Push to improve logistics

Plans are under way for the creation of a national framework aimed at improving the performance of Thailand's logistics industry.

The National Science Technology and Innovation Policy Office (STI) plans to set up a Logistics Excellence Centre by the end of this year and create a Thailand Logistics Framework over the next three years to enable the local logistics industry to increase its productivity.

National Electronics and Computer Technology Centre (Nectec) researcher Chayakrit Charoensiriwath said the Logistics Excellence Centre would aim to promote and facilitate the local logistics industry and reduce operational costs of logistics management for businesses and for the country as a whole.

Creation of the Thailand Logistics Framework in the three years from 2010 to 2012 will cost Bt950 million and it will be applied to three areas: human resources, knowledge management and research and development and technology.

STI plans to develop human resources on three levels: operational management, middle management and top executives, Chayakrit said. The government will retain and develop around 10,000 logistics workers in the fields of technology and knowledge management over the next three years.

"I think that new technology will be adopted by both top executives and logistics businesses. The top executives will adopt traditional business models or transform existing businesses into new business models using e-logistics to develop warehouse, inventory and vendor management programs in order to boost their competitiveness both domestically and internationally," he said.

The STI office is also working with partners including Value Chain Management and Logistics, a cluster of 15 universities that run courseware and conduct activities related to the logistics industry, producing bachelor's and master's degree students to support the industry.

To support knowledge management and research and development needs, the STI office plans to facilitate the training of researchers and developers to support the logistics industry so that it has a base in knowledge and innovation.

For its part, Nectec is developing enterprise resource planning (ERP) software related to the business processes of the logistics industry. It will also transfer technology to local software developers and provide services to support their customers so that these logistics firms will be able to integrate ERP software into their existing systems to lift their productivity and efficiency.

"Thailand now has a logistics industry worth Bt200 billion a year, divided equally between local and international logistics business. The STI expects that its framework will help Thailand to reduce the cost of logistics by 1 per cent, or Bt20 billion, per year. It also expects that local logistic businesses will able to generate 50 to 55 per cent more revenue from the market within three years," Chayakrit said.