AEB, a Germany-based logistics provider, said it is set to roll out a warehouse management system (WMS) in the Philippines.
Francis Kok, General Manager of AEB Asia Pacific, told reporters in a chance interview on Tuesday in Taguig City that the company decided to stage the first product launch in the Philippines. He said its WMS would eventually be rolled out in other countries.
According to the Germany-based logistics firm, the new WMS solution is “designed to manage warehouse operations and personalize business processes for next-level warehouse automation.”
Kok said AEB chose the Philippines as the first site for its product launch because “we have a significant customer base here using the previous generation software.” He also said the company believes that “the Philippine market would really be able to use this solution.”
The software will be unveiled on Wednesday and will be implemented within the year.
“The first two launched customers, one is a large frozen meat distributor and the other customer is a large distributor or storage facility of condiments like pepper, salt,” Kok said.
He said the logistics firm would like to start off with about 2 to 4 implementations this year. He said the company “carefully picked” these customers since the firm would like to learn from them.
“So we specifically picked these customers to work with as they could also give us the experience of the first said launches,” Kok noted.
Kok also gave an overview of what this software could mean for Philippine food security. “So one of our customers is using our software, providing chilled areas. Instead of three to four weeks, the farmer can keep this product for about four months.”
This, he said, enables food security because the system preserves items for a longer period of time. “If things can be stored longer, the quality can be maintained.”
As a result, he said a farmer may enjoy “higher payback in returns” which could also benefit the Filipino consumer.
“It means that the price is much more stable because it’s not that much influenced by the season. The season is not three weeks, but it’s basically extended to four months,” Kok said.
“So this of course helps with the whole inflation story. So this is a really practical example of what we’re doing in the Philippines to improve food security.”
Meanwhile, AEB said the Supply Chain Trilogy, the technology conference for supply chain leaders and logistics professionals, is set to take place on March 15 in Taguig City.
According to the logistics provider, the said conference aims to discuss “top industry trends, strategies, and the latest technologies for the future of supply chain management and logistics.”
AEB said its key customers in the Philippines are Royale Cold Storage, South Alps Cold Storage, Starkson Logistics, Starkson Packaging, and 3MD Logistics.