Raymour & Flanigan evaluated its warehouse software capabilities as part of a broader systems upgrade initiative. Raymour & Flanigan, in partnership with Alpine Supply Chain, uncovered great opportunities for productivity improvements that could be realized from system-directed put-away and picking, and from the introduction of opportunistic cross-docking. Furthermore, the insights […]
Warehouse performance continues to evolve into a more complex, multi-faceted measure. Performance today embodies not only the traditional measures of accuracy and cost-efficiency, but also responsiveness and agility. The importance of these capabilities has increased due to some interesting competitive pressures in the market. And the stimuli continue to change, gradually shifting the relative importance of these capabilities. There were a range of reasons given as to “why” a given performance objective increased in importance. But there were two common threads. The reasons boiled down […]
Cal Petty is the quitessential Atlanta-based, Georgia Tech educated WMS veteran. He provided me with an insightful, broad-based overview of the WMS consultancy ecosystem. So much so, that I asked him to provide his insights to Logistics Viewpoints readers. His insights include the ways in which experienced consultants are differentiated from the generallists, how roles and responsibilities at independent consultants have evolved over the years, and his advice to young professionals just beginning their career in the WMS space.
Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative determined that its EAM system, while sufficient for field service management, was insufficient for warehouse management. It then set out to select and implement a WMS that met its needs that are distinct to traditional goods distribution companies. In particular, linear inventory management and RFID were required. SMECO worked with Alpine Supply Chain to determine […]
ProMat 2023, for those that could not attend, this is a great overview of some of the exhibitions I found most interesting, including Pickle Robot’s container/trailer unloading robot, HAI Robotics 32 ft ACR, Addverb’s extensive robotics portfolio previously unknown to me, and the warehouse optimization capabilities of Manhattan Associates, Blue Yonder, Lucas Systems, Koerber Supply Chain, and […]
ARC Advisory Group/Logistics Viewpoints is conducting a survey to determine the perceptions, priorities, and strategic initiatives of today’s supply chain and logistics executives. Preliminary survey results thus far suggest that supply chain resilience has been increasing in importance over time, but still remains secondary to the end goal embedded in the perfect order metric – the right product, to the right place, at the right time. And it appears that the combination of labor and inflation in the form of warehouse labor cost inflation is currently the highest concern for 2023 among the listed warehousing related external factors in ARC’s survey.
There are 3 common myths when it comes to adding new voice solutions to existing host or warehouse management systems (WMS): The Legacy Myth; The Integration Myth; and The All-In-One WMS Myth. The fact is that most DCs have installed voice-directed mobile applications with host or legacy packages and made the decision later whether to upgrade to a new WMS. The ‘mobile-first’ approach is actually more cost-effective and makes the WMS transition easier for users. Warehouse management software packages are progressively growing a […]
