1 – Control your freight.
There are many things written about this cost area, and you should keep up with the latest solutions in order to maintain your profit positioning. You may need a consultant in this area, because everything in a carrier agreement is up for negotiation.
2 – Pay for performance.
Pick and pack makes up half of your warehouse labor, so make this your number one priority in labor productivity. Make sure that you are not overpaying for productivity that you should already have packed in.
3 – Simplify, simplify, simplify.
Reducing your workflows and processes is more important than adding new ones over time. You must always take a look at how to streamline and reduce touches, not just replace and overlay.
4 – Communicate metrics to your employees.
Even the best companies fall short when their KPIs are not known across the employee ranks. Keep up with your returns and errors so that you know what to fix.
5 – Keep your frontline strong.
Your frontline management must know how to execute things that come from your metrics. Execution affects your costs on a day to day basis.
6 – Improve your inbound supply chain.
This includes the development of vendor compliance, managing the dock and better scheduling for inbound POs.
7 – Use of voice technology.
Voice technology has the ability to give you better productivity and inventory control. You get higher ROI without paying for much new training.
8 – 3PF
Third party fulfillment is usually done better when it is outsourced to a dedicated professional.
9 – SaaS
Another impactful aspect of infrastructure to outsource is your software. If you invest in a subscription SaaS model, you get automatic continuous improvement on site.
10 – Strive for continuous improvement.
Your software can be continually improved, and this attitude must translate into your onsite activities as well. Set accountability and review progress on a routine basis.
