Five years ago, a facility with a warehouse management system was considered cutting edge. The cuttng edge is now getting much wider.According to TechnomicAsia, the Shanghai-based consulting unit of Tompkins Associates, while adoption of logistics technology in China is still in the "embryonic" stage, with only about 5% of warehouses reporting that they have sufficient IT systems, it is galloping forward.
Managing Director Steven Ganster in his blog on the company’s web site, writes, "Many Chinese companies are writing their own WMS programs that are not built to international standards."
Logistics technologies are making inroads. Developers of other types of warehouse and DC solutions—bar-code readers, RFID systems, wireless communications, hand-held computers, and more—also are finding success in China.
Some of China’s largest manufacturers and third-party logistics service providers (3PLs) have purchased logistics technology from US and European vendors. Others have gained access to the technology they want through partnerships.
Like logistics software, wireless technology and RFID are hot topics in China nowadays. China has an active RFID association, and the technology is a frequent subject of conference sessions and workshops. There is even a trade show devoted to radio-frequency identification: the China International RFID Technologies and Applications Show in Logistics, Manufacturing, and Anti-counterfeiting.
DC Velocity covers this demand for growth in detail. It’s likely that software, RFID, wireless and other logistics technologies will quickly gain currency in China simply because foreign companies doing business there expect it as a given.