Archive for Material Handling – Page 3

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

Categories : Labor, Material Handling, Warehousing
Comments (0)

A few months ago, a client asked me to help him put together a short list of best-of-breed warehouse control system (WCS) vendors.  Here is the problem he faced: his company uses a warehouse management system (WMS) that worked well when it was initially implemented.  Over time, the company added various material handling systems, each with its own interface and “island” of control logic.  The company now wants to upgrade… Continue reading

I read an article by Bob Trebilcock in Modern Materials Handling titled “Automation: Grocery giant Kroger changes the distribution game,”and I was amazed by what Kroger has accomplished, and the risks the company has taken.

Kroger implemented an automation system “that can receive and put-away full pallets, then break them down and rebuild them into store-ready mixed pallets according to how they will be put away on the… Continue reading

When I think of a warehouse, I visualize a facility with racks.  But in industries that sell commodities (e.g. fresh produce), “bulk” warehouses without racking are more prevalent.  What you are likely to see in these warehouses are painted lines on the floor where pallets are stacked.  Oftentimes, a worker has to move a stack of pallets out of the way in order to select the pallet(s) containing the products… Continue reading

Across a wide range of supply chain projects and processes, poor data quality is a recipe for failure.  Today, I’m focusing on dimensional data.  Do you have accurate weight and dimensional data for your products?  For the cases, inner packs, and pallets those products are shipped in?  While data quality is one of the least sexy topics I can imagine, it’s also a costly one for companies with poor dimensional… Continue reading