Restrictions on international travel are further depriving the industry’s supply of talent. Despite this, customers, especially those stepping into automation for the first time, require expert analysis and execution for new warehouse solutions. This is where the specialist consulting firm can help to bridge the gap, says David Morahan, Intralogistics Consultant at Fuzzy LogX.
David notes a customer might not possess the required knowledge within their team to implement a thoroughly future-proof facility, which needs to be rectified given the amount of money that needs to be invested in an automated warehouse.
“As well as our team’s engineering and data science background, we also have experience with all of Australia’s major vendors,” he says. “If a customer has multiple vendors submitting different solutions, we can analyse them independently to identify the best fit for return on investment.”
FuzzyLogX’s team has previously worked with four of seven of the major system integrators with representation in Australia. While this deep automation knowledge helps its customers, it also exposes that there simply isn’t enough experts within the Australian market.
“Some vendors themselves are struggling to find the expertise to design automated systems,” David adds. “We are constantly looking to teach the right people these skillsets, but we don’t poach talent from vendors because we know how competitive the marketplace is.”
A recently hired data analyst has joined the Fuzzy LogX team to bolster its data science team. David notes warehouse specifics can be taught, and recruiting should focus on the skillsets of the specific task at hand.
“It was easier to teach the specifics of automation to our new colleague, who had the required data science knowledge, then to train an engineer without the experience to work with data sets at the level we require.”
Fuzzy LogX does also focus on nurturing grass root talent, however, so that the workforce begins to fill with savvy supply chain professionals. The firm hires graduates and offers internships, bringing the newcomers learnt skills into the specificity of a warehouse environment.
“We look for people who are agile and can learn easily,” David says. “It usually takes up to 12 months for a graduate to grasp our industry because they don’t come armed with a supply chain degree– they have to apply their engineering knowledge to this industry.”
Like his colleague Katie Walacavage, David says that frameworks should be in place to help businesses to successfully dive into industry 4.0 with a more talented workforce.
“When looking at the current growth path of automation and robotics in Australia, and the existing labour shortage, lack of planning early to compensate the gap may hinder the project or business having a successful take over and utilisation of that automation investment,” he says.
“If we don’t create a workforce with enough of these required skills, we’ll all be scrambling for qualified staff and the skills gap will increase as the sectors continues its growth.”
For more information on Fuzzy LogX, click here.