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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Customer Retention and Your 3PL
Tags: 3PL, customer service, Retention, Third Party Logistics, warehouse, warehousing
Posted in Supply Chain, Third Party Logistics, Warehousing| No Comments »
9 Ways to Reduce Product Damage in Your Warehouse
In warehouse & manufacturing operations, things get broken. They break in a number of ways, and it’s expensive. You’ve probably seen product broken or damaged in amazing and improbable ways if you’ve been in this business for any length of time. We had a client once buy a bunch of mismatched, used industrial shelving (not from us), only to see it collapse and dump thousands of tiny aircraft components on the floor. It had to be swept up and discarded since it was all mixed up and visually impossible to sort.
Those are extraordinary examples, but everyday inventory damage that cost “only” a few hundred or thousand dollars can savage your bottom line.
Tags: customer service, damaged goods, inventory control, product damage, warehousing
Posted in Industrial Shelving, Material Handling, Order Picking & Fulfillment, Safety & Ergonomics, Warehousing| No Comments »
Hytrol to hold the line on conveyor costs until June 30 despite escalating, unpredictable steel costs
Steel prices and fuel prices are headed nowhere but up in the coming months.
Price increases and surcharges have become commonplace, driven by increased steel costs and skyrocketing fuel prices. We look around and see manufacturers issuing price increases, steel surcharges and fees on a weekly basis. It’s industry-wide and it’s being driven by international demand and also some commodities market issues. We have seen manufacturers decline to provide a price – orders are priced at shipment. This is reminiscent of the 1970’s, and it’s welcome by absolutely nobody who runs an industrial facility or deals in material handling equipment.
Tags: conveying systems, Conveyor, customer service, Material Handling, steel prices
Posted in Conveyor, Manufacturing, Material Handling, Warehousing| No Comments »