capacity creation of Grade A warehouses.

As India and its warehousing sector is all set to look up and get up and running, Allcargo is already on-track to power this development with high-end, Grade A warehouses in various stages of development ready at multiple towns and cities across India.