FoodLogistics.com |

Ackerman

Underwood

ADDING VALUE: Many 3PLs perform value-added services, including relabeling, repalletizing and repacking.

LOOK WHO’S TALKING:Voice solutions are perfect for cold storage warehouses.

As the supply chain continues to evolve, so does the role and operation of the warehouse. Executives today are grappling with several challenges in warehousing as they go about their business of satisfying customer demands while remaining competitive. They range from shorter lead times and more demand for value-added services to labor management and keeping up with advances in technology and automation.

"But we're making progress," says Ken Ackerman, a consultant based in Columbus, OH. "The warehousing industry is healthier and stronger than it was five years ago. I don't see anything sliding backwards."

To determine the state of warehousing today, Food Logistics has put together a panel of experts. They include:

• Bob Spieth, president, contract logistics, Ozburn-Hessey Logistics (OH Logistics); Brentwood, TN;
• Dan Sanker, president and CEO, CaseStack Inc., Santa Monica, CA;
• Thompson Brockmann, director, Tompkins Associates, Raleigh, NC;
• Ken Ackerman, president, K.B. Ackerman Co.;
• Rick Underwood, vice president of contract logistics services in the Americas for APL Logistics, Oakland, CA.

What are the key challenges that companies and executives are facing today and how are they dealing with them?

Shorter Lead Times

Sanker: The industry is constantly trying to find ways to reduce lead time. Although many suppliers and service providers are concerned, moving to shorter lead times can be positive, even for logistics providers. The faster we all move product through the system, the better we utilize assets. That means less cost-not more.

The reason so many people grumble about shorter lead times is that they aren't prepared for the changes that are required.

CaseStack's systems are newer and they are designed to manage the issue. Every load goes through a transportation optimizer to find the ideal carrier (least expensive, highest service transportation method that will get the product there on-time).

In addition, we have consolidation programs where we collaborate with retailers to ship using full truckloads instead of less-than-truckload. Truckloads go point-to-point, not through LTL break-bulks, shaving days (and cost) out of the system. The same systems are linked into the warehouses, so they can respond immediately to orders which are fed electronically from stage-to-stage, sometimes even cross-docked for immediate delivery.