In Logistics Management Magazine’s 2017 Warehouse/DC survey, there isn’t a lot that will surprise people on the front line of order fulfillment, storage, logistics and distribution management. As it has been for a while, e-commerce is driving the train, and its effects cascade into the rest of the business. Â What are the major takeaways?
Posted in Warehousing & Distribution|
The biggest measure of success for a 3PL company – really, for any business – is the ability to retain existing customers while attracting new clients. We all know it’s harder to attract new customers than it is to keep existing clients from being enticed to try another 3PL competitor, so it’s smart to strive for ways to provide more value. By targeting increased attention to providing on-time information, improving customer service, and utilizing user-friendly technology, your 3PL can help prevent existing customers from moving towards the competition.
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Tags: customer service, warehouse, Third Party Logistics, Retention, ecommerce, warehousing, 3PL
Posted in Warehousing & Distribution|
Companies are utilizing 3PL services for their warehousing and shipping needs more often than ever. Many of the companies who choose to shift their operations to third parties are e-commerce entities that specialize in producing and selling a product and don’t want to run a storage and shipping facility. Others are traditional distributors, retailers, and others who believe that they should focus on core competencies.
If your company is considering a 3PL for its warehousing, shipping and logistics needs, what information do you need to have ready?
Tags: ecommerce, 3PL, logistics, warehouse storage, warehouse, ROI, Third Party Logistics
Posted in Warehousing & Distribution|
Creating a lean warehouse or DC is not something a 3PL can accomplish overnight, but it’s something that can improve your efficiency, flexibility and ability to take on new business without expanding into new facilities or massively revamping existing ones.
It takes vision, planning, strategy, tools, foresight, patience and intelligent tactics. When your warehouse is lean, it will be easier to hold, inventory, and pull the most important goods. This helps you eliminate errors, increase throughput, and satisfy customers more comprehensively.
Tags: 3PL, logistics, lean warehousing, Third Party Logistics
Posted in Warehousing & Distribution|
3PL companies operate in an environment that demands rapid changes and requires continual evolution.
Client requirements can change in a week (or less). New business opportunities can spring up that were unanticipated a month before. From my days working for a 3PL, I know that the ability to swiftly change in order to satisfy both your customer’s increasing demands and those of an industry that never rests were a top priority. The problem? That’s easy to understand, but hard to do.
Tags: warehouse flow, 3PL, logistics, mezzanine, warehouse, ROI, Third Party Logistics, time management, time saving, flexibility
Posted in Warehousing & Distribution|
Companies spend lots of time trying to understand the best ways to increase efficiency in their operations. How do I increase pick rates? Why do we spend more time on things that add no value than we should? Why do we make so many mistakes, and how do I stop it? Why is there so much waste in the system? How can this be better organized?
These are all good questions, and the answer to solving these problems usually lies in developing people to work their best.
In this day and age of increasing industrial productivity, tough global competition, and tight labor, integrating personnel development with best practices facility design, automation, processes and management is key to reducing labor costs, increasing margins, and becoming a more profitable operation. People thrive in good environments where they are set up to succeed. What can you do to build the right situation for your people?
Tags: 3PL, order fulfillment, labor, Third Party Logistics, employee development, ecommerce
Posted in Warehousing & Distribution|
Distribution is growing — booming, some would say — particularly in larger markets. This tend is being driven by many factors, including a sustained economic recovery and low unemployment rates. Also, e-commerce powers like Amazon are in the midst of one-day or same-day delivery guarantees that require larger, more capable distribution networks that can serve major markets faster and usually within close proximity. These factors help to create stress on labor shortages in these cities, as newer distribution facilities open and existing ones expand. Add to that, the ongoing woes with skilled labor and a generally aging labor force.
How can you cope with a tight labor market?
Tags: Third Party Logistics, skills gap, labor shortage, ecommerce, 3PL, distribution centers, labor management
Posted in Warehousing & Distribution|
You know that your warehouse is critically important to being able to satisfy customers. You know how warehousing mistakes can impact your company’s bottom line, and how excellent warehousing can boost it. You know that a lack of resources can cripple a thriving storage or distribution operation. You also know that there are people in some organizations who don’t understand this.
Communicating the warehouse’s value is almost as important as establishing it.
Tags: lean warehousing, distribution centers, return on investment, ROI, Corporate Culture
Posted in Warehousing & Distribution|
Performance metrics are a universal way to measure a warehouse operation’s overall effectiveness, quality and productivity. In today’s fast-paced and competitive environment, setting benchmarks and goals for a company is essential, but it’s not enough to set lofty goals for the coming year in terms of revenue, profits or production. In the warehouse, success is the sum of all its parts. To reach overall production, quality, safety or service goals, an examination of each step is essential. Through this evaluation process of different performance metrics, managers can find actionable information and begin prioritizing problems within a warehousing or distribution operation.
We’ve previously discussed how key performance indicators (KPIs) demonstrate the value of warehouse functions. Now, let’s take a dive deeper into five specific performance metrics to consider implementing in the modern warehouse. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Warehousing & Distribution|
How many steps do your floor managers take going back and forth to the computer and print stations in the plant as they do their jobs? How much time does all that walking take over a year’s time? How much more work could be done if computers and printers could go where they do? If you’re managing materials going to and from storage, all that travel time is taking valuable people assets away from what should be their primary function. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: ROI
Posted in Warehousing & Distribution|
