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Using a performance scorecard to measure your warehouse
Ken Ackerman Distribution & WarehousingWhen 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.
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Is your warehouse truly agile?
Ken Ackerman Distribution & WarehousingTwo 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.
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Why should you audit your warehouse?
Ken Ackerman Distribution & WarehousingWhen 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.
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Stronger US-Canada relations and their effect on trade, travel
Ryan Clark Transportation Technology & AutomotiveLast week, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with U.S. President Barack Obama to address the barriers that have arisen for tourists and businesses wishing to cross the U.S.-Canada border. During a March 10 televised news conference, the two world leaders outlined ways travel and trade could be both eased and encouraged in the near future, whether by land, rail or air.
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Risk management for the warehouse operator
Ken Ackerman Distribution & WarehousingWarehousing always has been a risky business. In our present-day global economy, the risks are more diverse and more plentiful than ever before.
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Chance vs. execution in business decisions
Ken Ackerman Distribution & WarehousingMuch 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.
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Medical plastics packaging trends keep expanding
Don Rosato EngineeringIn terms of the future, experts say medical packaging will be dramatically different by the end of the next decade. Medical device and pharmaceutical packaging will become easier to use, less costly to produce and provide much better protection in the future.
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Accident prevention: What’s it going to take?
Michael S. Haro, Ph.D. Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementThe news media are consumed with critical incidents in the workplace. Before these incidents are thoroughly investigated and reported on, media outlets jump in, aiding and abetting emotional aspects that incite and seemly encourage an outpouring of negative behaviors.
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Barcodes, QR codes or RFID tags? How companies select products
Dr. William Oliver Hedgepeth Distribution & WarehousingWhat happens with product information when a customer returns a product to the retail store or sends it into the reverse logistics supply chain of the online or face-to-face retail seller? A manufacturer of a product — such as a laptop computer or a new coffee maker — may have conducted their engineering analysis and later value analysis to make sure the laptop has been produced with the least expensive but reliable parts. But what about that information needed by the consumer on the product's use and safety?
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Who is to blame for the hoverboard fires?
Dr. William Oliver Hedgepeth ManufacturingHow do we prepare our college students or even high school students for the real world? Our texts are full of theories of how a perfect process should work, such as in the making of a laptop computer or bridge. Take, for example, the hot Christmas present of 2015: the hoverboard. We've since learned the hoverboard's lithium battery has a tendency to burst into flame, burning people and property. Who is to blame for this product mistake?
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