Efficiency is the key to protecting profit margins, especially in the high volume and narrow margin world of grocery and consumer packaged goods. Due to the nature of these industries, the companies working in them already pursue efficiency with an eye towards keeping their Total Cost of Business (TCOB) low and their profits as high…
Cross docking is a supply chain strategy that does away with the warehouse–at least in theory. An example of cross docking is when freight from incoming trucks is wheeled across the shipping dock and loaded directly on outbound trucks without entering a warehouse. In reality, cross docking as a supply chain strategy is generally more…
The years 2017 and 2018 were incredibly profitable for transportation companies, but the increasing transportation rates that made these years so profitable for carriers also tightened profit margins for manufacturers. Many increased product prices to cover the high cost of freight rates. The boom showed no sign of stopping at the end of 2018. In…
When it comes to supply chains, the pharmaceutical supply chain is probably the most heavily regulated of all–and for good reason. Even the smallest error in shipping and storage can impact the efficacy of a product and put lives at risk. Adhering to pharmaceutical supply chain best practices is crucial to ensure pharmaceuticals are delivered…
On its surface, the warehouse shipping process is simple. The customer places an order, the warehouse management system (WMS) generates a pick order, and a warehouseman follows the pick order, pulls the items needed from inventory, and brings them all to packing. The packing department boxes everything up, palletizes the load, and it all ships…
The world dangles in a web of very long threads–these are the various supply chains that keep food in our refrigerators, deliver the refrigerators to the stores in the first place, and keep the power plants that allow the refrigerators to run stocked with fuel. If any thread in this interconnected web comes loose, the…