F. Curtis Barry & Company Blog

Most companies strive for good customer service, but that doesn’t seem to be enough any more – customer expectations seem to be changing. How do we put the WOW factor back into customer service?

It is amazing how many companies don’t look at software license agreements very closely.  These are binding legal documents and without close review of payment terms, deliverables, schedules, termination options, etc. you could be putting your company at risk for losing thousands of dollars.

Labor generally makes up 60–65% of the total cost of warehouse fulfillment (not including shipping). While hourly labor rates have increased 10% to 15% in the past five years, overall DC productivity has remained flat—so the cost per unit worked has increased. High turnover (15–25% or more in many distribution centers) adds even more costs. With most businesses struggling in the current economy, it’s imperative to get more from the resources you have.  Selecting, training, and retaining good employees is one key to controlling rising costs in the warehouse.

Most of us in the fulfillment and distribution world have rarely had the luxury of designing a warehouse from the ground up. What a pleasure to work alongside architects to make sure that the physical characteristics of the facility take into account department locations and required size, column spacing, ceiling heights, lighting plan, and overall material flow.

It is more common to find ourselves in buildings which were not specifically designed for the business we have decided to locate there. They often consist of separate rooms with connecting hallways, retail and warehouse space, spread out offices, etc.

For any organization taking on the implementation of a new order management system (OMS), enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, or warehouse management system (WMS) it is always challenging and a bit stressful at times.  There are a myriad of articles on how to successfully implement a new system but one item we recommend to our clients is to have organized a strong implementation team. 

Turn5, Inc. a leader in aftermarket automotive parts is seeking a Manager of Fulfillment Operations to join our warehouse team.  Reporting directly to the President of Turn5, Inc., the Manager of Fulfillment Operations will be charged with directing all warehousing, shipping, returns, and transportation activities to ensure timely and efficient fulfillment of customer orders while achieving corporate strategic objectives.  The successful candidate will have a proven track record of process improvement, with the ability to streamline current and future company needs through the use of technology and software.

From talking to many of our clients, results are mixed. 

Effective December 31, 2012, UPS has announced that their ground rates will increase by 4.9% through a combination of a 5.9% increase in rates and a 1% reduction in the UPS Ground services fuel surcharge index.

As companies grow and expand, third party fulfillment (3PF) is an option that more of our clients are evaluating. This is a case study of how one client made its decision to implement 3PL rather than manage their own operation. It is a small apparel company with 125,000 orders with 50%+ eCommerce orders. Product offering is 24,000 active SKUs and 75,000 calls annually. They needed to replace an outdated, ineffective, non-PCI/DSS compliant order management system, and they had no space for expansion. “People were sitting on top of each other” and the company had a huge assortment of core product to offer.

F. Curtis Barry & Company is proud to present our just recently published WMS Vendor Round-Up Guide. It is the most comprehensive guide to Warehouse Management Systems that serve catalog and eCommerce fulfillment operations and distribution centers.