Last week we ran a story on how DHL Supply Chain was the only logistics firm to be named in the Times Top 50 Employers for Women league table. This week we interview Ruth Waring, founder of Women In Logistics UK, to find out why there is a disconnect in the industry and what can be done to attract more women in. Her thoughts prove there remains a rather outdated view of the industry that needs to change but that also more can be done by companies to make their businesses more friendly places for female staff.
To help those in the industry progress more generally comes the launch of a new online warehouse supervisor course from the Logistics Learning Alliance and the UKWA (the United Kingdom Warehousing Association), announced as the industry continues its professionalisation.
Of course it’s not just about people today. With the advance of robotics the industry is changing and DHL has announced a new investment this week in four new collaborative robots to work alongside employees in its co-packing and productions logistics centres. The move may be small initially but the robots will be deployed across a number of facilities as and when needed and it will be interesting to see how they work alongside colleagues.
Elsewhere DHL has announced it is the latest company to support Amazon Alexa, as has DPD, and GFS has launched a new delivery option tool in open source widget format which it hopes will open up the market too.
Hoping to make an even bigger impact however is Sorted – the group formerly known as MPD Group. The company has rebranded with the launch of what it claims is a game-changing delivery app, also branded Sorted, which it says will put both retailers and consumers in charge of the delivery experience.
And finally we have the news that UPS is to buy Ireland’s Nightline Logistics Group in a deal that was announced last week. As ever the industry is changing fast. Are you doing enough to keep up?
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