Entrepreneurship opportunities in Warehousing Facilities .. IIMM - P Vishwanathan at Alliance ..

Yesterday there was an invited talk by Mr P Vishwanathan, founder member of the Bangalore chapter of Indian Institute of Materials management on Logistics, Inventory and Supply Chain management in Alliance University for the sem 2 Operations stream students.

The speaker was very experienced in all areas of Logistics and Supply Chain Management, conventional, except may be in retail management. His experience in the different areas was great learning for the students. 

A typical large warehouse ..

One of the interesting aspects of the discussion yesterday was on the entrepreneurship opportunities in Supply Chain management.

The immediate answer that came up was warehousing. To increase their distribution capabilities, manufacturers and 3PL and 4PL providers are looking for warehousing opportunities. Having vital and crucial warehouses in important towns and cities of India will help big manufacturers and distributors to plan to spread out their inventory across the country.

By setting up and managing a warehouse, entrepreneurs can help the national economy and industry in general to improve the supply chain link.

Here are some pointers on how to go about setting up a warehouse..

http://www.ehow.com/how_4884168_set-up-warehouse.html 

How to setup a distribution warehouse, many useful links..  http://www.ask.com/ans?qsrc=2987&o=102338&oo=102338&l=dir&gc=1&q=How+To+Set+Up+A+Distribution+Warehouse 

The most important points generally to look out for are the following :

•  design a efficient layout of the warehouse with enough planning for receipt, dispatch and storage areas, 
• facility for FIFO movement of inventory, 
• enough space for employees to relax,refresh, rest and move around, 
• proper ventilation or not depending on the material, 
• cold storage facilities, 
• material handling facilities inside the warehouse like forklifts, 
• overhead cranes if planning a large facility and for loading and unloading from trucks, 
• proper lighting
• power connection
• security.
• Pollution control / prevention measures
• Networking with local authorities and govt departments, police 

Taking prior permission from the local authorities, complying with rules and regulations, regarding pollution, insurance to guard against pilferage and loss, natural calamities etc, contact with labour contractors or workers Unions to provide labour and employees at short notice, power etc are steps in this process..

george..