According to the Thai Warehouse Management Association, the overall investment landscape in the intelligent warehouse or intralogistics industry is continuously expanding in line with Thailand’s investment conditions and the growing market demand. It is expected that this year will see an expansion of approximately 10-15% compared to the pre-COVID-19 period, with a value estimated at around 8,000 million baht. It is anticipated that this investment will be distributed in the range of 1,000-1,200 million baht.

As for the past year 2022, the value reached 6,000-8,000 million baht, growing approximately 5-8% from 2021, supported by the recovering domestic economy. Additionally, progress in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) project has furthered this growth. Consequently, there is continuous investment in intralogistics.

In this context, the automatic warehouse management system, or intralogistics, plays a crucial role in transporting materials within factories, distribution centers, and parcel services. These systems enhance efficiency, quality, sustainability, and reduce costs across various entrepreneurial operations.

Sarawut Laoprasert, Vice President of the Thai Warehouse Management Association, revealed that the factors causing the manufacturing sector to be on alert, expand, and focus more on intralogistics come from both domestic and international influences. Intralogistics is considered a crucial part of the industrial sector in Thailand and worldwide. Consequently, in the short and long term, these factors will compel entrepreneurs to pay more attention to geopolitical issues, such as the impact of rising energy costs, the Ukraine war, tensions in China, and the recent Israeli conflict. Additionally, there have been supply chain problems in the past, prompting most entrepreneurs to seek more adaptive solutions to enhance flexibility in supply logistics. These external factors highlight the importance of investing in intralogistics to make the supply chain process agile and competitive in the market.

On the domestic front, the intralogistics sector involves a significant amount of labor, and Thailand is transitioning into an aging society. Consequently, finding skilled workers for this sector becomes challenging, necessitating entrepreneurs to create and implement technology solutions. This underscores the need for appropriate investment in technology as a crucial factor for entrepreneurs adapting to technological advancements.

Thailand is one of the countries that drives its economy with SMEs or small and medium-sized businesses, which have a larger proportion than their size. Therefore, to propel this group of entrepreneurs to grow, the development of ‘Warehouses’ is considered necessary to elevate business standards to an international level. In this context, the Thai intralogistics system is primarily a technological matter. Thailand, being an importer, ranks 30-35 globally in the Thai intralogistics system, with Singapore at the top, followed by England and Germany. Simultaneously, concerning the investment budget for intralogistics in each business, it typically ranges from 10-15% of the total investment budget, or approximately 10-20 million baht per project on average,” Sarawut explained.

On the side of the Thai government, measures have been taken to develop transportation connections and logistics systems, aiming to raise the level of Thai warehouse management to international standards. This effort is intended to increase the capabilities of Thai entrepreneurs and promote Thailand’s potential to become the center of the logistics industry in the ASEAN region in the future.

Currently, Euro Expo, Expolink Global Network, Messe Stuttgart, and the Thai Warehouse Management Association (TIA) are collaborating to organize the LogiMAT | Intelligence Warehouse 2023 event. This event will serve as an important medium for increasing knowledge among Thai entrepreneurs in the intralogistics industry. Additionally, it will facilitate the building of trade networks through business negotiations. The event will integrate leading logistics companies from various countries to showcase the progress of the international logistics industry in the future, including demonstrations of technologies such as virtual warehouses and world-class elevated car technology. Furthermore, new activities have been added for the first year, such as Cold Chain technology.