Driving operational excellence in the warehouse (Best Practice Guide)

It’s easy for organizations to take their warehouse operations for granted, often overlooking the functional importance of warehouses and their direct impact on customer satisfaction and loyalty. In fact, many organizations view warehouse operations simply as cost centers because of the labor requirements, equipment management, and physical presence of working capital.

Warehouse operations are often siloed from other supply chain functions—such as demand planning, sales and operations planning (S&OP), and procurement—due to the physical distance that usually separates warehouses from front offices, and the fact that warehouse operations typically lag several weeks or even months in response to planning cycles. Rapidly changing business models—through e-commerce, omni-channel, curbside pickup, 3D printing, and more— are placing greater pressure on today’s warehouses and distribution centers to operate more flexibly and efficiently.

To meet these new challenges and respond effectively, organizations need visibility across the broader supply chain and distribution network—in concert with a clear view into warehouse operations. Building better visibility can also empower the business to benefit from warehousing best practices that can increase efficiency, drive productivity, improve perfect order fulfillment, and promote operational excellence all the way through the “last mile.”

Warehouses and distribution centers face an array of challenges from inventory management to operational strategy to employee management and more. Some challenges arise from the introduction of technologies that place new pressures on organizations that aren’t yet equipped to handle them. Other pressures result from the impact of reactions and forced adjustments to 2020’s global pandemic.

Yet, with every challenge also comes opportunity.