Warehouse management

CREA logistics network hub, Thailand

Can Southeast Asia strengthen its warehouse management capabilities?

Warehouse management solutions are essential in ensuring productivity and avoiding any disruption to the supply chain. Over the years, the technology continues to witness innovations, especially with artificial intelligence and automation advancing the capabilities of warehouse management.

In Southeast Asia, warehouse management solutions are being heavily sought after by numerous logistics and delivery companies as they look to speed up processes and rely less on manual labor. In fact, one of the biggest contributors to the disruption in the supply chain was manual labor not being able to work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Had these businesses automated their warehouses and reduced the reliance on manual labor, it may have been a different scenario. Nevertheless, the industry is slowly bouncing back as countries begin opening up their trade and travel routes.

This has also led to increased demand for warehouse management solutions. As such, in Southeast Asia, e-commerce enabler CREA, is strengthening its regional presence by bolstering its logistics network with the opening of a new, innovative, and space-efficient warehouse in Singapore.

This strategic opening will enhance CREA’s regional infrastructure and ensure that the enabler is able to offer a localized service in Singapore, enabling the brands that CREA works with to enter markets across Southeast Asia effortlessly. The new Singapore warehouse builds on CREA’s existing hub in Thailand and is the second new opening in the first half of 2022. CREA also opened a warehouse in Malaysia earlier this year.

By integrating CREA’s proprietary omnichannel technology platform, the Unique Selling Platform or “CUSP”, offers brands a technology-driven fulfillment service that helps them to manage their entire logistics process, as well as go directly to their consumer more efficiently.

According to Alessandro Piscini, founder and Co-Chief Executive Officer of CREA, the logistics network that CREA is creating is a strategic step forward for the growth of the business, and its footprint across Southeast Asia.

Dashboard view of CREA’s proprietary software – CUSP

“To cater to the needs of our clients, we are building our capabilities in priority markets, and equipping each of our warehouses with the right technology to better serve the brands we work with.  The opening of the new warehouse in Singapore will also allow us to create a cross-border network that allows brands in the United States, as part of our partnership with SuperOrdinary, to enter Southeast Asia, facilitating a two-way loop for better access to brands and consumers,” commented Piscini.

Providing full cross-border visibility and smart automatic dispatch to the most suitable warehouse across the region for swift delivery to the consumer, the CUSP technology also enables brands to customize orders with gifts and promotions and configure complex combinations of items. Most importantly, the technology provides a centralized inventory management system that allows brands to optimize the inventory across channels and virtually allocate stock.

For brands, CREA ensures they are able to maximize online sales effectively through the combination of sophisticated technology and well-placed warehouses, creating greater synergy between a brand’s inventory and its order fulfillment.

In addition, systematic planning and real-time monitoring allow brands to better deal with peak demand and changes to the supply chain. CREA’s proprietary solution can also be integrated into existing warehouses to help companies better manage subsidiary brands and streamline their e-commerce business across various platforms.

Currently, more than 40 brands utilize CREA’s logistics network, including L’Oréal, GlaxoSmithKline, and Nestlé. The e-commerce enabler processed over two million orders within its network in the past year, handling a peak outbound volume of 220,000 items in just two days for one specific campaign.

With the opening of three new warehouses this year, CREA is targeting to achieve over five million orders.