JULY - AUGUST 20258 logisticstechoutlook.comBy Iwona Czapura-Zelik, Regional Director, Fresh Logistics Polska, Raben GroupThe fresh produce market is very dynamic and it undoubtedly reflects consumer trends which change in line with the economic situation. The current market trends are heading in one direction - the logistics operator has the task of delivering more, more often, more accurately, without errors and damage. Customer expectations over the past years have evolved towards higher quality, increasingly shorter response times to changing needs, with unlimited flexibility and pressure on the level of costs of logistics services. And the role of the logistics operator is to meet market expectations. However, this will be possible if all participants in the supply chain are equally involved. We are confident that by working together and continuously optimizing processes, using lean management tools and creating an engaging work environment, we will be able to effectively address today's challenges. Such activities cannot be carried out ad hoc - only a strategic approach is a guarantee of success i.e. satisfaction of even the most demanding customer. At Fresh Logistics, we have been implementing the Better Every Day business improvement program for many years, in which we analyse processes together with our customers and partners, in terms of their complexity, standardization or possible waste. Working together in the search for cost and process optimizations is now a necessity and will help all supply chain participants achieve their business goals in a highly competitive market, especially in the face of today's challenges. It is worth mentioning that a huge role in shaping fresh food logistics is played by retail chains. A dozen or so years ago, we mainly delivered goods directly to stores. Currently, about 75percent of deliveries go to the distribution centres of retail chains. Delivery times have also become crucial as they went down to as little as 12 hours from the time the goods are picked up from the production facility. An operator who wants to enjoy successful cooperation with a large customer from the retail sector (a large retailer) should focus on developing tailor-made solutions because only these will fit the customer's business practice and meet its expectations in the best way. In this area, Fresh Logistics Polska focuses on a partnership which brings measurable benefits to each of the parties. Partnership is about people so cooperation between our employees and those of our customer, as well as of the consignee, is crucial.Flexibility, speed, cost-effectiveness, data reliability - these is what is expected of a logistics operator handling fresh food products today. In order to meet these expectations, logistics companies are investing in digitalization of their processes, which results in paperless logistics and the use of RPA (Robotic Process Automation). Paperless aims to eliminate traditional paper documents and shift to Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). The Paperless initiative at Fresh Logistics is carried out in cooperation with GS1 Polska. The other participants are also our customers: manufacturers and retail chains. We are working to eliminate paper documents from the logistics process. Several elements of this process INNOVATION IS THE WAY TO PROCESS OPTIMIZATIONIN MY OPINIONIwona Czapura-Zelik
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