The best way to get ahead and get recognition or a promotion is to know your business. If you know your business better than the other guy, you capitalize on your strengths and bury your weaknesses.
Your business is made up of hundreds, thousands, millions of data points. When you look at your data you need to be able to see the overall and the minutiae. As they say, the devil (and the dollar) is in the details.
When it comes to your distribution center and supply chain, everything gets bigger: the data points, the risk and the rewards.
It is easy to see the macro side of business, to see when it is good or bad; when things are moving off the shelves, when items are collecting dust. However, most of the time we only see things when they are patently obvious because we are too busy doing the day-to-day to really dig into the data.
That’s why consultants can be valuable to your business. A pair of fresh eyes looking at your business, looking down deep to analyze your business practices and see what is going both right and wrong is of enormous value.
Consultants are valuable; the downside is that they know it. There is a huge dollar sign attached with the word “consultants”.
If only there were a better way. Lucky for you, there is.
The best material handling companies will analyze your distribution center and supply chain while giving you deep insight into your business. For free.
You can see:
Different flows. For instance, if you are a pharmacy, you have a different flow in prescription vs. OTC to the end locations. Those items go through different checks and are processed differently for accountability. How do those flows work together, how do they fit into your building as a whole? What process or equipment is most appropriate to optimize their picking?
If you are a retail operation, you may be interested in omni-channel distribution (sometimes called multi-channel distribution) to manage distribution to direct-to-customer and brick-and-mortar retail stores from the same inventory. How does a flow differ when products go to an outlet vs. directly to a consumer’s home?
Peak. Do you know when your peak periods are? Exactly? Not just the month, but the week, the day the shift the hour? Mastering that information can be your ace in the hole when it comes to internal and external competition.
When you have a peak are you using the right technology for that peak? How does it differ from the next peak or the one before?
Of course, we have mentioned the Pareto Curve here, here and here, but we also know a couple of things that we don’t mention that when we do the deep dive into your data. And all we need from you is some of your time and a sample of your data.
If you think your distribution center might benefit from another set of eyes looking at your data and seeing deep into the data, maybe you should contact abco automation. After all, we do the math.
Take the first step towards a better distribution center and receiving recognition coming up with the great new idea for your company? Contact abco automation today and let’s get started.
