Operations & Fulfillment News
USPS Says Recession Cost $2.34B
In defense of a bid for an exigent rate increase next year, the U.S. Postal Service claims the recession impacted its finances to the tune of $2.34 billion during fiscal years 2008-09, according to a Nov. 21 filing with the Postal Regulatory Commission...
Ernie Schell's Guide to SaaS Provider and Systems
Here’s a rundown of comprehensive order-management systems that serve the multichannel merchant arena with SaaS platforms. These are listed in alpha order within two categories: provider-hosted-only solutions and solutions with multiple hosting options. ...
Amazon Adds 15 Fulfillment Centers
The ecommerce giant has announced plans for 15 new fulfillment centers this year. The facilities will be located in Washington state, Indiana, South Carolina and Tennessee...
Purolator Expands Operations with Minneapolis-St. Paul Branch
Logistics provider Purolator International has expanded its U.S./international territory with the opening of a new facility in Minneapolis-St. Paul...
Amazon to Build New Fulfillment Center, Expand a Second
Amazon.com continues to beef up its operation: The ecommerce giant announced today that it will build a new fulfillment center in Indianapolis, and expand an existing center in Phoenix....
Operations Execs Learn About Personal Fulfillment
Kurt Baxter, president of the Baxter Marketing Group agency, surely must have been a preacher in another life: His April 6 keynote address at the National Conference on Operations and Fulfillment spoke directly to personal fulfillment....
Oriental Trading Reveals Its Voice of Fulfillment
Gifts and novelties merchant Oriental Trading Co. is proud of its golden voice, which it refers to as Jennifer. So who or what is this Jennifer?...
Give Your Customers a Raise
As a merchant, “Your job is to give your customers a raise, in terms of price and experience,” says Phil Terry, CEO of strategic customer experience consultancy Creative Good...
Japan Disaster to Affect Global Supply Chain
In the aftermath of last week's massive earthquake and tsunami that rocked Japan and sent shockwaves around the world, questions linger regarding the impact on the global economy and supply chain....
UPS Reports Strong Fourth Quarter
UPS posted some impressive numbers for the fourth quarter, along with a confident outlook for 2011...
Few Operations Prepared for Disasters
Most companies are not prepared with an adequate business continuity/disaster recovery (BC/DR) plan...
Selecting A Workforce Management System Vendor
Understanding what your company really needs now and aligning your purchasing decision with long-term goals are key when choosing a software vendor...
U.K. Software Provider MNP Invades U.S. Market
While it's not exactly a British invasion, in the past year two U.K.-based vendors of multichannel order management and fulfillment software, MNP and Omnica, have established beachheads in the U.S...
UPS Announces Rate Increases
UPS announced rate increases for 2011, which equate to about a 7.5% hike for most shippers, according to Rob Martinez, president/CEO of Transult...
Q&A: Straightening Out Your Stockouts
With the holiday season nearly here, merchants are hoping that they projected correctly with inventory so they don't end up with too much or too little...
Automation Options for Parcel Shippers
Direct merchants have myriad options for processing parcels shipped via FedEx, UPS and other carriers. There are many third-party systems in the marketplace...
FedEx to Combine Freight and LTL Divisions
FedEx estimates the restructuring program will cost $150 million to $200 million, primarily related to severance costs associated with personnel reductions, lease terminations and certain non-cash charges....
Proper Slotting Can Reduce Warehouse Costs
Slotting, or determining where each item should be located, is one of the most overlooked aspects of running a warehouse. If your distribution center is trying to control or reduce costs and meet customer expectations, proper product placement is essential....
Eye on OMS Systems: 2010 Order Management Software Roundup
The hot topic in systems is the July 1 deadline for meeting the requirements of the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI-SSC) and its...
Make Mine a Mini: Benefits of the Mini Slim Mailer
AFTER READING THE EDITOR'S NOTE Dropping enthusiasm for automation in the April edition of Multichannel Merchant, I felt compelled to drop a line. My...
Live from NCOF: Bakers Labels Barcoding a Success
RFID may have stolen some of barcoding’s thunder as a operations technology, but Charlie Kantz doesn’t care. The vice president of logistics/warehousing for Bakers Footwear Group, Kantz firmly believes that implementing a barcode system in 2005 was the single greatest improvement his company has made to its supply chain operations...
Live from NCOF: Chatting About Live Chat
Now that texting has become as commonplace as making a phone call, live chat—in which a Website visitor and a customer service rep or sales agent from that site converse online in real-time via a type of instant messaging—is an accepted customer contact medium. ...
How AeroGrow Cultivates Customer Service
It’s not easy to get customer service right when you’re a relatively young company. But AeroGrow International has made great strides in improving its service levels in the past year....
Appleseed’s Shifts Fulfillment Jobs to Eddie Bauer DC
Women’s apparel retailer Appleseed's is moving about 240 jobs from its Beverly, MA, distribution center to Groveport, OH. Clothing cataloger/retailer Eddie Bauer Holdings plans to add about 300 jobs to its Groveport fulfillment facility. Coincidence?...
Benchmarking: Transportation rates and services
Has your parcel carrier rep ever said that you have the best rates in his/her territory? That they can't believe their pricing department authorized pricing...
