Providing Solutions

Automation and advanced software are moving in fast

Juliana Hawi, Consultant – Supply Chain Solutions, Span Group

The GCC logistics industry is becoming more tech savvy every day, according to Juliana Hawi, Consultant – Supply Chain Solutions, Span Group. “Five years ago we were behind, but now I would say the latest technology is coming to the region,” she says.

Still, she admits, the region is learning. “A lot of education has to be done for the clients. Unlike Europe and North America where the client will approach you with clear requirements and you will have to give him a solution. Maybe Dubai is different, but in a lot of these countries you have to go educate the client, show them their need for technology and then propose the solution.”

Hawi says part of her company’s role is to expose the industry to new technologies, helping potential clients determine if they can apply these solutions to their own business.

“This is why Span has established Span University,” she explains. “It is not a university where you get a degree, but you can take courses in logistics, demand planning, slotting and any new technology, such as RFID and voice picking.”

Established in the region in 1989, Span Group offers solutions for demand planning and forecasting, warehouse management, transportation, visibility and collaboration and is the main distributor of Infor Supply Chain Solutions.

“Span Supply Chain Solutions is a mirror for Infor Supply Chain Solutions in the region,” says Hawi. “We have exclusive distribution, exclusive support, exclusive implementation, as well as local research and development and local support.”

Hawi says her company has tailored these systems to the region, “For example, a standard warehouse management system will not be able to run in Jebel Ali, because it is not integrated with JAFZA customs,” she says. “The local research and development of Span, which is part of its global research and development, has regionalised the solutions, for example, offering software with the Arabic language for Saudi Arabia.”

She says it is becoming easier to get customers on board. “It is not difficult to convince customers to adapt to technology today, because the return on investment is justified,” she says. “Five years back, it was not justified. We have clients like Aramex, Jawad Business Group, Emirates Flight Catering that have implemented automation. This shows you that the region is moving forward.”

She says the latest trends are voice picking, pick-by-light, automation and RFID. “Span implemented these technologies in Europe five or six years back, but at that time there was no justification to bring them to the region,” she says. “Today, with the increasing cost of labour and land, however, logistics providers in the region are moving more towards automation and implementing solutions that may be expensive initially, but will allow scalability and will reduce the reliance on labour over time.”

Hawi says it won’t be long before we start seeing robots in warehouses. “Nobody can predict what is coming in terms of new inventions, but a lot of robots will come for sure. Nobody is using robots here, yet.”