With the expansion of online shopping, the construction of logistics facilities is rapidly increasing.
As labor shortages become an issue in the logistics industry, facilities are also devising ways to secure personnel and making efforts toward unmanned deliveries in the future.
Demand for logistics facilities used by multiple transportation companies as bases for storing and delivering products is increasing, and according to a summary of the real estate service company CBRE, the total area of facilities scheduled to be completed in the Tokyo metropolitan area this year. It is expected to be over 3 million square meters, more than double the figure three years ago.
At the new facility, efforts have also begun to address the labor shortage in the logistics industry.
The logistics facility completed in Kanagawa Prefecture in January this year is equipped with a nursery and powder room.
The aim is to overturn the conventional image of logistics facilities and create a comfortable working environment to attract human resources.
Mr. Satoshi Takeda of "ESR", which operates the facility, says, "This kind of facility is very important for tenants to work comfortably."
On the other hand, a logistics facility under construction in Itabashi-ku, Tokyo plans to set up a dedicated space for drones to take off and land.
In preparation for the shortage of drivers, the company is considering unmanned deliveries by drones in neighboring areas in the future.
Takayuki Miki, managing director of Mitsui Fudosan, said, "In the logistics industry, the shortage of truck drivers is a problem, but the use of drones will be a solution."