3 Ways to Improve Warehouse Operations
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When it comes to warehouse management, we all want to improve the flow of our daily operations. We want things to move faster and be more efficient. And of course, we need our numbers to be more accurate than ever before.
To do that successfully, having the right technology in place is certainly a major piece.
Here are three ways that a Warehouse Management software solution could you reach your goals:
Automatic Reorder Point Notifications
When it comes to the Marketing Supply Chain, a warehouse should ensure that they have enough inventory on the shelves at the right time for the right products.
To keep that process running smoothly, the customer should be notified immediately when inventory is running low. Also, the timing of the notification must not come when stock is at zero; rather, it should be a calculated process that gives them time to make a decision on a reorder quantity.
Warehouse management software can help to automate that for you!
It can:
- Automatically calculate how much stock is needed to maintain supply for a period of months
- Instantly generate email notifications and reminders to the customer and warehouse management
- Provide real-time reporting and updates to prevent unnecessary backorders
Better Fulfillment with Automated Picking
A warehouse management system should automate the inventory picking process. Rather than relying on the pickers to select products from locations that they determine to be the best fit, a Warehouse Management system should properly determine and present the ideal locations that should be picked from.
A manual location-picking process can be inefficient, risky, and a time-waster.
Real-Time Inventory Counts in the Order Management System
For a marketing supply chain to flow perfectly, there must be a mechanism to share data easily throughout each step of the process.
This certainly should include presenting real-time inventory numbers to the Sales Reps or other users that placing the initial orders.
By integrating those two pieces, or utilizing technology such as Web Services or other data feeds to share the inventory count, a warehouse can prevent frustration and confusion for all parties involved in the process.
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These are just a few of the ways that a Warehouse Management System can help your business to grow!
If you’d like to learn more, or perhaps see how interlinkONE’s software can provide those solutions to you, please let me know!
A Creative Way to Say Happy Birthday
I just wanted to take a quick moment to share some inspiration from the folks at Creative Labels of Vermont (CLOV).
I’ve had the chance to work with them (along with the rest of the Grow Socially staff!) as they’ve gone through a rebranding effort that centered around their website.
Well, the folks at CLOV did something this week that absolutely impressed me. They found a very creative way to incorporate social media in order to say “Happy Birthday” to Dwane Wall, the President at CLOV. Here is the video that they produced and posted:
John Foley, Jr. Speaking on Direct Marketing Day
On March 15th 2012, our CEO John Foley, Jr. will be speaking during the Direct Marketing Day @ Your Desk virtual conference.
This event, which does not require any travel and comes with free registration, promises attendees “up-to-date, essential info about the hottest direct marketing topics”. And as I’m sure you would agree, mobile is certainly one of the hottest topics in the worlds of marketing today!
Click here for more details on the Direct Marketing Day @ Your Desk Conference >>
Details of the Presentation from John Foley, Jr.
Here are a few details regarding the presentation that John will be delivering:
Date: 3/15/2012
Time: 1:50 to 2:30 PM
Title: QR Codes vs. 2D Codes vs. NFC — How They Work, Why They Don’t and the Suitable Markets for Each
Description: QR Codes and other technologies that link real-world print marketing to the mobile web have been the hottest idea in marketing since DMA 2010, and it went from bake to broil when the U.S. Postal Service ran it’s “Summer Sale” on them last year. Now the USPS is planning to run another summer sale on 2d codes in 2012, but many marketers still have only limited understanding of the technology and viable options for implementing it.
Come to this grounded session to hear the realities of 2D code and NFC usage, including:
- What’s the difference between a QR Code, Microsoft Tag, SnapTag and NFC (which stands for Near Field Communications, and may be the next big thing on the horizon)?
- Which technologies are actually being used, and which are just hype?
- How are they being implemented?
- Who’s having success with them?
- What are customers actually responding to and what are they saying about it?
- What’s the future hold for mobile marketing?
Register for this event today!
Pros and Cons of Cloud Computing
When it comes to cloud computing, there are certainly a growing number of stories of how utilizing that technology can help a company to grow its business. However, there are also stories that arise that cause some to express concerns over cloud computing’s future.
The video below from Bloomberg does a great job of visually explaining both sides of the story. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did!
Cloud Computing from Manta Media Inc on Vimeo.
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Tags ASP, cloud computing, database, hosting, SAAS, servers, storage, Technology, Video The Importance of Warehouse Management Software
On a daily basis, I have the opportunity to engage with companies of all different shapes and sizes that provide inventory and fulfillment services.
Some of them are fulfilling thousands of orders a day for their company’s sales force; others are providing fulfillment services for their customers. Many of them are packaging and shipping marketing and sales collateral — binders, brochures, books, trade show displays, etc. — while others are fulfilling product orders that were placed by consumers.
But no matter what their situation might be, they nearly all face the same challenges.
Common Challenges in Warehouse Management
Companies that provide the service of managing inventory, a warehouse, and the fulfillment process often face the following questions:
- How accurate are their inventory counts?
- How can they monitor and improve their turnaround times?
- How can they automate their daily tasks?
A company’s ability to answer and accomplish those items is often directly related to the warehouse management software that they choose to use.
Succeeding with Warehouse Management Software
Many companies understand the importance of managing their warehouse inventory correctly, but too often they settle for simplistic programs such as Excel, Access, or Word documents to track their inventory flow.
While there are benefits to using these programs for specific tasks, they fail to add efficiency, consistency, and quality control to the process. This where the importance of using proven warehouse management software comes to light.
Not only can focused, inventory management software make organizing and tracking shipments and product output easier on your employees, but it can also help you generate valuable reports and analytics for your company and for your customers.
Also, by using an online software application, you can often get very close to a real-time inventory count situation, which should absolutely help to reduce unnecessary frustration in regards to backorders.
There are many other benefits that can come from fully utilizing an online, warehouse management software application.
If you are interested in how interlinkONE could help you out in that regard, register for a free demo of our solutions! Or, please click here to read more about our software.
