Rules of thumb have been enormously helpful throughout recorded history. Especially if you were a carpenter in the Middle Ages, where it is thought the term originated. In warehouse management, rules of thumb are still alive and well. They thrive because everybody “knows” that finding an optimal restocking strategy is impossible, and any theoretical optimum…
I was speaking the other day with one of my old Supply Chain mentors, a man respected throughout our community of Supply Chain professionals. When I started managing supply chains more than 25 years ago I was in awe of his knowledge and his capacity to readily simplify what seemed to me almost intractable challenges.…
If you are responsible for the efficiency of a Distribution Centre or Warehouse, then my guess is that you’re underappreciated. Your facility works smoothly, with manpower and machinery choreographed to meet the changing demands of your customers and the heartfelt requests of your suppliers with the grace and efficiency of a swan swimming upstream. At…
Those of us who have made a living from Logistics for a few years will probably admit that the principles to which we work haven’t changed much since the time the Romans had to figure out where to put their grain stores. We hold stocks of things to smooth out the ripples in our supply…
If you think your Distribution Centre is nearly at capacity, or you’re running out of pick faces, or your cost metrics seem too high against your benchmarks, then it’s time for action. Do you look to your Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) for help? If so, perhaps you’re being unfair on your software vendor (or in-house…
Here in the UK we appear to making noises about increased demand for warehouse space and the short-sighted under-investment in construction that signals an upcoming five-year boom in the building of new sheds. But it makes me wonder just how well our existing capacity is being used, because in my experience people speak about being…
Charles Frederick Mosteller (December 24, 1916 – July 23, 2006), usually known as Frederick Mosteller, was one of the most eminent statisticians of the 20th century. He was the founding chairman of Harvard’s statistics department, from 1957 to 1971. He knew a thing or two. A while ago I wrote an article entitled “You Gotta…