Carousel and vertical lift module equipment increases floor space capacity and cuts costs, say Ed Romaine, chief marketing officer, Sapient Automation, and David Schneider, marketing manager for Hanel Storage Systems.
The Continental Tire factory in Sarreguemines, France, has increased its production of tires from 33,000 tires per day to 38,000, thanks to a real-time location system it installed in September 2011 to track tire components. The RTLS has also helped the company reduce wastage of tire components, known as "semi products," by 20 percent.
You could call inventory and warehouse space the twin evils of the supply chain. Both are big drags on the balance sheet. So it should come as no surprise that the two categories are lagging the recovery - or what's passing for one.
Newgistics, a provider of small-parcel delivery, returns-management and freight-shipping services, is now offering delivery and return between the U.S. and Canada.
Doesn't it seem as though we are forever plunging into recession, then clawing our way back to recovery? In recent months we've seen hints that the U.S. economy is on the mend, with unemployment levels dropping. At the same time, consumer confidence is once again on the decline. It's a mixed bag by anyone's measure, but we've yet to return to pre-recession numbers in key sectors.
The Supply Chain Risk Leadership Council was formed around 2005 by Cisco Systems Inc. It was created to bring together risk-management experts who could share best practices and bring process standardization to the way in which risks are identified in the global supply chain, according to John J. Brown, director of risk management with The Coca-Cola Co.
As business continued to grow at Darice, reportedly the country's largest full-line arts and crafts wholesaler and distributor, so did inefficiencies in its distribution system.
Slow-moving merchandise is one of the many nightmares an online retailer has to consider - and a problem that needs to be addressed. Non-moving inventory stresses both retailers' operations and budgets because it ties up both precious warehouse space and capital that can be used for other products or business expansion.
Order picking is indisputably the most labor intensive job in the warehouse, says Brian Keiger, global IT sales leader-logistics, KUKA Systems. But with SKU proliferation and the retirement of baby boomers, there will be more and more automation.
