Skill to deliver

By MARK STORY

Looking for work in an area on the move and where skilled people are being snapped up faster than they can write, "I would like to apply for ... "? Logistics may be the industry for you.

If the talent was available, says Willie Van Heusden, general manager of Schenker NZ, he would replace many of the company's staff tomorrow.

Like many others in the sector, Van Heusden is finding it hard to hire the right people.

"We're struggling to find import sea operators, customs brokers and logistics sales people," he says. "There are also gaps in the warehousing and pick and pack areas.

"Finding skilled people can mean looking to people in the industry. Some of our staff have been poached by rival firms."

And finding skilled people doesn't get any more difficult than when looking for big-rig drivers, says James Smith, executive officer with trade association, National Road Carriers. He says the industry could do with another 2500 class five drivers immediately.

Tim Munro, national president of the professional Logistics and Transport New Zealand, says frontline customer service people, dispatchers, administration and accounts people, mechanics, truck body-builders, warehouse team-leaders, data entry people and line managers are alsoin short supply.

Because of the shortage of skilled staff, many senior supply chain management roles (that's the other name for logistics) are filled by migrants, especially from the United States, South Africa and Europe.

And it's not just a shortage of bodies, it's also a shortage of experience and expertise, says Stewart Halligan, general manager with Linfox Logistics NZ, especially in managers who can juggle multi-client sites.

With data entry, computer skills, barcoding, and voice recognition now common within warehouses, he says candidates need to be technologically competent even for entry-level jobs.

"Equally important is a strong work ethic, a willingness to learn, and an ability to work long hours," says Halligan.

So what's triggered these staff shortages? Munro claims the quality of in-house and tertiary training hasn't kept pace with the demands modern businesses place on the logistics sector. And the lingering perception that it's a low-skill industry means logistics isn't an obvious career choice for school-leavers.

"Students need to realise there's a lot more to logistics than operating a warehouse and a truck."

Smith calls logistics the science of getting things from A to B. According to Auckland University's business school, the industry accounts for 10 to 15 per cent of the country's GDP and indirectly employs around 100,000 people (including shipping, couriers, rail and road transport).

Many companies - especially fast-moving consumer goods manufacturers (FMCG) and distribution industries - have outsourced logistics to cut the time and cost of getting their products to market.

"As third-party providers, we're paid to mini-manage our client's business," says Craig Evans, general manager of MainFreight Group (supply chain). "That means understanding a client's products, customers and the demands imposed on them by the market as well as they do themselves."

The industry's dependence on technology and high client expectations are also driving the need for skilled people, says Brodie Stevens, general manager of Owens Shipping division. "It's a misnomer to think the industry doesn't need truly smart people."

In an attempt to solve the skill shortage and industry image problems, National Road Carriers and the Road Transport and Logistics ITO are working to re-establish modern apprenticeships (driver, concrete and admin) in the sector.

National Road Carriers has also charged logistics professional Bert Riley with finding people for vacant entry-level positions with the organisation's 2500 members. After a month promoting the industry to career advisers, Riley says the feedback is positive.

He wants less academically gifted school leavers to realise that numerous training courses can open doors into this industry.

And early next year, Logistics and Transport NZ plans to launch a booklet highlighting careers in logistics and transport and the training courses available.

University-based courses are also available for those who want to progress in the sector. Numerous tertiary institutions provide papers in logistics and transport and Massey University runs a postgraduate diploma in logistics and supply chain management.

Lincoln University has been running a B Com in transport and logistics for three years, but student numbers have struggled to break double digits, and half of them are from offshore.

Smith suspects too few students realise logistics is a credible profession requiring a broad range of expertise. Instead of being seen as a fallback job for people who can't get work elsewhere, he says, logistics is a profession with a career path that can lead in many directions, even self-employment.

National Road Carriers

Logistics and Transport New Zealand