Where the customer wants to be

Panattoni is now Europe’s largest industrial developer, operating in eleven countries (including a recent entry into France). The company provides a comprehensive and consolidated range of facilities for the various segments of the retail sector. “Panattoni’s growth is not the result of any rigid expansion plan, but is client-led. We don’t have a strategy set in stone, we just try to figure out where the customers want to be,” insists Robert Dobrzycki, the CEO of Panattoni.

The developer’s clients benefit from high-volume, supra-regional facilities that can serve as central warehouses – and these are specialised and often highly automated. Moreover, Panattoni develops regional centres and last-mile-delivery premises in attractive locations within the limits of the largest conurbations. In this way, it creates own its an entire system of integrated facilities, both in terms of the technical systems and the platform’s availability over time.

“Panattoni has now developed more than 12 mln sqm in Europe so far,” points out Robert Dobrzycki, who goes on to add: “Our unique selling point is our scale but also the kind of flexibility that you usually only get with local players. That’s our advantage – that big customers can have flexibility on a large scale. They don’t have to open many doors in many places, they can just work with us.”

Panattoni provides integrated warehouse and logistics platforms for all sales channels, over 30 pct of which are dedicated to e-commerce. The giants in their fields, such as Amazon, Zalando, H&M or Carrefour, use specialised and automated big boxes or suburban distribution centres adapted to serve the end-customer. In addition, many of these industry leaders operate in city logistics facilities – dedicated last-mile delivery premises. Among others, Globalway, Allegro, InPost and Frisco make use of facilities within city limits.

Bringing the tech up-to-date

Consumers are using e-commerce far more than ever before and retail chains need to adapt to this. “The dominant theme among our customer base right now is e-commerce, and we are focused on identifying where these customers want to grow, where the consumption is, and where there is the need for logistics infrastructure,” explains Robert Dobrzycki.

Central warehouses are also being switched to handling individual products. In this case a single item rather than a pallet load of goods that leaves the facility, or – when it comes to electronics – a single washing machine instead of a whole truckload. This phenomenon requires the increasing automation of regional and central warehouses, and the developer’s task is to prepare the facility in the right way for such modern technology to be installed.

Single order handling is an effective weapon in the battle for customers, as is an efficient last-mile logistics set-up. Ensuring you are closer to the end-customer or the distribution network is now a key aspect of meeting the modern consumer’s expectations – as rapid delivery is essential, preferably the next day, or even the same day for a morning order. Therefore, a developer with facilities within the limits of cities is the perfect partner for online retailers.

Taking care of the customer’s comfort also means establishing an efficient goods return system, because the intensity of returns is going to be very high, especially in the clothes segment. The facility that receives such goods must be well-designed and well-staffed. Panattoni’s role will also be, among others, to provide access to infrastructure that guarantees an uninterrupted flow of goods, both those being returned as part of the return policy and those going on to last-mile facilities or the end-customer. By constructing facilities in strategic locations, Panattoni ensures an efficient flow and the rapid delivery of products to the final customer.

A personalised offer, regardless of scale

For Panattoni the basis of its business lies in understanding its clients’ needs. These may differ depending on the scale of their operations, their place in the supply chain, and, above all, their sales channels. In personalising an offer, the developer might typically propose a smaller unit within a city logistics centre, a large-scale fully automated central warehouse, or a medium-sized regional facility. Of course, a client with greater ambitions can combine all these possibilities by implementing an entire logistics system with Panattoni.

“This flexibility entails being customer-oriented and open-minded. We don’t have one way of doing business. We try to respond to the customer’s needs. And for different clients that might mean different things in terms of capital structure, location and size. We very rarely say ‘no’ to the customer, and for a large-scale business that’s pretty unique. We try to address all the customer’s issues so that they come back,” explains Robert Dobrzycki.

The need for automation

With the constant growth in the number of online orders, automation in warehouses is now no longer a mere competitive advantage, but a must. Black Friday, a major event on the consumption calendar, is one good example of this. In the past, shops were just crammed with extra stock for several weeks leading up to it and this acted as a kind of buffer. Today, distribution centres and central warehouses have to process millions of online orders since a large part of sales shifted to the internet. For the end-customer, the fact that a retailer is overloaded with orders is no longer a valid excuse for a shipment even being one day late. Only by automating warehouse processes can one achieve the image of a reliable company that delivers its products on time.

The customer and the employee are equally important

Panattoni is constantly adapting its services for the requirements of e-commerce. The facilities designed for this sector need to be of a higher quality and to have working conditions suitable for more employees, which means better lighting, access to natural light and more efficient heating and ventilation systems.

These changes are also in line with the company’s ‘Go Earthwise with Panattoni’ sustainable development policy, which takes into account both the natural environment and the well-being of the warehouse’s employees. For over a year now, all of the developer’s new buildings have been required to hold a BREEAM ‘Very Good’ certificate. Now this bar has been raised even higher as BREEAM ‘Excellent’ has been made the new standard. Panattoni is also putting greater emphasis on the height of the buildings used for e-commerce. This allows additional floors and internal mezzanines to be created, and, as a result, the more effective use of the facilities.

Panattoni’s projects for Amazon, including its latest one in Świebodzin, are an example of this approach – the logistics centre has four levels, covers an area of app. 200,000 sqm, and will be used to store and process up to 30 mln products. It will be one of four facilities in Poland that are equipped with thousands of transport robots. The construction process itself as well as the systems installed in the building meet high standards of sustainable development in terms of both the environment and the comfort of the people working there. The entire investment was completed in less than 14 months.

In the spotlight of investors

As consumer and business activity moves online across the globe, logistics has become the most sought-after real estate asset class. Panattoni and other industrial developers alike have increasingly found themselves more concerned with how to keep up with the demand. “The financial world and many of our big clients were trying to figure out if all of this was sustainable – if this was a permanent trend or just a temporary phenomenon,” recalls Robert Dobrzycki. “But we had a strong conviction that 2021 would get off to a strong start in terms of logistics – particularly as investors were increasingly stepping back from offices and retail,” he concludes.