Online and mobile commerce have transformed
the way we purchase products, as well as how products flow through the supply
chain to the end user.
With the rapid evolution of supply chain
technology, the retail sector is in the midst of ridiculous amounts of change. Are you managing to keep pace with your
competitors?
Whilst most agree it’s an exciting time to
be working in the sector, survival hinges upon innovation and efficiency.
With consumer’s expectations growing at the
rate of knots, retailers now need to find ways to deliver ‘top notch’ consumer
centric services in the most cost effective way.
After consultation with some industry
experts from our online retail supply chain event series,
I’ve put together just a few ‘need to know’ tips for retailers operating in the
omni-channel space.
1. Invest in a supply chain
overhaul for multi-channel
·
Use benchmarking and pilot
programmes to identify the right supply chain model for your organsiation
·
Build an overall business case
for investment
2. Optimise your warehouse
layout today!
Determining the best layout,
racking, picking and packing approaches for your distribution sites will offer
enormous gains in the long term. It will enable you to identify opportunities
to reduce warehouse costs without compromising on delivery on time.
As yourself the following:
ü How long are items sitting in the DC?
ü How big, how heavy are they? How much variety is there?
ü What's the life cycle? FIFO, FEFO requirements?
3. Use effective processing
methods to prevent bottle necks
So how do you know when
your process will bottle neck before it does?
ü Stress test it! turn your
warehouse staff into distribution analysts and get on the floor
Want to know how to minimise
your bottlenecks when they do occur??
ü Look at what can be done upstream. Often steps can be added upstream
to reduce workload on the bottleneck.
ü Determine whether the bottleneck process can be broken down further.
4. Use the best picking
method for your purposes!
Its critical that you
determine the most effective picking method for your company. Here is a basic
run down of your options:
A) Pick by Order
ü This is a low cost setup option.
ü It’s compatible with the most and least sophisticated WMS and highly
flexible.
ü It also works with all picking techniques, paper, RF, Voice, etc.
X
It has a low pick efficiency.
X
It is scalable, but labor adds up quick.
B) Bulk picking/Pick then Put
X Higher initial investment, compatible with
most WMS’s although require some pick logic.
ü Good efficiency for multi-line orders and high velocity items.
C) Automation/Tray sorters
ü High level of efficiency with low labor costs.
X High initial cost, requires sophisticated
WMS and pick logic.
Are you doing all you can to optimise your retail
supply chain? I’d love to hear your hot
supply chain management tips or challenges so please share!
From a young age Luana wanted to become a
teacher. She would line up her teddies in a row and teach them for hours on
end. However, she eventually grew tired of their nonchalance and has ended up leading
a team of producers instead- which she finds far more fulfilling and
stimulating!
Luana comes from an experienced production
and management background. She has produced and topic generated events across
Asia and Australia.
Luana enjoys learning about emerging trends
and drivers for change and loves the notion of the 'butterfly effect'- that
change can start small but grow immeasurably through a ripple effect.
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