Critical Issues

Dock houses - complete pods consisting of a dock leveller and dock shelter in one are used to maximise warehouse space, providing an additional area between the warehouse and the vehicles being loaded and unloaded.

By Ian Roper, supply chain solutions divisional director, the Access Group.

The demands placed on modern supply chains have created a complex set of exacting requirements for Warehouse Management Systems.

A huge 88 per cent of road transport businesses still use paper-based processes to manage vehicle walk around checks and only 14 percent have an incentive scheme based on driver performance data.

Parcelhub, a parcel delivery service which provides services for high volume business mail and parcels through multiple carriers, says e-tailers need to move quickly and think smarter if they are going to fulfil their delivery promises this Christmas season.

In terms of logistics and legal requirements under EU regulations, companies and self-employed drivers alike have the same concern: ensuring that their tachograph will be not only reliable and highly accurate in terms of recording driving and rest hours, but are also paired with equipment capable of downloading this data in the most efficient way possible.

Brake, the road safety charity, is running a free online training course next month – to help companies improve the safety of their drivers when out on the road.

Brake's Pledge training, sponsored by ARI Fleet UK, is being run as a series of online webinars this year to give managers and driver trainers the training and tools they need to make sure at-work drivers and other road users are safe.

Unsworth Global Logistics (UGL) has been recognised across all business sectors by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), scooping the runner-up award for Training and Development at the London Business Awards 2015 held at the Pullman Hotel recently.

Law firm Moore Blatch is calling on the Government to waive fines for haulage companies and drivers who find they are unwittingly transporting 'clandestine entrants' in their vehicles, until the escalating border control situation in Calais has been rectified.

The number of supply chain jobs advertised year-on-year in the UK in the second quarter of 2015 has increased by 26%, according to research from specialist recruiter Robert Walters.

Figures from the Robert Walters UK Jobs Index, which charts vacancy numbers posted to online platforms, has revealed that the demand for supply chain professionals grew most significantly in London with vacancies up 30% compared to the second quarter of 2014, with the overall number of vacancies up 6% over this period.

Research from supply management specialist Comensura reveals that the £74bn UK transportation industry could become gridlocked due to a growing driver shortage, largely caused by an ageing workforce and young candidates being dissuaded by the cost of the Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (Driver CPC).

The October 2015 edition of Manufacturing & Logistics IT will feature a special technology report on Voice Directed Picking and Warehouse Management (WMS)

A number of prominent industry spokespeople from the research & vendor community will consider current trends.