The current situation in the market for outsourcing services in internal transport and broadly defined intralogistics is flourishing. From today’s perspective, the world is slowly returning to normal, balancing caution and adapting to the post-pandemic environment. At the moment, we observe a significant increase in interest in our service in the context of outsourcing this part of the process.
Managing internal transport independently poses many challenges today, both in terms of equipment and human resources, as well as the necessary UDT (Office of Technical Inspection) certifications, which are now strictly required due to legal changes. Logistics Outsourcing – What Are Potential Clients Afraid Of? There are two types of clients. The first has experienced the benefits of outsourcing this part of the process and cannot imagine any other form of completing these tasks. The second type has never collaborated with an external company and sees more barriers than benefits. Here, consulting firms like Suret play a significant role in making potential clients aware of the many advantages of collaboration, essentially handing over the problems and challenges of daily internal transport management. The most frequently mentioned problems include:
- Relations with Trade Unions within the plant, which are often concerned about their members’ jobs in case a new organization takes over.
- Lack of conviction about the benefits of outsourcing the process.
- Uncertainty of the pandemic period and associated lockdowns.
- Fears and uncertainty about entrusting the internal transport process, which is undoubtedly the “aorta of the production process” and significantly impacts the client’s business.
- Lack of certain market prospects and demand estimations for goods.
- Rigid organizational structures – perpetually unprepared for change.
Internal Transport Outsourcing Service – Savings or Qualitative Change in Company Operations? As we know, every company is created to make a profit, which means producing and selling the final product in its portfolio. Based on my experience, I am convinced that every company primarily focuses on its product, which is undoubtedly its “core business.” Few consider internal transport, developing an appropriate intralogistics model, new technologies related to it, and continuous work on improving transport efficiency (e.g., through 100% utilization of equipment and personnel availability) as important enough to seriously optimize and dedicate additional resources to improve the process. For an outsourcing provider, this type of challenge is “daily bread” – a constant effort to improve and refine the transport service process. We have the IT tools, appropriate equipment, accessories, technical support, experience, and most importantly, the passion expressed in the results of continuous improvement.
Scope of Internal Transport Outsourcing Services and Cost Calculation Model Unfortunately, few realize how comprehensive such a service can be. Often the scope expands in the subsequent months of cooperation. The client notices the losses they have been generating over a long time. Daily routine in the process convinced them that this was the norm. Seeing how much an external company can improve – the client often initiates the outsourcing of additional parts of the process. This scope starts with unloading raw materials at the plant warehouse and ends with dispatching appropriately configured product sets directly to the end customer. It is important to mention all inter-departmental, inter-workstation, and warehouse operations. The cost calculation model is very simple and always converges at the same point – it will be much cheaper than the current form of service delivery! This is because for an internal transport outsourcing provider, the forklift and its operator are at the center of interest. This guarantees cost reduction.
Piotr Wierzbicki Director of Logistics Division
