Replenishment: The next big target

摘要

Once seen as merely a cost of doing business, warehousing and distribution are rich with potential competitive advantages. For a time, replenishment from reserve to forward pick faces was the new necessary evil as attention to picking productivity intensified. Now, companies are adjusting to e-commerce and a broader need to fill more precise orders on a more frequent basis. Each product movement and touch now faces tremendous scrutiny, and their impacts can inform processes within the facility as well as the wider supply chain. According to Richard Rodgers, director of solution development for Dematic, "Historical best practices were economically driven, with each level in the supply chain asking, 'What's easiest for me? What can I get away with, and what will my customer put up with?' Everyone managed to evade as much cost, labor and effort as possible."