Peak season brings unique supply chain and operational challenges that are not experienced at other times of the year. The need to improve warehouse operations during non-peak times is critical. It can be very difficult to improve order fulfillment during the peak season. However, just because you can’t make changes, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be looking for changes to make.
Labor is typically one of the largest distribution expense items, along with freight costs, for most companies. According to Indeed.com, the job employment website, the average base pay for warehouse workers is $16.78 in the U.S. However, when you factor in benefits such as healthcare, training and more – the fully loaded cost balloons to $28.86 per hour. Companies typically have the following costs over and above the base pay:
- Benefits and healthcare: 35% of payroll costs
- Workers comp and unemployment: 8% of payroll costs
- Training: 4% of payroll costs
- Recruitment, hiring and HR: 25% of payroll costs
In today's challenging and competitive world, your success can hinge on whether your warehouse operations are productive and effective enough to meet customer expectations.
One way to gauge how effectively your warehouse operations meet those expectations is to conduct a warehouse operations assessment. 
A warehouse operations assessment, also known as a fulfillment center audit, is a systematic review of all warehouse functions and possible efficiency and service improvements. Keep in mind, that if you cannot measure something, it is difficult - if not impossible - to improve it.
Read More >One of the most important pieces to managing your operations is to understand how your workers are performing, how costs are trending, and what to do based on what the data is saying. For companies that are just beginning to implement metrics and KPIs, the task can seem daunting. For companies that have utilized benchmarking for quite some time, they might have benchmarking that needs to be reviewed and evaluated. Consider these 10 aspects to improve your internal benchmarking programs.
Read More >As you and your operations team begin down the road of performing an operations assessment to improve warehouse logistics, it can quicky begin to feel overwhelming. If you know the right areas to cover and focus on, the process will be much smoother and produce better results. One key tip is to allocate certain parts of the warehouse assessment, or warehouse evaluation, to different team members. Within any supply chain strategy, it is important to remember that data is imperative. The first step in your assessment should be to gather all important data related to the warehouse operations.
As warehouse consultants and having performed many assessments over the years, we have developed the following key areas that an assessment needs to cover.
As warehouse consultants and having performed many assessments over the years, we have developed the following key areas that an assessment needs to cover.
As part of our distribution consulting services, we have performed hundreds of operational assessments and identified several ways companies can save money through improved order processing and inventory storage. We have compiled the following quick-hitting list to be included in your warehouse assessment that will assist in reducing your supply chain operating expenses and improving customer satisfaction.
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Over the years, many facets have changed within supply chains and distribution center operations. Wages and consumer demand have increased dramatically, however, the availability of quality labor to meet the order volumes and customer expectations are less than desirable.
It is imperative in today’s evolving supply chain environment to become more efficient and productive while making every effort to reduce labor and operational costs. There are many ways to go about this arduous task, but one of the first and most practical steps is to perform a warehouse assessment.
Warehousing and distribution are dynamic industries, with many facets always in motion – whether it’s the changing supply chain to meet current constraints, continual shipping cost increases, or labor challenges that threaten to impede growth. The operations in your distribution center must also change, driven by a mindset of continual process improvement as part of your overall supply chain strategy.
All too often, we see operations that have become stagnant or once optimized but then managed and run the same way for many years with little change. Many times, they have not stayed proactive, and their costs, processes, and systems do not serve the company well.
Distribution and warehouse operational assessments allow companies to review the people, processes, layout, and systems to identify where, and how, changes should occur. The goal of any operations assessment is to improve operational efficiencies; drive down costs; increase throughput while meeting or exceeding customer expectations.
Read More >As warehouse consultants, we work with a wide range of businesses, the discussions often surround topics such as, "How do we know if we are as efficient as we could be? What do we need to change to support the business’ growth and order fulfillment needs?” The short answer is typically companies need to perform a warehouse or distribution center operations assessment. 
So, what is an operations assessment? It is a methodical and comprehensive approach to analyzing all facets of the operations – from organizational staffing, team members and people utilization; processes, and warehouse management systems; to the layout of the facility; and how material handling equipment and automation are deployed. The objectives are to identify all the ways in which the warehouse operations and the physical assets can/should be improved to meet both the customer’s and management’s expectations and requirements. These recommendations should then be prioritized based on resources; capital expenditures required as well as benefits to build a roadmap for implementing the recommendations.
Read More >Operations are under a lot of pressure to continually meet customer demands, as well as to support marketing and merchandising initiatives which often means adding many products, providing value added services to customers, and increasing order volumes. From a warehousing and distribution consultant perspective, we are often asked what the tasks are that the warehouse operations can undertake, that can have the largest impact.
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