Articles
Warehousing

Tapping Technology To Improve Lean Warehouses
Lean is traditionally thought of as a methodology for using visual signals, optimized layouts, and streamlined processes to improve material and information flow. But technology also plays a critical role in Lean operations, especially for companies managing global supply chains. Implementing forecasting, advanced planning and scheduling, distribution requirements planning, and transportation and warehouse management systems […]
Read MoreCreating a Greener Warehouse
Reducing warehouse energy and water consumption ultimately helps companies improve their bottom line and bring value to customers. Tim Barrett, COO, and Arthur Barrett, president of Massachusetts-based Barrett Distribution offer their tips for creating a greener warehouse. 1. Reduce energy waste. Implement strict rules for truck idling time in parking lots and at loading docks. […]
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Fine-Tuning Fulfillment for Happy Holidays
Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the holiday season are fast approaching. For many companies, including retailers and online merchants, the holidays are the year’s peak sales period. With so much on the line, it is critical to be prepared. Today’s consumers have no tolerance for inaccurate orders, delayed shipments, or unresponsive customer service. They expect […]
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Trends—October 2013
Warehousing 2018: Rise of the Adaptive DC As supply chains shift their moorings and settle into new realities—the permanence of e-commerce, sustainability, risk management, total landed cost sensitivity, and demand-driven strategies—distribution centers are evolving in kind. Stock characterizations of warehousing are falling to the wayside. DCs are becoming more complex and sophisticated; so are their […]
Read MoreOptimizing Warehouse Operations
Warehouse operations efficiency is key to the success of any company that processes, inventories, and ships orders. When efficiency lags, products may not arrive at customer destinations on time, orders can get lost, and low inventory levels can result in stockouts. Here’s some advice on optimizing warehouse operations from Chris Castaldi, manager of business development […]
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We Need Jobs…Let’s Raise Taxes?
Balancing a budget is an exercise in best judgment. Add politics to the equation, and logic flies right out the window. One example: the Minnesota legislature is finalizing its $38-billion state budget, which includes a 6.5-percent sales tax on warehouse services. A wide-ranging tax hike on warehouses will have far-reaching implications. None good. A warehouse […]
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Inventory Optimization: A Natural Fit
A new inventory management system nurses Nature’s Best’s fulfillment operations back to health.
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DC Automation: Sorting It Out
Changing consumer expectations and demand for greater efficiency, economy, and productivity present new twists and turns in warehouse automation.
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What Happens When Your Warehouse Is Unplugged?
In warehouses, business as usual relies on steady and stable conditions—but these are not guaranteed. Numerous situations can disrupt productivity: A hurricane or ice storm comes through and knocks the power out for several days. You outgrow your warehouse and have to shut down while you move to a larger facility. The server finally crashes, […]
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Understanding Warehouseman’s Liens
When a warehouse operator believes it is owed storage and handling charges from a customer, it will often assert that it holds a “warehouseman’s lien” over the customer’s goods stored in the warehouse. By asserting such a lien, the warehouse operator is attempting to prevent the customer from shipping or otherwise making use of any […]
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Improved Warehouse Operations: Cause to Celebrate
Party goods supplier Oriental Trading Company revamps its warehouse technology to keep pace with online sales.
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Comfort Zone: A Better, Faster FTZ
The Alternative Site Framework designation is changing the Foreign Trade Zone landscape, allowing shippers a more expedient process for streamlining the supply chain.
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Maximizing Productivity in E-commerce Warehousing and Distribution Operations
As e-commerce continues its rapid growth into virtually every market sector, retailers are anxious to expand their presence online to capture this market share. Between 2006 and 2010, global online retail sales grew by 16.3 percent annually, according to Global Online Retail 2011, published by Datamonitor. Online retail sales for 2010 alone showed an annual […]
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Better Efficiency Begins at the Loading Dock
Productivity in the less-than-truckload (LTL) freight transportation industry demands and depends upon efficient operations. Shippers and carriers must collaborate to orchestrate consistent on-time pickups and deliveries. By working together to align the processes by which shippers tender freight and carriers receive it, supply chain partners can achieve greater efficiency at the loading dock, and improve […]
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Supporting a Glass Act
When Mexican automotive glassmaker Vitro opened a distribution center in the United States, it became crystal clear that the site would need a logistics-savvy workforce.
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Warehousing ‘Outside the Box’
Historically, warehousing was viewed as a function that exists inside “four walls.” Visibly, that’s true. But when you consider all the different parts and impulses that influence a distribution operation, it can no longer be cornered so conveniently. That’s why our May 2012 issue spotlights warehousing and distribution wall-to-wall—and beyond. For example, it’s easy to […]
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The Bionic Warehouse
When using warehouse technology to improve labor productivity, combining the right tools with the right people produces super-human results.
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Innovative Warehouse Strategies: Four Walls, Three Takes
In most warehouses, change is a constant—especially when you consider seasonal demand forecasts, supply exceptions, and inventory flows. Distribution centers (DCs) are critical sense-and-respond nodes within the supply chain. Warehouse management is about mediating variability so supply flows to demand as economically and efficiently as possible. In today’s consumer economy, however, the warehousing function faces […]
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Tracking Rugged Tablets
Q: It seems that tablet computers are growing in popularity. Is this true in our field, where conditions can be difficult? A: Although the tablet has been available for years, it is receiving renewed attention for its combination of an easy-to-read display and keypad-free data entry and retrieval. Tablets offer several advantages over notebook computers […]
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Warehouse Automation Management Goes Mobile
Q: Consumer devices, such as smartphones, are becoming more common in warehousing applications. How is the personal wireless space affecting the industrial/commercial wireless space? A: The form, function, and ease of use industry decision-makers experience when using their personal mobile devices is affecting their expectations of enterprise devices. It is driving demand for smaller and […]
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