The Material Handling Blog

We’ve all heard some variation of the saying “Never Let a Crisis Go to Waste” but how good are we at recognizing the crisis and the best way to capitalize on it? As we enter this new year, we must acknowledge 2020 was unlike any other year in many ways, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted everything in our lives: personal, political, and professional. The world learned to work from home, educate from home, and to the point of this article – shop from home. What can be learned from this “Great Accelerator” event to ensure distribution centers are ready to adapt in the future and improve throughput efficiencies? Here are three lessons from this past year, and a few recommendations for each to ensure the 2020 distribution center (DC) “crisis” doesn’t go to waste:

Learn how we helped Best Buy overhaul its omnichannel operations and supply chain network to stay competitive against Amazon.

After consolidating all the inventory and functions of its Florida facilities into a single location, Southern Glazer’s Lakeland, Florida facility is now the largest liquor spirits and wine distribution hub on the planet.

More and more people, especially young adults, are moving into cities. To reach this increasingly important market segment, retailers need to find a profitable and efficient way to do urban fulfillment.

An overview of the economic and technological trends that are increasing demand (and ROI) for distribution center automation. Read: Trends Driving the Case for Distribution Center Automation

I just had a discussion with a colleague in our consulting group about a client who wanted him to design a picking area. The problem was the client didn’t have any product size information. To this client, the size of a case was “case size,” and an individual item was smaller than “case size.” Regrettably, many distribution operations have little information about the size of the product they are distributing, but know size information has many advantages... Continue Reading >>