The Material Handling Blog

The internet, since its adoption in the 1990s, is an amazing place that consistently opens new doors and creates new opportunities. Business models continue to adapt to our new connected reality. Increasingly, consumers are working their way up the supply chain. Retailers first felt this push as customers are happy to cut brick and mortar stores out of their daily routine and make purchases directly from the warehouse through digital storefronts. This has led to the development and dominance of omnichannel distribution models, delivering a variety of goods and brands under one company. They are required to compete with online-only retailers like Amazon. This was a dramatic shift for the distribution center.

More companies are starting to prioritize automation while those that had already put a lot of focus on automation are not looking to slow down. In fact, there is greater emphasis on it. Companies are realizing the competitive advantages that automation provides and are starting to challenge why adding a goods to person or ASRS system may or may not work in their business. The increased focus on automation, does not remove or decrease the need for strong operational management, if anything, it still requires communication and organization from leadership to succeed. Automation helps efficiency but a facility must rely on good processes and timely communication of information to manage a dynamic environment.

For years, logistics consultants, material handling engineers , and supply chain execution providers have been slicing-and-dicing warehouse statistics in a quest to enhance employee performance for the ultimate purpose of bringing profitable dollars to the bottom line. While having tangible statistics and historical records of warehouse operation is important, I suggest that these benchmarks alone will not drive peak employee or warehouse performance.

Various goods-to-person technologies have risen to the challenge of social distancing by creating naturally spaced workstations for employees and allowing companies to continue their business momentum. In some cases, ramping up to match shifts like we’ve seen in ecommerce. In Q3 2020, about $1 in every $5 was spent on online sales, according to U.S. Commerce Department retail data.

Although 2020 has been an unpredictable year with unprecedented commerce demands, this year worldwide ecommerce sales have already increased by 18% more than last year. That’s $3.5 trillion USD, according to Shopify. And, it’s expected to nearly double by 2023 to more than $6.5 trillion. Chances are that planning was already underway to shift processes to accommodate for the expected growth in ecommerce before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. However, the state of the world during the pandemic greatly shortened the time frame in which updates and changes needed to be made. Companies everywhere scrambled to quickly pivot based on their unique situations.

As an independent systems integrator, Bastian Solutions is constantly evaluating the latest cutting-edge technologies. Largely driven by the continued growth of ecommerce, advancements in automated order fulfillment solutions continue at an unprecedented pace. Here are five order fulfillment technologies to keep an eye on…

This supply chain evolution has created the need for hyper-local fulfillment, which also comes with its own challenges. Customers expect things like free or low-cost shipping, same or next day delivery, hassle-free returns and inventory to be always in stock, just to name a few.

Bastian Solutions’ Supply Chain Explained: LIVE webinar series continued with Robert Humphry, manager of systems sales taking a look at the complicated industry of frozen and refrigerated goods.

Our second webinar of the Supply Chain Explained: LIVE series featured advice from Bastian Solutions’ Director of Consulting, Jason Tenorio, on challenges everyone in the B2B warehousing world is facing. The country has seen a large increase in onshoring due to international transportation issues, along with shutdowns or extreme volume losses in the food service, retail and entertainment industries. In some situations, B2B warehouses are being converted to ecommerce shipping sites, and are being asked to drop-ship direct to consumer orders. We’ve also seen an increase in labor shortages and turnover rates – making it that much harder to meet demand.

The term “microfulfillment center” has quickly become one of the top buzzwords in material handling. But what is it and is investing in it the right decision for your supply chain?

Without a doubt, microfulfillment is one of the hottest trends in supply chain. The ability to get products into consumers’ hands quicker than your competitors is the ultimate leg up, so not only is it a trend, but it’s a strategy enabling today’s retailers to decentralize fulfillment, create a better customer experience and redefine the retail landscape. So, what is it?

During this global coronavirus pandemic, people are concerned with protecting themselves and their families from contracting and spreading the disease; many go to extraordinary measures to ensure everyone they care about stays healthy. For employers, this protective nature extends to the employees who are the foundation of their business too.