Best Practices in Fulfillment: On Picking and Packing
Most companies understand the importance of following best practices but many don't know exactly what those practices are. That's where Kate Vitasek,...
HOW DOES YOUR CALL CENTER GROW?
The rows of tomatoes you plant as seedlings in your back yard or the flowers you lay out every spring in geometric patterns to impress your neighbors...
The Best of Inventory Management Tactics
Inventory management and forecasting are strategic issues. Companies that recognize this fact can typically provide higher levels of service to their...
Cross-Docking: Bypassing Storage
Cross-docking reduces inventory carrying costs, transportation costs, and costs associated with order fulfillment and material handling. ...
IT Maintenance Checklist
By now everyone knows the importance of performing routine checks of the smoke alarms in his home twice a year. So too you should be conducting periodic...
25 Ways to Lower Inventory Costs
Inventory policies drive two types of costs: operating expenses and working capital requirements. The latest "Logistics Cost and Service Report" by Establish/Herbert W. Davis and Co. indicates that while total logistics costs as a percent of sales are falling, and most individual companies have succeeded in reducing inventory levels; total logistics costs per hundredweight are increasing, as are inventory costs as a percent of total logistics cost....
Using Logistics to Win in a Multichannel World
Your boss walks into your office, shuts the door, and sits down. He looks worried and a little uneasy. “Our executive management committee just finished meeting with our board. It seems we need to tighten our logistics operations,” he announces, tilting back in his chair. “We know we definitely need to reduce costs, but without sacrificing our service. Your new job is to figure out how—where to direct our focus, which initiatives to dust off the shelves, what must be expanded, where the new efficiencies are. We, or rather you, need to overhaul the entire logistics function of this company.” He holds your gaze for a second, nods twice to be sure you understand, and leaves the door wide open....
Overturn the High Cost of Employee Turnover
To hire and retain the optimal workforce, some companies invest strategically in becoming an “employer of choice”—a company that job candidates would prefer to work for, not one whose offer they accept merely because they need a job and no other offers are forthcoming. Is their money well spent? Based on our analysis of the true cost of employee turnover, our answer is a resounding yes. In this age of increasing demands on productivity, employees leaving the company and taking their know-how with them is a price that no company can afford. Here’s how you can avoid having to pay that price....
Five Tips for Lowering Shipping Costs
Ensuring that you do not overpay on your small-package shipments can seem like a monumental task. Because of the extra expense incurred in residential deliveries, shippers such as FedEx, United Parcel Service, and DHL charge significantly more for residential shipments. ...
Batch vs. Wave Picking
In the distribution center, walking from one location to the next accounts for 60% of a picker's time. Reducing walking time, then, is all but guaranteed...
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