Category Archives: Warehouse Fulfillment

To understand the disadvantages of cross docking, it is important to firstly understand the purpose of the procedure. Cross docking takes products directly from a supplier or manufacturing plant to a customer or retail chain with little to no handling or storage time. Cross docking involves receiving products through an inbound dock, sorting and screening their end destinations, and then moving the products across the dock to the outbound transportation dock in a distribution terminal. Although cross docking saves warehouse real estate, reduces labor costs, and gets products to the customers faster, there are several disadvantages that wise retailers should...

Warehousing solutions are important for many e-commerce businesses. They are often the only practical way to store large volumes of products and keep them ready to be shipped out to customers. The problem is that warehouses can be big, expensive, and tricky to manage for small businesses. Outsourcing your warehousing needs to another firm is the best approach in these cases since doing so enables you to get numerous benefits while keeping downsides to a minimum. Benefits of Outsourcing Warehousing Free Up Your Resources Almost all businesses with a physical product have some need for storage space. Warehousing for these...

Climate control in warehouse storage is, at its essence, all about reducing unpredictability. A warehouse is a large, open environment filled with large shelves and racks with people and goods constantly moving in and out. This naturally results in areas where temperature fluctuations will occur, such as cool spots near loading bays or hot spots where shelves can obstruct air flow. Climate control in a warehouse helps prevent these environmental discrepancies and produce consistent, controlled conditions throughout all operations. (more…)

Cross Docking vs. Drop Shipping: What Is the Difference? It’s impossible to overstate the importance of inventory management for e-commerce businesses. Between keeping warehouses appropriately stocked, order shipping, and managing returns, there’s a lot to consider and a lot of moving parts that need to be synchronized to ensure all goes well. Smaller and mid-sized manufacturers need to consider solutions that reduce the need for managing inventory. Two solutions that are immediately applicable for these businesses include cross-docking and drop shipping. It’s up to each business to decide which works best for them. (more…)

One of the basic tenets of warehouse performance indicators is that you can't improve what you can't measure. This is why it's important to use the best performance indicators when you measure warehouse efficiency and success. Without the right productivity metrics, you can waste time, money, and energy pursuing the wrong direction while more effective and efficient areas for improvement go unnoticed. Instead of trying to measure anything and everything, make use of the best practices for warehouse metrics to find the most optimal path to warehouse improvements. Important Warehouse Performance Indicators Carrying Cost of Inventory Every bit of inventory...

Deciding whether or not to outsource your company’s e-commerce or warehouse fulfillment services is an essential step for businesses that require fulfillment shipping. It requires finding a partner whom you’re willing to trust to keep your products safe and secure, as well as to ensure they reach your customers promptly and in good condition. In a sense, it means that you’re outsourcing part of your reputation. In many cases, the decision-making process for finding e-commerce fulfillment services can generally be broken down into five categories—in this case, we’ll call it the “five Cs.” (more…)