Landmark Group has reached a milestone and influenced the retail industry in the region since its inception in 1973. From the inauguration of their first shop in Bahrain to the debut of other brands across the Middle East, Landmark Group has established a set definition.
However, a company’s supply chain, operations, and logistics are critical to any success – making it crucial for a company with over 2000 stores of various brands worldwide. Here, Ashish Sood, Chief Supply Chain Officer of Landmark Retail, who has extensive industry expertise and shares his perspective on retail logistics, crucial challenges tackled, an adaptation of automation in operations, and plans for Landmark Group…
1. How would you describe the current supply chain and logistics landscape in the retail segment in the UAE?
UAE is a global trading hub, and the logistics industry has been at the heart of this. There has been steady growth in the UAE’s supply chain and logistics sector due to the region’s rapid e-commerce growth and the expansion of global trade. Although COVID affected the industry significantly, the UAE and the rest of the world’s core sectors are stabilising and thriving. The UAE and Dubai have implemented many measures to develop their infrastructure and technology to create a well-integrated transport, supply chain, and logistics ecosystem to facilitate trade and the e-commerce sector.
According to a recent analysis by Dubai Alpen Capital, the retail sector in the GCC area is positioned for a bright future, with the market forecast to rise to $308 billion by 2023. We are proud that we have successfully maintained pace with the GCC’s evolving retail landscape with our commitment to addressing and fulfilling our customer’s needs. Landmark Group’s vision led to investments in future technologies, and an advanced supply chain to support the omnichannel business demands have enabled quicker adaptability.
In November 2019, we inaugurated Omega DC, a fully automated logistics and distribution hub with cutting-edge technology and processes to service our expanding omnichannel business – it is located in JAFZA, the largest privately owned facility in the MENA region.
2. Which current business-related issues are you observing in the global logistics retail market?
Over the past few years, unprecedented disruptions have highlighted the need for more resilient and agile supply chain operations. Top businesses worldwide understand that technology and connected supply chains are the way forward to generate and optimise efficiency while serving their customers’ expectations.
Logistical disruptions stemming from COVID-19 and the Russian-Ukraine war have limited goods’ production and movement, resulting in long purchase lead times.
The industry also experienced the need to increase technology investments to improve logistics planning through advanced digital enablers like cognitive planning, AI systems, and blockchain technologies. Capacity challenges with logistics providers, inflation, shipment delays, higher freight prices, reduced inventory levels, labour shortages, and managing demand peaks have all taken centre stage and demanded attention.
It is becoming increasingly important for companies to ensure the effective use of technology to
get visibility across multiple areas, including vendor management and ongoing risk monitoring, and their capabilities are strong enough to adapt to new digital operations.
3. How do you plan to apply logistics and supply chain automation?
Landmark Group is committed to playing a significant part in enabling the retail supply chain of the future, as Dubai is rising as a global and economical business and logistics centre. The Group’s supply chain goal is to create a best-in-class supply chain function in which every step is founded on math and science, is cost-effective, and aims to provide a superior customer experience.
Acquiring and retaining the right talent and creating a future-ready and agile supply chain is a crucial part of this vision to support the growing consumer demand across our omnichannel business. Additionally, we implemented advanced warehouse automation technologies and hyper-automation with optimisers and simulators. We are also added advanced robots (AMRs) to our warehouses. These features will facilitate decision-making and reduce manual effort.
Furthermore, we have collaborated with renowned warehouse automation and software professionals to increase the company’s warehousing operations scope. This has improved capabilities in handling and storing items, resulting in a more efficient warehouse management system that assures a smooth flow of goods following client expectations.
One of the noteworthy achievements is that these measures have led to improved services offered across our businesses and external 3PL clients. Correspondingly, it is crucial to note that the supply chain team at Landmark Group fully recognise that automation of logistics is the key to the company’s success. The Group is transforming its supply chains to provide impressive customer experiences and highlighting that automation is one of the key pillars in the company’s vision for an agile logistics framework. By offering scalability, speed, and efficiency, it provides a robust client experience.
4. What special measures and business techniques were used to stand out from competitors in 2022?
As one of the region’s top retail businesses, we have constantly reinvented ourselves to remain relevant and succeed in an ever-changing business context. Omega DC, a fully automated distribution and warehousing centre in JAFZA, serves the region’s 2,300 outlets across forty-three brands. A compelling vision propels us to continually alter our supply chain to provide a superior client experience while maintaining high operational efficiency. Our present transition era, driven by the adoption of cutting-edge logistical technology and leading innovation in the GCC region’s supply chain, has resulted in the company’s victory.
We have partnered with multiple organisations to ensure that Landmark Group implements the latest technology, including an end-to-end go-to-market (GTM) supply visibility and workflow management tool to deliver optimised customer services even in an uncertain environment. We are also implementing advanced robots (AMRs) in our warehouses. This automation will reduce cost, reduce manual work and improve the speed at which we service our customers.
Consumers expect effectiveness, efficiency, speed, flexibility, and agility in today’s fast-paced retail world. A robust supply chain approach and technological advances are required to meet changing demands and increase productivity. Based on this understanding, we create new processes, strengthen existing ones, and implement technologies that improve the customer experience. Customer feedback is essential in allowing us to evaluate our service standards continuously. Our NPS has increased by nearly 10% across our e-commerce business and 15% across our stores since last year.
Methodologies like KATA & Lean are key levers we have implemented to drive better efficiency, resulting in a 20 – 30% productivity benefit. We also implement end-to-end piece-level visibility using RFID across the entire value chain, from suppliers to warehouses, stores, and customers. These continuous improvement initiatives ensure that the supply chain team is continuously focused on raising the bar on customer experience and cost metrics.
5. How does a seamless logistics process aid you in achieving your desired objectives in your line of work?
The launch of the GTM platform is one way Landmark uses a seamless logistics process to achieve its goals. Our goal is to have complete visibility and supplier collaboration, to check the quality of commodities purchased, to reduce customs delays, and to automate and digitise previously manual procedures, all of which are critical to remaining competitive in today’s retail market.
We implement RFID-enabled end-to-end piece-level visibility throughout the entire value chain, from suppliers to warehouses, stores, and customers.
6. What growth initiatives or strategies do you have a close eye on as a company, now and into 2023 too?
People are a critical component of our supply chain vision, so we focus on building a world-class supply chain team by hiring the best talent from the region and worldwide. We have a well-defined and structured approach to scaling up supply chain professionals through intensive coaching and mentoring, classroom, and on-the-job training, and stretch assignments. We have seen significant results from these people’s development initiatives, allowing us to partner in their growth.
7. Any additional comments?
In the future, we plan to broaden our reach while promoting various brands. Renuka Jagtiani, the Chairwoman of Landmark Group and Kabir Lumba, CEO of Landmark Retail, are spearheading initiatives to ensure that the organisation remains relevant now and in the future as the regional retail scene evolves rapidly in the changing business landscape.