Warehouse management
/ By nauticalcargo / Supply Chain Management • Warehouse/ 0 Comments

5 reasons how a technologically equipped warehouse can benefit logistics movement

A warehouse is the backbone of any logistics movement, acting as a hub where goods are stored, processed, and distributed to their final destinations. Technology has brought significant improvements to warehouse management, and a technologically equipped warehouse can significantly benefit logistics movement. Here are five reasons why:

  1. Improved Efficiency: A technologically equipped warehouse can significantly enhance logistics movement by improving efficiency. With automated systems, such as robotics, warehouse operations can be completed faster, more accurately, and with fewer errors. This leads to faster processing times and reduced lead times, resulting in quicker delivery times for customers. Automated systems also reduce the need for manual labor, which can help businesses save costs and increase profits. 
  2. Enhanced Inventory Management: Effective inventory management is essential for any warehouse, and technology can help businesses achieve this. Technologically advanced inventory management systems can track inventory levels in real time, making it easier to identify low stock levels and replenish inventory as needed. This leads to a more streamlined supply chain, reduces the risk of stockouts, and ensures that the right products are always available to customers. 
  3. Improved Data Management: In today’s digital age, data management is critical, and a technologically equipped warehouse can help businesses manage data more effectively. Warehouse management systems can collect data on inventory levels, order fulfillment times, and other key metrics, providing businesses with valuable insights into their operations. This data can be used to optimize warehouse processes, identify bottlenecks, and make informed decisions about inventory management, leading to improved logistics movement. 
  4. Enhanced Customer Experience: With the rise of e-commerce, customers expect fast and reliable delivery times. A technologically equipped warehouse can help businesses meet these expectations by ensuring that orders are processed quickly and accurately. Automated systems can reduce errors and improve order accuracy, leading to fewer returns and greater customer satisfaction. This can help businesses build a loyal customer base and enhance their reputation in the marketplace. 
  5. Improved Safety: Safety is essential in any warehouse, and technology can help businesses create a safer working environment for their employees. Automated systems, such as robotics and conveyor systems, can reduce the need for manual labor and minimize the risk of workplace accidents. Additionally, warehouse management systems can track employee performance, ensuring that workers are following safety protocols and using equipment correctly.

Final Thoughts:

A technologically equipped warehouse can bring significant benefits to logistics movement. From improved efficiency and enhanced inventory management to improved data management and enhanced customer experience, technology can help businesses streamline their operations, reduce costs, and increase profits. With the right technology in place, businesses can create a safer, more efficient, and more effective warehouse that can help them stay competitive in today’s fast-paced business environment.

 

Warehouse Management
/ By nauticalcargo / Logistic • Warehouse/ / 0 Comments

7 quality tips on warehouse management in logistics

Effective warehouse management is critical to the success of any logistics operation. A well-managed warehouse can increase efficiency, reduce costs, and improve customer satisfaction. In this article, we will discuss seven quality tips on warehouse management in logistics.

  1. Organize Your Warehouse

The first step in effective warehouse management is organizing your warehouse. A well-organized warehouse helps increase efficiency and productivity. Create a layout that makes it easy for your employees to navigate, pick, and pack orders. Labeling and signposting of products and shelves can also make it easier for staff to locate items.

Grouping products together by category or frequency of use can also help improve organization. Keep frequently used items near the front of the warehouse for easy access, while less commonly used items can be stored at the back. Organizing your warehouse also reduces the risk of lost or misplaced items.

  1. Implement an Inventory Management System

An inventory management system can help you track and monitor your stock levels. This will ensure you always have enough stock to fulfill customer orders while avoiding excess inventory that can take up valuable warehouse space.

An inventory management system can also help you identify slow-moving or dead stock, allowing you to make data-driven decisions on inventory replenishment and markdowns. This can help reduce costs and improve cash flow.

  1. Optimize Warehouse Space

Warehouse space is a valuable asset that should be used efficiently. One way to optimize space is to use vertical storage solutions such as pallet racks and mezzanine levels. These solutions can increase storage capacity while keeping products organized and easily accessible.

You can also optimize space by using a first-in, first-out (FIFO) system. This system ensures that older products are sold before newer ones, reducing the risk of expired or outdated inventory. It also reduces the need for excess safety stock, freeing up valuable warehouse space.

  1. Invest in Warehouse Automation

Warehouse automation can help improve efficiency and reduce costs. Automated systems such as conveyors, sorters, and robotics can streamline order fulfillment processes and reduce the risk of errors. Automation can also help reduce labor costs and increase throughput.

Investing in warehouse automation requires careful planning and consideration. Before investing in automation, evaluate your current processes and identify areas that can benefit from automation. Consider the costs and benefits of each automation solution to determine which solution will provide the greatest return on investment.

  1. Train Your Staff

Your staff is an essential part of your warehouse operation. Investing in staff training can help improve efficiency, reduce errors, and improve customer satisfaction. Ensure your staff is trained on warehouse safety, equipment operation, and inventory management.

Provide ongoing training and development opportunities to help your staff stay up-to-date on industry trends and best practices. Encourage feedback from your staff to identify areas for improvement and address any concerns they may have.

  1. Implement Quality Control Measures

Quality control measures are critical to ensuring customer satisfaction. Implementing quality control measures such as regular product inspections and sample testing can help reduce the risk of defective products being shipped to customers. Implementing quality control measures also helps identify potential issues before they become larger problems. This can help reduce costs associated with returns, repairs, and customer complaints.

  1. Continuously Monitor and Improve Processes

Continuous improvement is essential to warehouse management. Regularly review your processes to identify areas for improvement. Consider implementing key performance indicators (KPIs) to monitor warehouse performance and identify areas that need improvement.

Regularly communicating with your staff can also help identify areas for improvement. Encourage feedback and suggestions for improvement from your staff to help identify areas that need attention.

Final Thoughts:

Effective warehouse management is critical to the success of any logistics operation. By implementing these seven quality tips, you can optimize warehouse space, increase efficiency, reduce costs, and improve customer satisfaction.

 

Key principles for a warehouse and distribution center design
/ By nauticalcargo / Storage • Supply Chain Management • Warehouse/ 0 Comments

Key principles for a warehouse and distribution center design.

Warehousing is the most integral part of the supply chain and logistics industry and plays the most vital role in today’s business. The concept of warehousing has been there for many years ever since trade and commerce have been the driving factor. Storage was a great cause of concern for many business houses who wished to diversify and warehousing for the perfect storage solution that not only helped in achieving production levels but also products available in the market whenever there was a demand.

Today the warehouse ceases to be just a storage center and has evolved to become one of the key drivers for the E-Commerce industry. Hence Warehouse Management Services has become a very prominent service offered by many logistics companies. For a warehouse and distribution center to be fully functioning and effective in its operations it has to be designed keeping in mind many factors of operations that the distribution center has to cater to. Many times the need for a well-designed warehouse is misunderstood and overlooked that generally leads to a completely disorganised setup. This eventually leads to a chaotic distribution center thereby gravely affecting the supply chain operations.

Let’s take a look at some of the key important factors that are essential in planning an optimally performing warehousing and distribution center.

Have an assessment of the volumes to handle :
Warehousing and a DC are all about the storage of goods that have to be retained at the center for a stipulated period or even an extended time till the product is ready to be shipped into the market. Hence one of the foremost elements that need to be considered while designing a warehouse is the volume which the center will have to hold. Volumes will also determine the various functions that have to be included that largely depend on the type of goods. While designing a warehouse it is very important to understand all the functions that need to be included in the site footprint, for example, the gantry cranes, the cold storage rooms, forklift charging areas, loading docks areas to store hazardous material, and individual facilities for packaging.

Clearly understand the objectives of the warehouse:
As we have seen a lot of changes in the logistics industry, there are very few warehouses that remain as storage facilities. Hence rather than just being a warehouse storage unit there has to be a much larger objective in place when designing a warehouse or a distribution center. We don’t want to outsource certain elements of a warehousing unit just because of the various inadequacies it may have. It is hence essential to define the objectives and goals for the warehouse facility about the marketing it has to serve and the geographical locations it has to cater to. What types of goods it will have to handle and what is the anticipated life of the warehouse facility or is it going to be a permanent infrastructure facility.

Material Handling:
Warehousing involves a lot of handling of products that are stored and a rule of thumb would be to keep manual handling to the minimum as possible. While designing a warehouse the infrastructure and operational flow should be in such a way as to facilitate the least manual touch points as possible. A warehouse flow is always from the inside out and hence the materials handling cannot be a primitive method.

Keep in mind the storage modes and other IT systems:
After finishing the assessment on all important aspects of the warehouse it’s also imperative that you should know about the various storage modes and IT systems that will be installed on the site and which is required. Technological advancements have facilitated more IT-enabled products to be installed for the picking, lifting, and racking of products, and hence all of these should be able to smoothly function on the premises. The warehouse design should accommodate all of these to assure a smooth operational flow.

Final Thoughts:
Warehouse designing involves a lot of caution as one small mistake can prove to be costly and damaging in the long run. It is always preferable to consult with an external entity that has expertise in designing such spaces as they will have all the resources to implement a design that best suits your supply chain mechanism.

Reverse Logistics - Nautical Cargo
/ By nauticalcargo / Logistic • Shipping • Transport • Warehouse/ 0 Comments

What is Reverse Logistics and how can you effectively manage it.

Logistics is a complex business with many unforeseen events propping up which needs to be handled immediately. One such event which needs to be finely addressed and planned is Reverse Logistics. To understand the importance of this growing logistics operations it is worth diving into some of the latest statistics concerning reverse logistics.

According to the latest information from Statistica in the US alone the return deliveries are estimated to cost $550 billion by the year 2020 which is approximately 75% more compared to the previous four years figures. With the arrival of the E-commerce era, Reverse Logistics has been of extreme importance more so in a scenario where physical retailers have been replaced by online providers and sellers whose sales had predictively touched around $414 million in the year 2018.

What is reverse logistics?

To clearly define reverse logistics in the simplest ways, it stands for all related operations where goods need to be returned from the place of consumption to the place of their origin. This sounds strange as rather for any logistic operation aimed to deliver the goods to the final customer this is a reverse of what should be happening. Precisely why such operations in logistics is termed to be reverse logistics. Now let’s understand the reason for such a different kind of operation and the need of the day which has seen it evolving so fast recently.

Managing reverse logistics is not a thing of ease as we are trying to address a situation where the shipper needs to handle a disappointed customer who wants to return the goods purchased for probably a replacement. Hence basically the shipper or the 3PL agent has to retrieve the product and needs to ship the item back to the hub. The return can be due to a few reasons being damaged product or an item which does not satisfy the customer. This has to be precisely accessed which is the key in initiating a counter shipping operation.

Hence, to put it more precisely, reverse logistics is the process of moving the goods from the final destination or consumption for the sole purpose of either disposing of, remanufacturing, refurbishing or reinitiating a similar replacement order to the customer. It also includes the process of the management of surplus of products which are left as returned. It is worth to be noted that in the online retailing business at least 30% of all products ordered are returned in comparison with almost 8.89% products which are purchased in brick and mortar shops.

Reverse logistics can also be taken as a source of accessing the quality of the products and the efficiency of the operations of all parties involved as this is a direct indicator of how much your customer is satisfied with the product and the delivery operations. Hence one needs to address this with accurate planning and as far as possible to avoid it as items which fall under the reverse logistics can become a big source of concern to any organisations profits.

Having understood the importance of reverse logistics it should also be noted that with a good reverse logistics process in place companies not only be able to track returns but also get the desired value from the returned products. To implement a successful reverse logistics process the following points can be followed:

Real-time monitoring and tracking facility:

The company should have a very viable and state of the art process and platform that facilitates its customers to return the product with ease. The platform should have proper data capture points that will help to categories the products to be returned as damaged, defective or scenarios where a product needs to be replaced with a new one. This will give the shipper or the 3PL agency to ship back the product to their desired origin based on this categorisation also with the help of the real-time monitoring capabilities to ensure the product reaches its origin.

Engage with the best warehouse and distribution centers:

One of the many important factors that should be taken into consideration and aptly engaged is that of the warehouse management services and distribution centers. Reverse logistics is all about getting the product once delivered to the endpoint of consumption back to the original point. Hence one needs to strategically decide on the return and collection centers and have more than one collection centers based on the category of the goods returned to access and estimate the quantum of damaged goods or the ones that have to be replaced for redistribution.

Customer communication:

Any industry which is doing business that directly satisfies its customer’s, communication is of top importance. Reverse logistics is not of any difference as especially in this kind of processes one has to give utmost heed to the queries of the customers. Let us not forget reverse logistics is all about an unsatisfied customer who wants to return the products delivered. Hence to gain trust companies have to communicate constantly with its customers and need to listen to queries raised by the customers with possible and quick solutions which will leave them delighted.

Partner with a good 3PL logistics provider:

Logistics is a very complex industry and reverse logistics is one such operation which is very much complex. One needs to have a separate logistics department with an able human resource team to handle the reverse logistics services with a state of the art technologically equipped platform to manage all the data involved. Many companies have started outsourcing their reverse logistics operations to 3rd party logistics vendors that are well equipped in providing the much needed real-time tracking of the reverse shipments and have the best human resources to ensure the proper flow of goods to the origin. This not only reduces the investments involved but also will ensure the effective return management process.

Summary:

In an industry and business scenario where E-commerce has established itself as the driving factor for any seller, one has to indulge in identifying the problem areas to generate apt solutions. Return of goods is one of the most pertinent concerns and companies must have a solid game plan to reduce operational costs and time lags involved in reverse logistics. Ultimately the goal is to satisfy the customers in the best and fastest way possible.

LCL Logistic Services
/ By nauticalcargo / Cargo • Logistic • Shipping • Transport • Warehouse/ 0 Comments

E-Commerce the definite road ahead for Logistics

Before going further with the topic and relating e-commerce with logistics, let us have a quick review of what e-commerce and logistics actually means. E-commerce is the new marketplace for the current generation. It is an electronic platform or best to say an Electronic marketplace from where you would be able to sell and buy everything that you want, starting from daily grocery to exclusive electronic appliances all under one single roof.

On the other hand, logistics refer to everything that a business operates and manages from the starting point wherein products are collected and consolidated till the point the product reaches the end consumers which can vary from residential consumers to even corporate houses.

E-Commerce today is largely depended on the operations of the logistics company as a perfect partner not only to deliver the goods to the end party but also to act as a provider of perfect LCL logistics services which also includes warehousing capabilities to stock product a large number of products. A quick understanding of how e-commerce can prove to be the definite road ahead for logistics.

Relating the two E-commerce business depends on serving customers and catering to their consumable requirements. The things that you choose from an e-commerce website needs to get delivered to you at the correct time and in the best possible shape. This is where logistics comes into the picture even much before that. The product that you choose to buy from an e-commerce website has to go through several processes before it finally reaches you.

E-Commerce being just a platform or a window to the products available for purchase it is the ability and planning of the logistics company to fulfill the order thereby catering to all the needs of the customers and satisfying them to a full extent most importantly with a prompt and reliable delivery. This can be achieved only via a proper and credible logistic provider.

Hence its imperative to say that with the kind of business growth seen in the retail business coupled with the flourishing use of E-commerce as the best technological platform it would mean that more growth is progressing towards the logistics business as well.

The Cycle of e-commerce and logistics is well integrated with the logistics industry and it surely hugely depends on the logistics operations for its success. From a consumers perspective, all he/she does is to place an order for an item from an e-commerce website and all that is expected is a timely delivery and cost benefits.

When the delivery person comes to a customer’s doorstep in order to deliver their product then that delivery person becomes the face of the e-commerce company, so it is very important for any e-commerce company to have an efficient logistics system in place. Hence for their own good, the e-commerce companies sometimes themselves develop their own logistics division so as to monitor everything from their end and do everything necessary like improving the software, training more people and introducing many efficient techniques which would, in turn, help their operations. But it is not necessary and vialble for every E-commerce company to have their own logistics system and in such scenarios, they tie up with one, so that they can make the process of delivery more smooth and efficient for the customer.

Many Investments are done in this partnership so that the logistic company can improve their technical and human resource aspect so that the company would be able to improve their business and incomes and in return, they would invest more in the logistics.

It is the best time in business today as we are witnessing many new players bring up their E-commerce sites to sell a variety of products to the consumers thereby giving more leverage and opportunities to many logistics companies. Without a doubt, E-commerce is here to stay and transportation companies have to get well equipped to meet the growing challenges in such a big opportunity.