South Africa’s top logistics and supply chain companies have made significant progress in automating and digitalising their operations, however, an increasing automation gap appears to leave a large part of the warehousing sector in South Africa behind. In view of this pivotal moment, the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport South Africa – CILTSA has unveiled its forthcoming warehousing conference, which will map out a path for business to move from conventional storage to high-performance distribution.
That half-day event, From Warehouse to High-Performance Distribution Engine, is happening on Thursday, 9 July 2026, in Sandton at a time when standing stationary is a major financial risk.
The Massive Cost of the Status Quo
The data for the move to automation is unquestionable. Modern Materials Handling reports that warehouse automation can reduce labour costs by up to 60% and increase productivity by 30%. Automated picking systems can increase fulfilment speeds by an astonishing 300%, with facilities experiencing a 25-30% boost in efficiency in their first year of adoption, states Sellers Commerce.
According to Elvin Harris, president of CILTSA, “Every day a warehouse operates without digital tracking, it haemorrhages working capital in invisible ways. Stock sits idle, pickers travel unnecessary distances, and compliance is managed through paperwork that creates risk rather than reducing it. Logistics businesses can no longer afford to treat warehousing as a passive storage function.”
Third-party logistics providers around the world are also speeding up their embrace of automation, as customers are demanding digital visibility, quicker turnarounds, and measurable performance metrics as baseline standards, not differentiators.
Intervention critical to industry
The event is powered by ISB Optimus and is called From Warehouse to High-Performance Distribution Engine: Driving Efficiency through Digitalisation, Technology and AI. The event is based upon four high-impact pillars:
- SA Logistics State – Clayton Thomas, Managing Director, Industrial Logistic Systems, on Why Good Enough is No Longer Good Enough
- Driving Cost, Throughput and Accuracy in Warehouse Operations – Brian Mudhokwani – COO, ISB Optimus will show how digital tools can expose the real cost of each delivery and guarantee working capital is put to good use.
- Throughput and Productivity – Gerhard van Zyl, Group Operations Director, Professional Group of Companies, will explain how AI optimises picker and forklift routing to remove wasted travel time.
- Safety, Compliance and Performance – Powerfleet experts will demonstrate how smart digital dashboards eliminate manual paperwork and proactively identify safety risks.
Bridging the Gap
As third-party logistics providers worldwide ramp up automation so as to meet customer demands for real-time visibility, warehousing sector in South Africa is faced with a choice – adapt or perish. Harris adds, “The businesses that win contracts and build sustainable margins over the next decade will be those powered by data and intelligent automation. The CILTSA conference is designed to ensure our local sector is on the winning side of that equation.”
The programme is sponsored by ISB Optimus and Powerfleet and is targeted at CEOs, operations directors, supply chain directors, warehouse managers, and fleet managers as well as procurement leads.
