1. Could you please give me a little bit of background about you, your career path in the industry and any notable achievements? 

My background before has been what you might call “broad”! It was mainly spent in consultative sales and design. I started in industrial janitorial space and then in metalized polyester film applications before moving into construction-related commercial interiors. In all these industries have found that concentrating on what exactly fits the clients’ needs for long term payback yields the best win-win. Both parties have to be happy in any relationship!

Within 5 years of coming to the boardroom at Anchor Logisticomms I have helped quadruple the turnover of the 40-year established firm – not without the assistance of a brilliant team!

 

2. Could you possibly give us some fun facts about yourself?

Started going grey at 18, passionate Monopoly player, born 3rd in family of 8 siblings.

 

3. What is your position within the company and your role and responsibilities? 

I head up the company’s sales and marketing efforts, which sees me talking to most key clients over the course of a year. As well doing fun things like exhibitions I have responsibility to deliver on the firms strategic goals, and keep the team highly focused - like our surveillance cameras are!

 

4. At IntraLogisteX, will you be launching anything new to the market? If ‘yes’, what is it and why is it a must-have product/service for our visitors? If ‘no’, please provide some details about a product/service that showcases your expertise in this sphere?

We are launching our VIDEOAUDIT system at IntralogisteX this year. Visitors to stand 414 can watch how technology will not only protect them but make money for them, too. VIDEOAUDIT enables firms to protect profits by capturing HD video of the warehouse events and process errors which cost them money. With a very easy search function and integration to WMS it saves hours of tracking through yards of video to prove / disprove a theft or simply a packing error. It is CCTV from a new angle – literally cameras focused on pay back …Don’t miss the demonstrations every half an hour using free-to-take VIDEOAUDIT Toblerone bars…!

 

5. Can you provide a recent case study that highlights your company’s capabilities?

Noatum Logistics’ recent ePoint warehouse – a multi floor giant 3PL facility in the Goodman London Medway development - is a case study we can share to demonstrate how our systems are an essential part of clients profit protection strategy. The daily handling of thousands of lines for high value fashion clients and electronics retailers is now safely protected by Logisticomms systems including video capture from camera devices over the sortation lines, biometric access controls on the warehouse doors – allowing different permissions per level of mezzanine – and an intelligent alarms on all fire exits and loading bay shutters.

 

6. How can technology and data be used to make the warehouse and supply chain more integrated parts of retail businesses?

That’s an interesting one! I don’t think it applies to all markets, but where consumers are aware of the processing of their order as part of their buying decision, I believe warehouse tech can be brought to bear to integrate data capture into the commercial fibre of retail. For instance if I was looking to order some special furniture from say, Neptune Furniture in a chosen colour and specific size, and at the point of decision I notice that they offered the ability for me to click on a short video clip of my own order as it went through the stages of production in their factory – Wow! I think that would give me that required peace of mind about buying, and give them the edge over the competition. Where tech can enable greater vendor transparency, it builds consumer confidence and helps sales.

 

7. As far as the digital warehouse goes, what does the future look like for supply chains? IoT is already bringing about a shift in the value chain: do you think it is, as promised, poised to revolutionise logistics? If so, in what areas do you believe it will really come to the fore?

Human error will always make your operation uncompetitive. It follows that tech which addresses those areas of cost leakage will give the firms who embrace the digital warehouse along term advantage. Accurately assessing the cost savings and consequently the timing of ROI is vital for balancing the investment whilst not being left behind.

 

8. Planning for peak season 2022 starts now. What is the next big wave in supply chain technology to alleviate these seasonal pressures? What are your top tips for negotiating these ultra-busy times?

This year’s Black Friday may again may be the biggest ever eCommerce retail spike, with shoppers’ online shopping habits at a high, and the phenomena of 5%+ inflation luring us to beat coming price rises. Firms in this space would be well-advised to test the maximum capacity of their supply chains ahead of time and build in tech to enable increase peak capacity in a profitable way. The ability to store and easily search for video footage of any consignment packed in that peak period is a vital part of being able to refute costly error claims.

 

9. New technologies, growth in e-commerce and sustainability are mega-trends that will continue for some time. What new megatrends do you anticipate and what market demands do you see evolving/changing over the next five years?

It’s always difficult to make predictions, but what we’re hearing from companies is the pandemic hastened the transition away from instore to a prevalence of online transactions, a trend they believe is likely to remain in a large part. Many clients are telling us that whilst high street sales have level pegged or often dipped, eCommerce has typically more than doubled. Whatever sector you are in, new technologies and methods are going to help deal with that shift.

 

10. As we (fingers crossed) move into the post-pandemic era, what opportunities are there now to redesign supply chains to be smarter and more resilient? What important things have we learned as a result of how we dealt with the pandemic in terms of resilience?

For these firms, resilience now means the ability to maintain long term competitive profitability despite a far higher number of direct deliveries. This not only requires a robust returns policy but also impeccable pick accuracy and stock security to prevent the erosion of the bottom line company results. What we’re seeing is that by simply retraining their CCTV focus onto hotspots within their facilities, and adding in enhanced video management, profit can be protected from disappearing off the P&L. For a firms like The Fragrance Shop / PerScent with a £100M+ turnover, achieving 1% revenue recovery can mean a lot to annual performance, and the cost of employing the extra technology is covered very fast indeed.

 

For more information please contact: 

 

Anthony Baxter, Director 

T: 01923 269322

M: 07584 140322

E: a.baxter@anchorss.co.uk 

 

Gordon Remmington, Director 

T: 01923 269322

M: 07848 458526

E: g.remmington@anchorss.co.uk 

 

Visit their website: www.logisticomms.com