Climate demands chain reaction
October 14th 2008 During these uncertain economic times, developing an effective supply chain has never been more important and, with the warehouse at the heart of any cost-effective supply chain, companies seeking high quality outsourced warehousing services should always choose a UKWA member, says the Association’s chief executive officer, Roger Williams
While commentators and other so-called ‘City Experts’ appear divided on how far the economy has got to fall before it reaches reach rock bottom – most people seem to believe that the credit crunch will get worse before things improve.
Thankfully this fiscal fiasco has (so far, at least) not resulted in any high profile casualties within the third party logistics sector, although there can be little doubt that the issues surrounding the situation are eroding the business foundations of the 3PL industry’s client base: our major housebuilders, for instance, have recently announced huge job losses, while in the retail sector – so long a key driver of growth among the 3PL fraternity – the sale of expensive white and brown goods has stalled.
On the plus side, the pressure on disposable income shows no sign dampening the consumers’ appetite for internet shopping and, as a result, online retail sales continue to grow. In fact, such is the upsurge in internet shopping that Capgemini has forecast that between 30 percent and 50 percent of all retail sales will be online within the next five years.
During these uncertain times, developing an effective supply chain has never been more important and, at the heart of any cost-effective supply chain, is the warehouse.
The United Kingdom Warehousing Association (UKWA) has been at the forefront of Britain’s warehousing industry for over 60 years. Established in 1944, the Association has over 650 members, who, between them, control nearly 100 million square feet of warehouse and distribution centre space from some 2000 locations across the UK.
To become a member of the Association, all applicants must undergo a rigorous inspection by a UKWA Council official to ensure that they operate to the highest minimum standards in 11 critical areas of warehousing. Only by demonstrating that it can comply with these standards will a company’s membership application be accepted and, to ensure that the highest level of performance is maintained, UKWA members are expected to participate in an annual operational audit programme.
As the third party logistics services sector becomes increasingly competitive, companies looking for high quality warehousing and a high standard of service – no matter how large or small their requirement – should always chose a UKWA member. By doing so, they have the peace of mind of knowing that businesses belonging to the United Kingdom Warehousing Association have been operating viably for at least six months and have demonstrated the highest standards in warehousing.
Of course, in today’s price sensitive market, the need to drive cost out of the supply chain is often cited as a major reason for using third party logistics service providers. However, perhaps a better reason for engaging outside experts is the in-depth knowledge, flexibility and added value that a specialist contractor can provide and UKWA members undertake an exceptional range of warehousing and added value services.
A determination to drive up professional standards in the warehousing sector underpins UKWA’s activities and by joining UKWA a third party warehousing services company demonstrates its commitment to best practice in every aspect of its business.
Services offered
In the current climate, trade associations – like all businesses – are under increasing pressure to add-value and provide innovative services to their members and UKWA offers a range of benefits to help members with the day to day running of their business. They include:
Professional advice: Advisers offering a broad range of specialist skills are available to all UKWA members and they can be contacted by telephone or email entirely free of charge.
Human resources: UKWA has partnered the highly respected human resources consultancy group, BusinessHR, to offer members advice not only on employment law but on a full range of HR-related issues. BusinessHR provide their service to UKWA members at a much lower cost than traditional sources of advice and guidance.
Storage space search facility: UKWA has teamed up with Variation to create a Space marketing and search service where members can find and market warehouse space and resources Insurance: In partnership with Willis Limited and Allianz Insurance UKWA recently launched an exclusive bespoke insurance package which is only available to members. Recruitment: The leading logistics industry recruitment solutions specialists The BJD Group work as UKWA's recruitment solutions partner. BJD provide UKWA member companies with a range of exclusive services, including up to a 20 per cent reduction on recruitment fees and a free recruitment audit and benchmarking service. The latter is designed to help UKWA members companies to review their current recruitment policies and assess how effective they are.
Healthcare: In association with PHP a range of competitively priced private health insurance packages is available. UKWA is constantly seeking to add to the services that it offers and further exciting new opportunities will be announced soon. In the meantime we believe that by having access to such a wide spread of value added services UKWA members will be well placed to face the challenges that lie ahead.
Further information on the full range of member services offered by UKWA is available on the associaiton’s website www.ukwa.org.uk
UKWA membership now broader
Originally conceived as a trade body for the third party warehousing and logistics sector, the Association now embraces all companies that provide warehousing or other logistics support services in the supply chain. In other words, companies that undertake warehousing and logistics tasks but for whom such operations do not represent their core business, can now apply for membership of UKWA.
Of course, the overwhelming majority of UKWA’s members remain third party warehousing and logistics services companies but the move to widen the Association’s membership eligibility means that UKWA is now truly representative of the wider supply chain community. More articles from United Kingdom Warehousing Association: | 
