Go your own way

With its new RAIS-MILS facility in DAFZA, RHS Group Logistics is turning its back on brand names and designing its own software.

When Rais Hassan Saadi opened its RAIS-MILS facility in Dubai Airport Free Zone (DAFZA), a joint venture with Malaysia’s MISC Integrated Logistics, it had plenty of experience working with warehouse management software (WMS). RHS Group Logistics, the company that manages the facility, had been tinkering with EXE Technologies’ EXceed at its distribution centre in Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZA) since its opening seven years before. “EXceed was an appropriate purchase for us at JAFZA, especially as we were finding our way in the logistics field,” explains Richard Bell, General Manager, RHS Group Logistics. “We also stayed on the upgrade path, so as the provider released new versions we would bring them into our facility. The idea behind this was that we would always                        Richard Bell
be relevant to the market’s logistics requirements.”

But as RHS Logistics gained more experience in the WMS field, it realised
that it understood client needs better than any packaged software. “At RHS Logistics in Jebel Ali we now develop all the functionalities around the system,” says Bell. “We’ve developed all the entries into the EXceed WMS ourselves. If a client needs a specific functionality that is not performed by EXE, we can develop that functionality outside of the system but still have a relationship with EXE.”

Bell says it now makes more sense for RHS Logistics to program its own software. “As we’ve found over the years, it is the clients who dictate what functionality they require, not software providers,” he says.

So when the company developed its 1,700 sq metre facility in DAFZA, it purchased a basic storage and retrieval system from Focus, which it could tailor to its needs. “We bought the source codes with it, which is what you would not get when you buy a packaged software,” explains Bell. “Once we had the source codes, it meant that we could develop the software into our own.”

With the help of a software developer, RHS Logistics has created a programme which Bell describes as “open-ended”, answering clients’ demands such as on-line inventory tracking and specific kinds of reports. “It is the way to go, because you never know what is around the corner,” he says. “We are constantly surprised by what our clients require.”

He expects other companies to follow. “This is a direction that good logistics providers will take going forward. Even with our operations at Jebel Ali, we will go the same way,” he says. “It is much more flexible if you’re writing your own software. You can dictate the functionality. You are not dictated to by the confines of a package.”

Bell says operating without the backing, a big name such as EXE has had no impact on RAIS-MILS’ credibility. The DAFZA facility is at 90 per cent capacity, and RHS Logistics plans to more than double its size from 2,500 to 6,000 pallet positions within the next eight months. “The key now is functionality. I believe that is what the client demands,” he says. “Clients are becoming less and less hung up on the brand name software package.”