The modern warehouse market is growing

According to data provided by Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), the total demand for warehouse and industrial space in European markets in 2021 increased by 35% year-to-year and was approximately 50% higher than the average for the last 5 years. The aggregate vacancy rate in Europe fell below 4%. The e-commerce industry had a 23% share in demand. According to the report "Made in Poland", the industrial real estate market in Europe will maintain its growth dynamics this year.

Poland is the sixth largest real estate market in Europe. Investors entering the Polish market have a variety of assets, a huge selection of locations, and a wide range of potential development opportunities at their disposal. Over the past 5 years, the existing warehouse resources in Poland have more than doubled. According to the data presented in the report "Occupier Insight - The warehouse and industrial market in Poland in the first half of 2022", at the end of the second quarter of 2022, the total stock of modern warehouse and industrial space in Poland amounted to over 26.1 million m2. This means an increase of 19.5% compared to the same period in 2021. New supply has exceeded 2.4 million m2, where almost 53% was put into use in the first quarter of 2022. It was the highest quarterly result in the history of the Polish market!

In the second quarter of 2022, a significant increase in the activity of warehouse space tenants was also recorded. The total volume of space leased in the first half of 2022 amounted to over 3.8 million m2 (increase by 12.7% year-to-year). In the second quarter of 2022, tenants signed lease agreements for nearly 2.24 million m2. The tenants are mainly companies from the e-commerce, retail chains and logistics segments. According to the latest CBRE report, in the coming years, high demand for warehouse space will also be strongly generated by other sectors, including production or automotive. According to the information presented in the Colliers report, warehouse tenants will be primarily companies from the 3PL, retail and distribution sectors, followed by companies from the light production, automotive and FMCG sectors. It is worth noting that the vacancy rate in the first quarter of 2022 was record low - only 3.2%. The indicator remained at a similar level in the next three months.

The slowdown in development activity and a decline in the share of speculative projects in construction are also clearly visible. Compared to the first quarter, it decreased by approximately 20%. Despite rising inflation, a very difficult geopolitical situation, high costs of building materials and problems with their availability as well as the general uncertainty prevailing in the global market the logistics industry has strong foundations for development. At the end of June 2022, over 4.35 million m2 of modern warehouse and industrial space were under construction, i.e. 8% less than in the first quarter of 2022, but almost 30% more than at the end of the second quarter of 2021.

The warehouse industry is constantly developing and modernizing. According to the "Global Logistics Real Estate" study conducted by JLL, over the next 5 years, intelligent technologies (62%) as well as automation and robotization (54%) will have the greatest impact on warehouse design. According to the data from the JLL report "Logistics Buildings of Tomorrow", the basis for the functioning of "smart warehouses" and the entire logistics industry will be two technologies: artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT).

The technology that allows you to organize and automate key warehouse processes, and thus help to optimize costs, achieve higher work efficiency, significantly reduce the rate of errors in receipt and release of goods as well as reduce unnecessary investments are WMS systems. However, in order to meet the expectations of modern companies, warehouse management systems must change and be modernized together with the industry. This is where artificial intelligence comes in. "Smart warehouses" are places where key processes - from goods receipt to delivery to the end customer - are largely controlled not by people, but by algorithms. Artificial Intelligence by automating key warehouse processes helps to effectively manage goods, shorten the time of carrying out routine activities, optimize key activities or improve the efficiency of the entire supply chain. Companies also receive full communication with the warehouse - they have control over stocks and constant access to current information about all activities taking place in the warehouses.

According to data presented by ResearchAndMarkets.com, experts predict that the size of the global warehouse management systems (WMS) market will amount to USD 11.08 billion by 2030, reaching a CAGR of 16.1% in 2022-2030. What is more, experts of ResearchAndMarkets.com believe that:

• the warehouse management systems market will grow significantly during the forecast period due to the changing supply chain patterns of product manufacturers and rapidly growing consumer demand, particularly in the transport and logistics as well as retail sectors;
• the segment will record its highest CAGR over the forecast period, due to increasing adoption of WMS software by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) worldwide;
• cloud-based systems will grow with the highest CAGR in the projected years, due to the numerous features that the cloud-based WMS offers compared to the traditional on-premises WMS;
• the transport and logistics industry will record the highest CAGR in the forecast period, due to the growing demand for technologically advanced warehouse management systems that can help logistics companies keep their operations in line with an increasingly demanding market;
• Asia Pacific will record its highest CAGR over the forecast period due to the strong influx of e-commerce players in the region.

The development of the warehouse industry and innovative WMS systems has never been so dynamic. More and more companies want to invest in new technologies that will help them increase process efficiency and reduce costs. When choosing a warehouse management system, it is worth choosing a solution that responds to market challenges and sets trends in the warehouse industry. The factors that distinguish WMS PINQUARK from other solutions available on the market include: the use of the latest technologies (including artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things), flexibility, scalability and the fact that the system is "within reach" of both large as well as small and medium-sized companies that cannot afford costly and time-consuming implementations. If you are considering implementing the WMS PINQUARK system in your warehouse, contact us – our experts will answer all your questions and help you choose the optimal offer.