Archive for Labor
Baby Boom Logistics
· CommentsCurrently, with the weak economy, many companies are not thinking so much about labor shortages. But here is a sobering thought: In 2011, the oldest of the 76 million baby boomers (people born between 1945 and 1964) will turn 65, the traditional retirement age. A systematic labor shortage is expected to impact many industries, especially the trucking industry as we have highlighted before in Logistics Viewpoints.
Ergonomics may be… Continue reading
I recently spoke with Jeff Kastning, Senior Manager of Logistics and Distribution at Brooks Sports, about the company’s recent implementation of a software-as-a-service (SaaS) labor management system (LMS). Brooks Sports, headquartered near Seattle, Washington, designs and markets high-performance men’s and women’s running shoes, apparel and accessories.
The company operates a 140,000 square foot distribution center (DC) that carries 12,000 SKUs and ships more than 6 million units… Continue reading
Labor Management at DSC Logistics
· CommentsI recently spoke with Jim Chamberlain, the Director of Engineering at DSC Logistics about their rollout of RedPrairie’s Labor Management System (LMS) solution.
Jim began his career at Kraft where he worked to develop labor standards. Based on that experience, he knew this was a big opportunity for DSC when he joined them. In 2005, DSC evaluated the major suppliers of LMS solutions. They selected RedPrairie’s solution… Continue reading
CSCMP’s New England Roundtable recently visited Walgreens’ New England distribution center near Hartford, Connecticut. Following a presentation by Scott Sylvester, the Distribution Center Manager, we received a tour of this highly-automated facility. The material handling systems in the DC are truly an amazing piece of engineering.
However, even more amazing, is Walgreens’ track record in productively employing people with disabilities at this facility and a similar one… Continue reading
From a supply chain perspective, it often makes sense to have the warehouse work harder, so that downstream recipients of shipments don’t have to work as hard. If certain tasks can be done more cost efficiently in the warehouse, then those tasks should be performed there.
However, there are instances where the warehouse can actually work less hard and still provide lower total supply chain costs. A recent article… Continue reading
Task interleaving is an advanced productivity practice enabled by leading warehouse management systems (WMS) with task management engines. Task interleaving is designed to reduce deadheading—i.e., when a worker, for example, picks products and drops them off at a dock and then returns to the picking area without performing any useful tasks along the way. In most operations, some workers are dedicated to picking, while others are dedicated to put-away. Task… Continue reading
A couple of weeks ago, Evan Falchuk, President and COO of Best Doctors, posted a piece on his blog about J.B. Hunt and its approach to healthcare benefits. Evan interviewed Rick George, Director of Benefits at J.B. Hunt. You can read Evan’s posting here, but with his permission, I’ve copied the Q&A portion below.
This posting interested me because it sheds light on a… Continue reading
In the last annual survey done by WERC, the average warehouse’s turnover was between 9.4 and 15 percent. This is too high, and turnover is expensive. How can companies perform better in this area? Could the composition of the workforce make a difference?
In recent research conducted by the Pew Research Center, they comment that “the American work force is graying—and not just because the American population… Continue reading
