You’ve heard this pitch before: If you just implement this software, or that machinery, or hire my consultant, or buy into this other program, you’ll realize amazing gains. You’ll be more productive; more accurate; you’ll work less hours. Things will be great.
You may really need to expand your facility, or install expensive new WMS software or add high levels of automation, but it’s always worth checking on process or facility layout changes before you take the plunge. What are some areas you should consider?
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Tags: 3PL, distribution systems, Third Party Logistics, KPI, warehouse performance, Process Management, ecommerce
Posted in Warehousing & Distribution|
I always look forward to the annual DC Velocity/WERC (Warehousing Education and Research Council) distribution center metrics survey, which provides insight into what measurements are most critical according to DC managers. These concerns have shifted over the years, but perhaps never so significantly in a single year as 2017’s survey, with topics like “on time shipments” falling out of first place for only the second time.
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Tags: Third Party Logistics, ecommerce, 3PL
Posted in Material Handling|
It’s a good time to be in the third party logistics business. 3PLs are in demand with no end in sight as the warehousing industry copes with higher volumes, increasing e-commerce demands and challenging customer expectations.
This gives 3PL operators with a unique opportunity to build lasting relationships with key customers, suppliers, and retailers of their choice. However, this can also lead to an increased demand for quality service from warehouses and fulfillment centers. In order for 3PLs to succeed in this new environment, they must be ready to face increasing levels of customer and prospect expectations.
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Tags: warehousing, Material Handling, 3PL, logistics, Supply Chain, distribution center, warehouse, Third Party Logistics, ecommerce, Warehouse Management
Posted in Warehousing & Distribution|
As your 3PL grows and attracts more clients, products, and infrastructure, your product movement and storage capacity won’t be able to keep up with the increased volume. Growth is a great problem to have, but it’s still a problem.
Intelligent warehouse automation is an effective way to create better flow, enhance efficiency, ramp up throughput, reduce errors and improve your processes. Â Introducing automated systems into your current warehouse environment can produce drastic reductions in time spent on certain day-to-day activities.
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Tags: Automation, 3PL, logistics, storage, warehouse, Third Party Logistics, warehouse flow, warehouse technology, Conveyor
Posted in Automation, Labor & Efficiency|
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: warehousing, 3PL, customer service, warehouse, Third Party Logistics, Retention, ecommerce
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?
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Tags: 3PL, logistics, warehouse storage, warehouse, ROI, Third Party Logistics, ecommerce
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.
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Tags: Third Party Logistics, 3PL, logistics, lean warehousing
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.
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Tags: mezzanine, warehouse, ROI, Third Party Logistics, time management, time saving, flexibility, warehouse flow, 3PL, logistics
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?
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Tags: employee development, ecommerce, 3PL, order fulfillment, labor, Third Party Logistics
Posted in Warehousing & Distribution|
Order fulfillment operations come in all sizes, shapes and types, including a basket of challenges that diversity creates. One of the most difficult challenges in this industry is developing order picking talent. It’s competitive these days, as you know, for distribution facilities and e-commerce fulfillment centers. One of the best ways to enhance those operations is to develop your labor force more fully. What can you do?
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Tags: 3PL, order fulfillment, distribution systems, labor, Third Party Logistics, picking, ecommerce
Posted in Order Picking & Fulfillment|
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