CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

This chapter presence the background students on warehouse operations in Europe, in Africa, in Cameroon, and in CAFSHIP respectively, followed by the delimitations of the study, problem statement, research questions, research objectives, research hypothesis, scope and definition of key terms, significance of the study and organization of the study respectively(in this order).

1.1.Background to The Study

The objective of a warehouse is to satisfy customers with effective resource utilization and delivering the right product, at the right place, at the right time and in good condition (Frazelle, 2002). A warehouse is a storage facility that receives goods and products for eventual distribution to customers or other businesses. Ackerman (2012).

Major warehouse operations are classified into receiving, picking, storage and shipping ( Gu et al, 2007).

According to the United Nations Humanitarian Response Depot ( UNHRD) ( 2013) Network, global warehousing concept has gained popularity over the last decades as stock pre position becomes one of the strategies for ensuring a timely response to emergencies which are usually purpose designed facilities operated by permanent staffs that has been trained in all the skills necessary to run an efficient facility,for such warehouse operations, organization use and inform systems that are computer based with sophisticated software to help in the planning and Management of the warehouse according to World Food program Manual (2008).

In recent decades, the rapid growth of technology has led to disruptive growth in the logistics sector. Smart warehouses have emerge as a product of smart technologies, fueling a wave of an industry transformation that could drive dramatic changes. Going by the boom of e-commerce, e-commerce warehouses are amongst the most promising application among various warehouses ( Aldarondo  F,J et al (2020).

According state post bureau of PRC (2020) retail and technology giants have invested in smart warehouses to process the explosive e-commerce logistics demands in a timely and cost effective ways. For example Alibaba Cainiao invested in smart logistics parks in China with a smart  system to manage warehouse complexity ( Cainiao, (2018).

The concept of  smart warehouse operations is not limited to the e-commerce industry. Other companies also tap into logistics potentials through smart warehouse operations to deal with the explosion of logistics needs. As part of the smart grid plan in China, state grid corporation of China has deployed smart warehouse operations in all it’s provincial branches used to store materials and spare parts grid system. Source (China daily).

In Africa, warehousing sector has been steadily growing for the past decades. There are variety of factors driving demand including the need  resilience performance network and better cost efficiencies, growing storage space requirements for good and the rise of e-commerce.

Companies across manufacturing, fast moving consumer goods, pharmaceutical, import and export, automatic, retail and e-commerce requires  distribution network that are increasingly sophisticated. However, there’s a general shortage of Grade A warehousing space in Africa ( Wendy et al ( 2021).

Amato F. et al ( 2019), With the cost of moving goods in Africa being almost 3 times higher than in developed countries, accounting to as much as 75% of retail prices. African is in need of investment and modernization across warehousing and logistics sectors. There are active industrial parks in 47 African countries with the largest percentages in Morocco, Ethiopia and Uganda.

South African has seen steady demands and investment in the warehousing sector owing to e-commerce, affordability of industrial property and the good returns this assets type delivers to investors. Organizations such Atterburry, Stor-age and growth point are key developers in this space . Iron mountain has delivered so many project in Johannesburg,Cape town and Durban as they continue to invest locally to increase capacity for document storage Ceruti W, ( 2020).

CAFSHIP Group, Inc- Douala Cameroon which offers a wide range of services to meet all  shipping needs in a cost effective manner by providing the best shipping options to it’s customers is the focus of the researcher as far as warehouse operations are concerned in Cameroon. CAFSHIP has partnered with SeaBrokers Groups to provides offshore supply vessels and marine support services to the offshore energy industry by providing offshore marine vessels on short-term lease. It Support all phases of offshore exploration, development and production, including towing of and anchor handling of mobile drilling rigs and equipment.In CAFSHIP, Douala, the following warehouse operations takes place; receiving, reserve storage, sortation, added-value services, picking, marshaling and dispatch.

1.2 Problem Statement

Most warehouses in the world are faced with so many challenges ranging from very minor challenges to very complex problems that have great implications on performance. CAFSHIP warehouse is faced with the following problems; poor communication, limited space, poorly designed, traditional warehouse approach, time management and lack of necessary manpower. CAFSHIP warehouse is faced with the problem of poor communication which makes it unable to plan and execute shipments much more quickly. Also, CAFSHIP warehouse is faced with the problem of limited space.  The building of the CAFSHIP warehouse is really small and as a result of this problem, they are always damages in some of the products that are stored in the warehouse. Furthermore, CAFSHIP warehouse is poorly designed and as a result of this, goods are always packed in a scattered manner in the warehouse making order picking, delivery, and time management difficult. More so, the kind of warehouse approach that is used in the CAFSHIP warehouse is the traditional approach. With this approach, things are done manually and as a result, there are usually mistakes and these mistakes imply poor order picking, wrong shipments. In addition, CAFSHIP warehouse is faced with the problem of time management. As a result of this, they succeed to fulfill only very little orders per day leading to poor customer satisfaction.Lastly, CAFSHIP warehouse lacks skilled labour to carry out activities in the warehouse. As a result of this, work is not effectively done.

1.3 Research questions

1.3.1 Main question

What are the different warehouse operations on going at CAFSHIP ?

1.3.2  Specific questions

1)What’s the design nature of CAFSHIP warehouse ?

2)What are the various challenges faced by CAFSHIP warehouse ?

3)What are the options for the improvement of warehouse activities in CAFSHIP warehouse?

1.4 Research objectives

1.4.1 Main objective

To analyze the warehouse operations on-going in CAFSHIP, Douala

1.4.2 Specific objectives

1)To determine the warehouse design of CAFSHIP.

2)To identify the various challenges associated with CAFSHIP warehouse operations.

3)To propose options of improvement of warehouse operations by CAFSHIP warehouse, Douala.