Vertical reality

| Ken Magill

Business-to-business merchants have always had a reputation for being slow to embrace new marketing techniques. Their attitude toward the not-so-new channel

SPOTLIGHT ON NCOF

| MCM staff

Multichannel Merchant will be previewing the smartest practices and other need-to-know information from the 17th annual National Conference on Operations

The best of inventory

| Curt Barry

Inventory management and forecasting are strategic issues. Companies that recognize this fact can typically provide higher levels of service to their

Weighing Land Availability and Costs in Site Selection

| MCM staff

A decade ago land cost, along with construction cost, were the primary site selection factors when determining where to locate a warehouse or distribution center. Today, however, even in an environment where land and rental costs are increasing, these factors are no longer the primary consideration.

Getting a Grip on Agent Time Utilization, Part II

| MCM staff

Once the team has defined the work states, it should establish a start date and train the agents on work-state definitions. It usually helps to train the agents in small groups and to produce a job aid that can be placed in their workspace for quick reference (don

The Skinny on Put-to-light

| Sam Flanders

Put to light is a way to direct activities such as single item distribution and order consolidation via light directed devices. Put to light uses the same hardware as a pick-to- light system, but it reverses the process.

10 Ways to Improve Vendor Quality Control

| Curt Barry

If you want to improve your vendor quality control without having to dive headlong into a new way of doing business, take heart. There is an option that relies on the basics of upholding merchandise quality. These ten strategies can improve your vendor quality control program or help you design such a program if you do not have one in place today.

Identifying Challenges and Opportunities

| Sam Flanders

If you are like most distribution center managers, you know that your existing operation has a number of unsolved challenges and problems that your people grapple with on a daily, weekly, and seasonal basis.