Geoff Wheatley, managing director, Middle East & Africa, SSI Schaefer, discussed the firm's new products and the general health of the materials handling industry in this region.
What are the key reasons for SSI Schaefer exhibiting at Materials Handling Middle East?
I guess the first reason is the launch of our warehouse management system, WAMAS, in the Middle East, although we do have over 200 sites elsewhere in the world. That’s already generated a fair bit of interest. Secondly, we are also marketing our I Pick system, a standalone pick-by-light solution, which is extremely cost-effective. Generally speaking, the investment required to obtain a system such as this is pretty substantial, but due to this particular product’s modularisation, the client can simply add on modules as they wish.
If you just want a small-piece pick system for your high-value or your high-throughput goods, then it’s ideal for that. It’s also perfect for the pharma industry and automotive parts sector.
What are the benefits associated with your A-Frame?
The A-Frame's biggest potential usage is in the pharma industry, because it can single-piece pick discreet orders at very fast rates. You’ll find this approach especially in Europe and South Africa, where pharmacies tend not to keep a full range of stock and actually order online with a just-in-time approach. So within one to two hours, the drugs that the particular patient requires are delivered.
A lot of pharma products have a determined shelf life, or they need to be stored at specific temperatures, and a lot of pharmacy shops don’t necessarily have that capability; the A Frame solves that issue. As a result, it’s sold extremely well throughout Europe and we’ve now got it at several sites in Asia. We launched it first here at the Arab Health Exhibition and it gained a lot of interest, so I thought I would keep the module here for this show.
The health industry always does well, even in times of economic uncertainty, as does the food and beverage industry – these industries are pretty much recession-proof.
What is the unique selling point of the Schafer WMS?
I guess the answer to that is that it’s part of the Schaefer package now. Prior to our merger/takeover of Salomon in Europe, we didn’t have a standalone WMS system to offer. We had WMS, but it was always linked to fully automated systems, so now this gives SSI an opportunity to provide a complete package even in a conventional warehouse with forklift trucks, racking and normal handheld terminals.
As a system, I think all top-end WMS systems basically offer the same thing. Some of them do it differently, some do it faster, but basically they offer the same package where they can interface with the client’s ERP and control the whole business and obviously the warehouse environment. So I don’t think there’s anything unique about WAMAS, compared with, say, Manhattan or HighJump or RedPrairie.
Although this is your formal launch for WAMAS, are any regional companies using it yet?
No – this is genuinely its first showing in this part of the world. But we’ve had two or three fairly significant enquiries already, especially from companies that are already using it in Europe – if they have an operation here then it makes sense for them to employ it as well.
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