The Airbnb Concept Arrives in the Warehouse Space
Companies can scale warehouse equipment and other assets up and down to accommodate changing needs. But a warehouse itself is a fixed property that involves major financial commitments, which can become detrimental to a company’s bottom line.
The warehouse industry is now on the cusp of a major disruption that could put the traditional model in the past. Some innovative companies are taking a page from the Airbnb book to create a warehouse sharing model.
Matching Supply with Demand
One such company is Stowga, a startup in the UK. According to CEO Charlie Pool, they realized that many warehouses had spare capacity while demand for warehouse space was increasing, so why not match up the two sides?
Stowga and US competitor Flexe offer high-tech platforms for companies to rent their unused warehouse space to other companies for variable lengths of time. Germany, Australia, Hong Kong and other industrialized countries are now scrambling to develop their own warehouse sharing services.
Benefits of Warehouse Sharing
– Warehouses are transformed from long-term, static assets to short-term, variable ones.
– Companies can be more agile in terms of expanding into new markets and pulling out of unprofitable ones.
– Warehouse sharing fits perfectly into the PAL (personalized, automated, localized) supply chain concept.
– Costs will be lower when companies can obtain warehouse space in proximity to their customer bases rather than remaining locked into cumbersome, far-away distribution chains.
– Fewer companies will need to rely on outdated, expensive and rigid solutions such as offshore manufacturing and global supply chains.
Warehouse Equipment for All Applications
Battery-powered tugs, movers and pushers from DJ Products are well-suited to carry your company from today’s warehouse models through future innovations. Visit our website where our friendly sales engineers are ready to assist you.