You have just bought your shiny new automated system. It has been installed and commissioned. In some respects, that was the easy part. There are challenges of course in doing so, but you have had a lot of expertise from the supplier and you have your own project team. But the people who delivered the solution will move on. It is vital for the successful operation of the system that knowledge is gained and retained within the operations team, and that processes and team are put in place to run and maintain the system. The easiest way to accomplish this is for key people to be part of the project team or work closely with them.

Let’s start with the easy bit – you don’t have to know what equipment and systems you want………..at the start! Though it should be said that it is a good idea to at the end of the process, when you sign a contract. However you should be clear on your objectives. The objectives should focus on your requirements, such as reducing labour, improving productivity, reduction in costs, managing growth, etc. If you have a vision of a brave new world in your warehouse rather than focusing on your objectives you should probably go and lie down until it goes away.

Operation

The operational objectives for the management of an automated system are to drive throughput and improve productivity and efficiency. In order to do this, information and data are required to inform the decision making. There is a lot of information and generally a range of reports available from the control system managing the automation. Care should be taken to determine the key facts and statistics required and the reports and dashboards designed to present this in a clearly defined manner.

There is a vast range of commercial WMS applications available. It can be a confusing choice for a small business, especially as many platforms might seem to be designed for large companies. 

If you’re a small business with a limited operation, can you take advantage of a WMS? In our experience, yes you can. Businesses of any size can see huge gains in efficiency and reductions in costs by implementing a good warehouse management system.

Question: “What is the most effective way for a company to go about tendering a contract for outsourcing logistics in order to get the most effective provider”.

Answer: The benefits of outsourcing can be considerable, in terms of opportunities to reduce costs, and the improvement of customer service.

Introduction

If you’re reading this the chances are that your business has survived the Credit Crunch followed closely by the Recession and you are now facing up to the reality of a difficult economic situation for some time to come.......

Implementing a suitable warehouse management system is the most important thing you can do to improve the efficiency of your operation and cut your running costs. However, all the main WMS systems rely on you having an organised system of barcoding. Without barcodes, you won’t be able to use a WMS to its full potential to improve efficiency and accuracy.

So the very first thing for a warehousing business to do is to review how you currently use barcodes and if this can be tightened up. Although barcodes have been used for decades in retail and logistics, many warehouses still do not make full use of this useful labelling system. In this article we will briefly look at how implementing a barcode system in your warehouse can cut operating costs, while simultaneously paving the way to implement a WMS.

There have been a number of trends in the supply chain that have had an impact on the major retailers in the UK, around the growth in imported goods. The retailers have always sold imported goods, but generally used to take ownership on receipt at their DC’s in the UK. However overseas sourcing has changed in a similar manner to the growth in factory gate pricing in domestic sourcing, and the increased control of the inbound supply chain by the retailer. The establishment of buying offices in the Far East and the sourcing of products direct from the manufacturers and suppliers rather than the wholesalers and middlemen has allowed the retailers to take an increasing level of control of the inbound supply chain.

Though the current recession will undoubtedly bite deeper than those of the recent decades, recovery will come, and those businesses that have managed best during the recession will be best placed to take advantage of the upturn, when it arrives, says Bob Williams of LPC International.

The logistics sector will undoubtedly be hard-hit as consumer demand falls, and the demand for warehousing space and transport services declines. The decline in demand will be difficult in an industry which, by tradition, is very competitive, provides high levels of customer service and works on tight profit margins. Downturns inevitably affects those margins, and customers – who themselves suffer similar economic pressures – inevitably look to their service providers to take a share, and sometimes more than a fair share, of the “pain” of dealing with the situation.

What then, can de done to address the problem? Unless you are have sufficient resources and are confident enough to invest capital in the development of new facilities and infrastructure for the future, then planning for recession is essentially about introducing measures to drive costs out of the business in order to become “leaner and meaner” while still maintaining a healthy customer base.

LPC International is a leading logistics and supply chain consultancy specialising in warehouse and facility design and operational support. Based in Cirencester LPC has extensive experience in many industry and business sectors and has worked on both new facilities and re-engineering of existing, ranging in size upwards from 5,000ft2.