Inspire change transform service

How have recent changes in the industry impacted service?

The internet and the rise in online shopping has profoundly changed the way the warehousing and logistics industry operates. As e-commerce orders have risen, more distribution centres are opening in urban areas to accommodate an efficient last mile delivery. 

This is excellent news for online shoppers, who are being provided with more options for next and same-day delivery. On the other hand, customer expectations are continuously rising, and these urban warehouses are under greater pressure to ensure their processes are flawless to minimise returns and respond to peaks in orders. 

What can be done to face these challenges?

It’s our belief as a company that for urban warehouses to succeed, suppliers to the industry must also follow them into these local areas. Change in the industry is often met with resistance, but now is the time to inspire change to meet market demand. If a speedy service cannot be provided by third party organisations, it will obviously have an impact on how quickly the deliveries get out of the door.

For example, if a forklift breaks down and the service provider is at least an hour away, that could make all the difference between meeting demand or failing expectations. However, if suppliers to the logistics industry are more localised, it means faster response times, and ultimately faster deliveries.

How have technological advancements in forklift trucks affected service?

Over the years, the equipment itself has undoubtedly become more complex – onboard diagnostics, fire suppression, engine management systems, operator presence sensing, even blue LED lights are now fairly commonplace. Safety and ergonomics have improved accordingly, but those reflecting on the old days might say there are also more things to go wrong.

This is more evidence of a change to the way we serve the industry being necessary for large urban warehouses to operate efficiently. As the demand on the warehouse rises, they are more likely to choose optional extras for their forklift fleet to improve productivity. Local service engineers are vital to ensuring all aspects of the machinery run at optimum output.

What changes can we expect to come in the future, and how can we prepare?

Of course, downtime has always been an important KPI for equipment users, but the pressure on retailers is inevitably being forced further down the supply chain. What may have been an acceptable turnaround speed in the recent past, may be unacceptable in the near future.

Adding contingency equipment is one way a fleet manager may add additional capacity, but few businesses have the luxury of carrying unused equipment long-term. That’s where the other metric – utilisation, has come into play.

So, bringing supplier and customer closer together, both geographically and commercially, is the best way to inspire change, increase efficiency and be prepared for whatever the future brings.  Our business has had this closeness built in for decades, and whilst we would like to credit our founder as some kind of visionary, the truth is partnerships just make sense. 

What is the Windsor secret to service success?

Our business has evolved over the years, from a local service provider to a nationwide business that still emphasises local service. Now, we are inspiring others with digitalisation, new technologies and a fresh approach to materials handling.

Each of our locations operates as a standalone branch, which means our customers don’t get put through to a call centre when they need to speak to us. Our clients can rely on us to ensure a knowledgeable service manager based local to their facility will take their call and rectify their issue as soon as possible.

As online shopping becomes more popular, and e-commerce retailers become more aware of the impact unreliable equipment has on their operation, the demand for this kind of service is likely to increase. And service providers located within a short drive of their facility are certainly going to have a competitive advantage.

What else can be done for suppliers to enhance their customer relationships?

In recent times we’ve concentrated on improving our knowledge, infrastructure and branch facilities to provide everything the customer needs at local level. While too wide a range of products can be off-putting to some businesses, we have found that some of our customers, such as Hadfield Wood Recyclers, really benefit from trialling two or three brands of machinery before making an informed decision.

We want to ensure that our sales team in each branch are insightful and helpful, and by continuously adding new products to our portfolio, we have all bases – counterbalance, heavy, and access systems – covered. Today, the focus is on reducing the ‘processing’ times of common activities through technology and digitalisation. It’s an area offering huge potential for improvements, but there are also pitfalls from those that lose sight of the customer.

What can other suppliers to the industry do to enable their customers to thrive?

At Windsor, we maintain a philosophy of continual investment to help ensure our strong reputation for personal customer support is maintained. We always seek to develop and nurture long term and valued customer relationships to enable our customers to succeed.

Although we count major fleet users amongst our customers, we are not a large corporate company, nor a small trader. We offer instead the professionalism, financial security and high standards of a large corporate firm but not the constraints and rigid management structures that hamper the decision-making process. 

It is this attitude that has led us to a fresh approach to the way we work. We are eager to inspire change in others to ensure the logistics market can continue to meet the rise in customer demand that technology has introduced. The only way to do this is to embrace digitalisation and incorporate it into our processes to offer a smoother service. I believe this approach could form the basis of a successful future for any supplier to the warehousing industry – not just forklifts.