The Logistical Lowdown

As a procurement or logistics buyer, it can be a daunting task to look for your first or even a new 3PL partner. To get you started on the right foot, we've put together a short list of 5 Characteristics you should look for when seeking a 3PL partner. 

How valuable is warehouse space? I'm not just talking about price per square foot. What warehouse features and value-add services would make your logistics more efficient, save time and money? Perhaps our Napoleon, Ohio warehouse location may be the perfect fit for you. 

 For those of us in logistics, specifically warehousing and distribution, maximizing the capacity of our warehouses is a constant we are working toward improving. From my experience, when we see capacity constraints, our next step is to look at the warehouse design to make it more functional. 

We've reached Part III of How to Engage Remote Warehouse Employees. In Part I, we talked about how to engage remote warehouse employees through communication; and that communication needs to be at the center of your relationships with your employees. 

In the second article, How to Engage Remote Warehouse Employees, Take a Chance on Me; we discussed ways to empower your crew so their observations and insights can be used to make your warehouse better. 

So, finally we're going to discuss part III of engaging remote warehouse employees; it's to have some fun! 

In a previous post, I wrote the first part of the three part series: How to Engage Remote Warehouse Employees Through Communication.  I'll continue that topic and focus on the second aspect of engaging remote warehouse employees: Empowerment. 

First, let's recap-  Engaging Remote Warehouse Employees through Communication. The key take-away was to put communication at the core of your relationships with your employees if you want to be sure your employees are engaged in their job, their work, and their company. 

As a Regional Operations Manager, I oversee six warehouses throughout the mid-west. The distance varies as I can visit some with a day trip, others require a half-day drive, and I even have a few that require flying or driving the entire day to see. So, how do I engage remote warehouse employees? 

Being a manager is a tough job, being a manager of remote employees adds a few curve balls to the managers role. We rely on many forms of communication to get our work done; phone, email, and even video conferencing.

I’ve often heard that a Procurement or Logistics Director’s least favorite part of his or her job is 3PL selection.  Why? 

It’s simple; selecting the wrong 3PL can cause repercussions throughout the supply chain, ultimately leading to delays or outright failures in getting product into the hands of consumers, impacting sales and profits. It is your life line and one that many people depend on; stockholders, employees, their families, your customers, and their families. A broken link in your supply chain could cause loss of sales due to lack of trust and downtime, not to mention the effect it can have on your business' cash flow. 

Waste.  We all know what that is.  Normally, when we encounter a situation where waste has occurred, we get annoyed and think, “well, that was a waste.”  Maybe the leftovers were never eaten, or maybe we spent $20 on lotto tickets without winning anything.  These are typical examples of waste that immediately come to mind.  However, warehouse waste comes in many shapes and sizes.  It is a destructive little monster that hides in plain sight and surreptitiously rears its ugly head in the company’s bottom line.  

Waste is truly all around us, but we are so accustomed to it that we simply do not see it for what it is. 

Continuing to keep warehouses operating as efficiently as possible is an ongoing process. Ideally, you want to implement  lean process improvements that positively impact your customers as well as influence your bottom line while optimizing your operational efficiency.

When it’s time to select a new warehouse location the list of boxes to check can seem endless. Whether it is in a new market or in the same area, the complexity that goes into site selection can be overwhelming. The easy way out is to choose your final location based on price, but there are several other factors to consider outside of the price per square foot.

We’ve all heard it time and time again, it’s all about location. But when analyzing the details of a warehouse location, it’s also important to keep in mind things like the availability of skilled talent and the cost of labor, technology, government regulations, tax/economic incentives, safety, and more.