your way through have come and gone,” says Jeff Wolpov, senior vice president of ecommerce for Ryder E-commerce by Whiplash. “You need to focus on ef ciency and productivity, and invest in systems and processes.” A VERTICAL VIEW Here’s how leaders in several verticals are tackling distribution challenges. Retail. Ramesh Murthy is chief supply chain of cer and executive vice president with Bob’s Discount Furniture, which operates 165 furniture stores across 24 states. Murthy and his team have been working to enhance operations at the company’s ve distribution centers, which each support a different customer zone. While each DC will continue to support a customer zone, Bob’s Discount Furniture is rolling out a multi- distribution center ful llment solution. This will enable it to quickly make available to customers the products they ordered, regardless of whether they are in stock in the distribution center that’s actually closest to them. So, if a customer makes a purchase in Connecticut, but the Connecticut DC is out of the product, the company can ship it from another, nearby distribution center. “The new solution will maximize customer service and build redundancy into our system,” Murthy says.
break in communication. For instance, miscommunication between purchasing and production may cause a plant to start production, only to realize it’s missing a key component, which then needs to be expedited. One step that can help to avoid misunderstandings is to minimize second-hand communication. For instance, the IT reps in the warehouse should speak with the vendor’s or customer’s IT reps, rather than have the salesperson mediate, says Khadar Mohammed, business solutions architect with Tecsys, a provider of supply chain management software. A robust planning process and visibility are also essential, Mohammed says. Visibility to incoming work makes it possible to put in place the people and resources needed to execute the plan. Standardizing processes minimizes wasted time by ensuring operational consistency and accuracy. This includes establishing procedures for receiving, inventory management, picking and packing, and loading. As DC operations become increasingly critical to performance, and with space and labor still tight, shippers and logistics companies need solutions that enable them to boost accuracy and streamline processes. “The old days of adding more buildings and people, and muscling
many types of automated technologies such as autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and shuttle systems. Redesigning the sortation function can also yield ef ciencies. In a traditional work ow, shipments are picked up by a carrier and typically sorted several times: at a local facility, a regional hub, and a destination facility. In contrast, advanced sortation systems allow packages to be pre-sorted at the ful llment center, which can leverage a “zone skipping” sortation strategy that eliminates stops between the ful llment center and delivery. Another area many DCs are re-examining is packaging. Properly sized boxes can cut transportation costs—no more paying to ship air—and shipping’s environmental impact. Some solutions can design cartons to t the product being shipped. “Building a box to t is becoming a very big deal, because the payback is so prevalent,” Meyne says.
PLANNING AND COMMUNICATION
While technology is critical to effective DC operations, internal processes also need to be solid. A starting point is an ef cient critical path, or the sequence of activities that must be completed between the start and conclusion of a process or project. Together, these activities make up the shortest possible duration of the project. “If your critical path isn’t robust and operating ef ciently, neither will your D&F operations,” Fisher says. As shippers and logistics providers examine their operations, Fisher says they’ll want to ask multiple questions, including these: What steps can be automated? Is my software, or lack of it, hampering processes? How much automation makes sense for my facility? Open, ongoing communication is critical. Take the case of expedited deliveries. Nicole Glenn, founder and CEO of Candor Expedite, which specializes in mission-critical and time- sensitive deliveries, says the need to expedite often occurs because of a
Bob’s Discount Furniture’s new multi-distribution center fulfillment solution will enable the retailer to quickly make available the products that customers order, regardless of whether the items are in stock in the distribution center that’s actually closest to them.
May 2023 • Inbound Logistics 43
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