Ken Ackerman

Ken Ackerman has been active in logistics and warehousing management for his entire career. He is editor and publisher of Warehousing Forum, a monthly subscription newsletter. Since 2007, he has also been a group chair for Vistage International, the world’s leading chief executive organization. Before entering the consulting field, he was chief executive of Distribution Centers, Inc., a public warehousing company that is now part of Exel Logistics USA. In 1980, Ackerman sold the company and joined the management consulting division of Coopers & Lybrand. Later, he formed the Ackerman Company, a management advisory service. You can reach Ken at ken@warehousingforum.com.

Articles by Ken Ackerman

• Disruptive innovation: The new normal in warehouse management

  Tuesday, October 03, 2017

  The phrase "disruptive innovation" was invented by Clayton M. Christensen, a professor at Harvard Business School. The term describes a new market and value network that eventually disrupts an existing market.

• Defining the role of warehouse supervisor

  Tuesday, March 14, 2017

  Most people want to do a good job every day, and warehouse workers are no exception. However, management must first define exactly what a "good job" is. Should management fail to provide a standard, the worker will do it on his own, and the self-defined "good job" might not be as productive as it should be.

• Understanding the costs of warehousing

  Tuesday, January 17, 2017

  ​All companies with warehouses incur the same elements of cost, but they compile them differently. However, a costing system can be used to compare costs of one warehouse to another, or one company to others.

• The search for a perfect unit load

  Tuesday, November 08, 2016

  ​It is an established fact that the cost per pound to move materials will decrease as the size of the unit load increases. It is cheaper to handle a full case of product than individual consumer packages, and significantly less expensive to handle a 40-case unit load than individual cases.

• The DuPont model’s impact on LSPs and distributors

  Tuesday, October 04, 2016

  ​At the end of World War I, a venerable chemical company in Delaware purchased about one quarter of a rising Michigan manufacturing business called General Motors. DuPont's management recognized that new skills were necessary to control its major investment in a mass production enterprise that was substantially different from a chemical business that traced its roots to the making of gunpowder in the 18th century.

• Finding a blue ocean in the warehouse

  Tuesday, September 06, 2016

  "Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant," a book by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne, attracted lots of attention when it was published in 2005. It details how successful companies avoid battling it out among rivals, and instead seek out "blue ocean" — untapped new market spaces ripe for growth.

• Seeking a profit island in the warehouse

  Wednesday, August 03, 2016

  Many buyers of logistics services regard their vendors as purveyors of commodities. While providers tend to fret about this, remember the fact that this attitude has been prevalent for decades, long before deregulation and the rise of physical distribution and supply chain management.

• How warehouses can avoid the contract trap

  Tuesday, July 19, 2016

  ​Until a few decades ago, agreements between logistics service providers and their customers were seldom governed by any long-term agreement. The International Warehouse Logistics Association (IWLA) developed a standard contract early in the last century and has revised that agreement to comply with the growth of electronic communication.

• Succession planning in the warehouse

  Tuesday, July 05, 2016

  Succession planning is the development of a formal program to provide timely replacement for every key manager. It includes a system for developing potential successors within the existing organization, or for hiring new people as needed. The plan also is designed for protecting corporate and personal assets during the transition caused by succession.

• Can the alliance proposition work in managing warehouses?

  Tuesday, June 28, 2016

  ​One of the greatest misunderstandings in business is the illusion that employment is permanent. Few companies can offer guaranteed employment with a straight face. Even those who do offer have no credibility with employees who probably know better.

• Disengagement: Your greatest threat in the warehouse

  Wednesday, June 15, 2016

  Senior management in the warehousing industry has every reason to worry about the many external challenges. While warehousing today is relatively prosperous, it remains competitive. Government regulations are more intrusive than ever before. Furthermore, the regulators are frequently people who have no love for private enterprise and are perfectly willing to push their weight around. In some industries, cyberattacks have tarnished corporate reputations as they steal the identities of innocent customers. Finally, there is a continuing shortage of skilled labor.

• Slimming down to a lean warehouse

  Tuesday, May 24, 2016

  ​Some say "lean" was the biggest management idea of the past 50 years. If that is true, the concept of lean could well be a masterpiece of wording. Everyone knows the difference between fat and lean, so lean is a word that should have no mystery, right?

• Connecting the disadvantaged with warehousing opportunities

  Tuesday, May 10, 2016

  Decades ago, warehouse managers discovered that people with certain disabilities could perform some kinds of warehouse work. For example, a footwear manufacturer employed deaf-mute people as order selectors with great success. The only accommodation needed was to caution lift-truck operators that these people could not hear and therefore might not sense the approach of the machine.

• Using a performance scorecard to measure your warehouse

  Tuesday, April 19, 2016

  When you embark on a project to measure warehouse performance, the first step should be to ask why you are taking these measurements. Regardless of the nature of your warehouse operation, you would probably agree that four objectives should be considered as the measuring process is designed.

• Is your warehouse truly agile?

  Tuesday, March 29, 2016

  ​Two key words dominate the field of logistics: Lean and agile. Lean warehousing has been the subject of considerable study, but relatively little attention has been given to the equally important topic of agility. Agility is nimbleness. It is the ability to make small deliveries on a "just in time" (JIT) basis. It is the reduction of order cycle time, as well as the optimization of inventory.

• Why should you audit your warehouse?

  Tuesday, March 15, 2016

  ​When it comes to auditing the warehouse, most of our attention focuses on "how to," but underlying all this commentary is "why?" Auditing any operation is hard work. Indeed, some may think there are insufficient potential results to justify the effort involved.

• Risk management for the warehouse operator

  Tuesday, March 01, 2016

  ​Warehousing always has been a risky business. In our present-day global economy, the risks are more diverse and more plentiful than ever before.

• Chance vs. execution in business decisions

  Tuesday, February 16, 2016

  ​Much of the stress of 21st-century corporate life is generated by the decision-making process. Warehousing certainly is no exception. We have ample opportunity to witness the pain, as well as a significant amount of wasted time.

• Achieving excellence in warehousing

  Tuesday, February 02, 2016

  ​The emphasis of warehousing should go beyond cost-cutting to creating increased value for customers and shareholders. Unfortunately, some senior managers continue to refer to the warehouse as "the backroom," while others consider the hourly workers' job to be "kicking boxes and licking labels."

• The differences between B2B and B2C warehousing

  Tuesday, January 19, 2016

  Perhaps there was a time when warehousing was almost entirely "business to business," or B2B. Today, a growing number of warehouse operations are involved with "business to consumer," or B2C. Some in the industry have been slow to recognize the significant differences when the warehouse operator is dealing with an individual consumer rather than another business.

• What is your company’s culture?

  Tuesday, January 12, 2016

  Every organization has a corporate culture, defined by Harvard professor James L. Heskett as "the way we do things around here." Herb Kelleher of Southwest Airlines describes culture as "What do we want to be?" Perhaps culture is how we add value. One definition is inadequate, but clearly culture is more important to the health of an organization than strategy, market share, patents or trademarks.

• Why and how to prepare a warehouse operations manual

  Monday, December 14, 2015

  It is possible to operate a warehouse in the absence of written procedures or a manual, and we have seen many that function well without them. Some employ seasoned operations people who carry the procedures between their ears, a phenomenon that we call "the biological database."

• Strategy, connectivity and measurement in warehousing

  Tuesday, December 01, 2015

  ​If there once was a time when executives considered a strategic plan as a sacred document that is rarely revised, that day is certainly over. Today, such documents often lose value each month after they are published.

• Finding and keeping the right talent in the logistics industry

  Tuesday, November 17, 2015

  ​In most metropolitan areas of the U.S. today, the unemployment rate is lower than it has been for many years. The result is that finding good people is a real problem. Logistics employers have some problems peculiar to the industry.

• Practicing Pareto practically in the warehouse

  Wednesday, October 28, 2015

  One of the most useful rules in warehousing, as well as many other commercial activities, is called the 80/20 rule. Other names for it are: "The Law of Trivial Many and Critical Few" or "Pareto's Law." The last of these definitions is used in this article.

• Justifying the cost of warehouse improvement

  Tuesday, October 13, 2015

  ​Have you ever had difficulty obtaining approval of capital investments for your warehouse? Many warehouse managers find themselves competing with people from manufacturing, marketing or other departments who are all looking for capital investments to improve their operations.

• Pricing for profit in warehousing

  Wednesday, October 07, 2015

  Many logistics firms experience both cost pressures and price pressure. Most logistics executives believe the primary function of logistics activity is reduction of costs. Given this environment, logistics service companies are naturally cautious about price increases.

• Does your warehouse cut costs or add value?

  Tuesday, September 01, 2015

  ​As a warehouse manager, is it your job to cut costs or to add value? You might answer that you do both, but which of the two do you do the best? Furthermore, which of the two is more important to your boss, to the client or to the consignees who are your client's customers?

• Driver shortage: What warehouse managers should do

  Tuesday, August 11, 2015

  ​For more than two years now, we have seen a growing discussion about the driver shortage problem, but relatively little about solutions. Most of the issues are motor carrier issues, and unless your company is involved in both trucking and warehousing, there is little you can do about these.

• Unions pose a continuing threat to warehouses

  Tuesday, July 28, 2015

  The inauguration of Barack Obama in 2009 gave the U.S. its most union-friendly president since Harry Truman left the White House nearly 60 years ago. This has led to a boost in union activity throughout the country.

• In turbulent times, Drucker’s advice still rings true

  Tuesday, July 14, 2015

  Peter Drucker, a world renowned pioneer in management theory, died in 2005 at the age of 95. Yet his book, "Managing in Turbulent Times," reads as though it were written yesterday. Drucker was one of the first management gurus to recognize the importance of logistics. He understood why warehousing must be a lagging factor in a recession. When sales suddenly drop, inventories build, warehouses are filled, and warehousing companies prosper.

• Marketing your warehouse magic

  Tuesday, July 07, 2015

  Some managers believe warehousing is a task that can be handled adequately by anyone with a strong back. Therefore, the business of warehousing service is in constant danger of becoming a commodity. Commodities normally are sold by price, with few vendors recognizing special features about the product they are selling.

• Freight brokerage: What the warehouse manager needs to know

  Tuesday, June 16, 2015

  ​A freight broker is a company or individual who serves as a liaison between a buyer of transportation and one or more carriers. The popular vision of this occupation was vividly described by Cliff Lynch: "All too often, the term freight broker conjures up visions of Joe Bob parked in a booth at the Flying Z truck stop with his cellphone, a pad and pencil, and a generous portion of chicken-fried steak." Joe Bob is sitting beside the "posting board" located in every truck stop looking for loads.

• Finding metrics that mean something in the warehouse

  Tuesday, June 02, 2015

  "You cannot manage what you cannot measure," yet the majority of warehouses we inspect have either no metrics at all or have measurements no one really uses. The second situation is even worse than the first, because it signifies a failed attempt by management to create a meaningful measurement system.

• Don’t forget the service aspect of warehousing

  Tuesday, May 19, 2015

  Because warehousing is essentially a service business, the nurturing of relationships is at the heart of success in this industry. We will explore examples of both the good and the bad, and each will remain anonymous. How many examples can you find of service companies that have forgotten the meaning of service?

• A warehouse manual on manual handling

  Tuesday, May 05, 2015

  ​For thousands of years, humans have handled cargo manually. Visitors who see ancient structures in places like Egypt and Peru are mystified by our ancestors' apparent ability to lift and move heavy materials with no mechanical aids. In our current era of robotics and other high-tech solutions, it is easy to overlook the necessity and the importance of manual handling. Let's consider the when and the why of manual handling. Then we will look at how it is done, and finally we will look at some of the equipment options.

• Mastering the basics of leading warehouse people

  Tuesday, April 14, 2015

  ​In the warehouse, it is not uncommon for an outstanding forklift operator to be promoted into management. Yet the promotion decision is frequently made because of an outstanding work effort, not because that person has any training or experience in managing the activities of other people.

• Making your warehouse more effective

  Tuesday, March 31, 2015

  ​So much has been written on the subject of warehouse productivity improvement that one is tempted to believe nothing else needs to be said. Yet in our constantly-changing environment, we must look at new ideas from the present decade, as well as recycled ideas from the past. Certain things about warehousing do not change, at least not rapidly.

• Ethics in logistics come down to a matter of trust

  Tuesday, March 24, 2015

  ​Whether business ethics are improving or declining is a question that is highly debatable. Whether conduct is getting better or worse, warehousing is an activity in which ethics are particularly critical.

• The critical importance of sequence in warehouses

  Tuesday, March 03, 2015

  ​One aspect of warehousing that is readily overlooked is the order in which tasks are performed. In many warehouses, the sequence is dictated by tradition, or the attitude that "we have always done it that way." In most cases, the sequence is fine and should not be changed. In many others, however, a change in the order in which things are done can have a material effect on warehouse operations.

• Better ideas for warehouse construction

  Tuesday, February 17, 2015

  A quiet revolution has been growing in the construction of warehouse buildings. While the price of other products and services has steadily escalated, the cost of warehouse construction has remained relatively stable. As you look at new construction, consider where the priorities for controlling quality should be placed.

• Basics of benchmarking for warehouse operations

  Tuesday, February 10, 2015

  Just what is benchmarking? When, why and how might it be used? When should it be not even considered? And what are the alternatives to benchmarking? We would define benchmarking in warehousing as an examination of best practices in other warehouses, ideas that can and should be applied in your own operation. After considering what benchmarking is, we must also consider what it is not.

• How to wreck a warehousing business

  Tuesday, February 03, 2015

  ​Compared to most businesses, the distribution industry is reasonably stable. New enterprises frequently are launched, and older companies constantly disappear. However, in most cases, the cause of disappearance is a corporate buyout, rather than a catastrophic failure.

• Employing a staffing service at your warehouse

  Tuesday, January 27, 2015

  ​Using staffing-service employees is one way to hedge the risk that warehouse employers will be sanctioned for noncompliance with government regulations regarding employment. For this reason, the use of staffing services in warehousing will experience steady growth in the coming decade.

• Building and keeping a great warehouse team

  Wednesday, January 07, 2015

  ​Nearly every appraiser of warehousing quality agrees that the most critical element in a successful operation is the people. While quality in management and supervision is critical, the quality of every hourly worker is important.

• When is a warehouse obsolete?

  Tuesday, December 09, 2014

  ​When does a building have no current value as a storage or distribution facility? Let's look at an example of how the value of a warehouse building can be almost completely destroyed. Then we will consider some examples of ageless buildings.

• Do warehouses still need 8-hour work shifts?

  Tuesday, November 18, 2014

  Not long ago, the typical warehouse operated eight hours per day and five days per week. That was a normal business schedule, and nobody expected warehousing to be any different. Today, many distribution operations operate with a 24/7 schedule, and warehouses that work only 40 hours are increasingly rare.

• Self-directed work teams in the warehouse

  Tuesday, November 11, 2014

  Groups of people working together in a warehouse have typically been called a crew, a shift or a workforce. More recently, we have called them teams. What is the difference between a team and an ordinary warehouse crew?

• Designing tomorrow’s distribution centers today

  Tuesday, October 28, 2014

  At a time when the warehousing industry is relatively prosperous, it is natural for operators to be working on acquisition of new facilities and/or expansion of old ones. Your expansion could either be a construction project or the adaptation of an existing building to meet both today's and tomorrow's needs.

• Management by asking good questions

  Tuesday, September 30, 2014

  The concept of "management by wandering around," or MBWA, was created by David Packard of Hewlett-Packard. He believed that the best managers do not spend the majority of their time behind their desks; rather, they move around the factories and warehouses, talking to those working there, learning about their problems and ideas.

• The critical importance of warehouse floors

  Tuesday, September 16, 2014

  ​The single most important element of warehouse construction is the quality of the floor. As stacking heights have increased, floor quality has become even more critical. Imperfections in floors are magnified when product is stored up to 30 feet high.

• Pitfalls in logistics partnerships

  Tuesday, September 02, 2014

  ​Four decades have passed since a logistics magazine published an article about how the relationship between the public warehouse operator and the customer should be one of partnership. In the next issue of the magazine, a letter to the editor contained an angry response for the author, a logistics service provider.

• Make quality an important part of your warehouse

  Tuesday, August 19, 2014

  ​The process of recognizing quality has been applied for many decades. Quality is the result of eliminating defects. It is important to avoid confusing quantity with quality. Warehousing people, by the nature of their jobs, deal in quantity-based activity.

• Managing the inventory in your warehouse

  Tuesday, August 05, 2014

  ​There is a difference between inventory management and inventory control. Every warehouse manager is responsible for control, which means that the physical inventory matches the book, and the status reports are always accurate. Inventory management the process of deciding how much of each SKU should be placed in the warehouse.

• Why warehouse operators need a strategy

  Tuesday, July 22, 2014

  Your people — especially your senior management team — will be motivated if they understand where the company is going. While opportunism can be a strategy, Lewis Carroll's warning in "Alice in Wonderland" should be considered as a good argument for strategic planning: "If you don't know where you are going, then any road will take you there."

• Developing dashboards: The right data for warehouse managers

  Tuesday, July 08, 2014

  Like the dashboard on your car, your business system should be designed to provide the essential information that warehouse managers must have in order to know exactly how their operation is performing. But many systems are "data rich, information poor," also known as DRIP.

• Improve your warehouse by using what you already have

  Tuesday, June 24, 2014

  The process of warehousing is essentially a management of space and time. ​Before we spend excessive time and money committing to high-tech applications, why don't we find ways to better use the things that we have right now?

• Warehousing and transportation: Creating a perfect marriage

  Tuesday, June 10, 2014

  The value of a foot of space in a trailer, boxcar or plane is always higher than the value of a foot of warehouse space. Therefore, carriers must try to load a maximum amount of cargo into the vehicle. In general, the longer the trip, the greater the incentive to maximize cubic space use in the transport vehicle.

• Maintaining a productive relationship in the supply chain

  Tuesday, May 27, 2014

  Two of the dirtiest words in supply chain management are commoditization and disintermediation. In fact, they really refer to the same thing — the ability of the buyer of logistics services to destroy the vendor's effort to create a unique value proposition.

• Automation and innovation in the warehouse

  Monday, May 12, 2014

  Full automation of materials handling in a warehouse exists only in the imagination of the technocrat. Just as the perfectly-safe airplane is too heavy to fly, the fully-automated warehouse is too expensive to buy and usually too risky to operate.

• Don’t overlook the human element of systems implementation

  Tuesday, April 29, 2014

  Nearly all of the emphasis on implementation of warehouse management systems (WMS) and other software is directed toward functionality and technical aspects. Often overlooked — or discovered too late — is human resistance to change.

• Why you need to develop a storage strategy

  Tuesday, April 15, 2014

  ​A surprising number of warehouse operators do no storage planning at all. In the absence of any instruction, the lift truck operator at the receiving dock will make the decision about where to store the material he or she unloads. Not surprisingly, that decision is to store the material in the first available empty spot.

• Why you should view warehousing as real estate

  Wednesday, March 26, 2014

  ​It is not surprising that real estate and warehousing go together like ham and eggs. Yet, despite its intimate relationship to warehousing, real estate is frequently misunderstood. Of the tools used in warehousing, often the most expensive and least flexible one is the building that houses the operation.