Action Steps to Successful Warehouse Management
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Share information with other warehouse logistics managers

Blogs and online newsletters are replacing print magazines in droves and they can be a very efficient means of communication. Find an Internet blog or website that provides trust-worthy information and attracts reliable posting participants.

I recommend: Read the articles and participate in blogs and other information resources at Logistics Management. Supply Chain Digest is another good source for information about warehouse logistics.

Read up on changes in wholesale distribution and warehousing

Browse the news affecting your industry, or an industry with which you'd like to business. You'll be better served by knowing about any big changes when you go onto client meetings or bid on contracts armed with the latest updates and aware of what the competition is offering.

I recommend: Find the latest news from articles and industry communications at Modern Materials Handling. Logistics and Shipping News will keep you in touch with the global changes in the industry.

Receive warehousing company email alerts

Look for information sources that will send you updates as they occur so that you will be on the alert for emerging issues that will affect your business. Assign employees to check with important sources throughout the day and report any significant news to you.

I recommend: Check with Supply Chain Brain on a regular basis to keep up with the news and trends affecting the industry worldwide. Add Logistics World to your network of sources for news and information about warehousing logistics.

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Join networking and warehousing and distribution trade associations that keep their members apprised of the news as it affects their businesses.

Guide to Warehousing for Small Business

Your distribution management starts at your warehouse

By Barbara Whitaker

1. How much space you need and how your goods need to be stored. Do you need air-conditioned space? Loading docks? Will you require shelving? How frequently will you need access to the items?
2. Will you be able to receive the items and take them to a storage area or do you want someone to receive the items for you at a warehouse?
3. Do you want to manage the inventory or have someone else do it?
4. Do you want to ship directly from the warehouse? If so, will you handle it or will someone need to do it for you?
5. Do you need to be near your warehouse or can you save money by locating it away from your central office, and more in an area conducive to your shipping and receiving needs?

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Locate the right warehouse space for your business

The Web offers numerous resources for exploring warehouse management.

I recommend: A few companies specialize in finding warehouse space nationally, including Starboard TCN Worldwide Commercial Real Estate, which lists prices online, and Leonard's Guide. InsightQuote has price comparisons. Ozburn-Hessey Logistics specializes in finding and establishing warehouse space nationally and provides third-party logistics services like order fulfillment and distribution management, and Small Business Warehousing does much the same with a focus on small businesses.

Find a specialized warehouse

Some companies offer climate-controlled warehouses or offer harder-to-find features like hazardous-materials storage.

I recommend: Check out D&S Warehousing's public/contract warehousing, which offers climate control, 24-hour security, distribution services and even hazmat warehousing. Or search for a specialized warehouse on Industrial Space or Industrial Gurus. Find contract warehousing and distribution management providers and bonded warehouses at Business.com.

Determine how to handle warehouse management

A warehouse can be integral to tracking inventory and shipping and receiving goods, and can even serve as a place to show your goods and run your business.

I recommend: Check these tips on how to refine warehouse management decisions. Some warehouse management consultants offer some free advice on the Web, including Ken Ackerman and Art Avery. Organize your warehouse management and distribution management with inventory software from one of the vendors listed at Business.com.

Understand the different types of warehouses

A warehouse can be as simple as a garage-like space at a self-storage facility or as complicated as a vast facility where the operators not only store your goods, but accept shipments, maintain and track inventory and send materials out.

I recommend: An overview of warehouse types is available on KnowThis.com. Entrepreneur.com examines warehouse options for eBay sellers.

Consider alternatives

When it comes to warehousing, it may a good idea to think outside the box.

I recommend: Small business incubators often offer office and warehouse space along with other support services at affordable rates. Find out more from the National Business Incubation Association.

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Not all warehouses are created equal. Check the company out with the Better Business Bureau.
• •  Ask for references and check them.
• •  If you belong to a trade association, talk with members about how they meet their warehousing needs. Some warehouses cater to specific types of businesses.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Use electronic warehouse management services

A solid, up to date warehouse management system is one of the most important tools needed by a warehousing company. Effective warehousing and distribution management has the warehouse management software and knows how to incorporate the updates as they occur. Warehouse software platforms can help you plan budgets, labor needs and costs and offers tracking capabilities.

I recommend: Manhattan Associates offers a complete line of warehouse management solutions for all your warehousing needs, from inventory control to labor management and transportation costs. Try a free download of the software for warehouse management at TFG 4000. Let your warehouse managers try the programs to see if they offer the kinds of tools they could incorporate into their daily operations.

Keep warehousing and distribution budgets under control

Whether you use full-time in-house warehousing and distribution management or outsource to a warehousing company, putting together the required resources for optimum performance is tantamount in the global economy. Keep up with updates in your software programs as well as your mechanical equipment to keep your logistics and warehouse operating smoothly.

I recommend: Stay stocked with the most efficient equipment for your warehouse from Inventory Management. Find all the supplies for your warehouse at A Plus Warehouse.

Stay in touch with warehouse management services

All businesses run smoother when communications are open between the entire team. Keep every manager in the loop with desktop applications and mobile technology that delivers quick response time and turnaround so that every aspect of the logistics operations remains on time and within your budget.

I recommend: Motorola has a complete line of warehouse management system tools that will keep all your warehouse staff connected to management oversight. Look for savings on warehouse management supplies by buying used materials at Always Equipment.

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Look at leasing options for major supplies for warehouse management so that you can receive updates automatically and reduce upfront business costs.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Contract warehouse

A contract warehouse is a third-party logistics (3PL) business that takes care of the shipping, storage and receiving of products for other businesses via written contracts, usually for a specific period of time. Fees are based on different factors, but can include storage based, fixed and cost plus.

I recommend: Find a contract warehouse in your vicinity by clicking on any of the states to locate the nearest contract warehouse members of Team Logistics Corporation. Nexus has detailed information on contract warehousing.

Bonded warehouse

A bonded warehouse is a building or portion of a building reserved for the storage of imported goods prior to payment of customs duties and taxes. Often taken advantage of to delay payment of import fees until products leave the bonded facility, bonded warehouses are particularly beneficial for products that reside in the warehouse for a lengthy period of time before sale or for products that might eventually be returned or scrapped.

I recommend: Read more about the benefits of a bonded warehouse at the Samuel Shapiro & Company website.

ABC stratification

ABC stratification refers to a method used for categorizing inventory based on certain characteristics. Managers use ABC stratifications to set count frequencies for cycle counting and to develop inventory planning cycles, as well for other inventory management tasks. Examples of ABC stratifications include ABC by the number of times sold, quantity sold, sales figures, average of inventory investment and margin.

I recommend: View an example of ABC stratification in practice at the D.R. Rice Company website.

Carrying cost

Carrying cost is the price of keeping inventory on hand in a warehouse, and it's comprised primarily of storage costs and inventory investment costs. Carrying costs are also known as holding costs.

I recommend: Learn more about the factors affecting carrying costs at Activant, a technology provider for the wholesale distribution industry.

Carton clamp

A carton clamp is a lift truck attachment that incorporates a flat clamping surface.

I recommend: View a picture of a carton clamp in action, and click on the link to watch a video clip of a carton clamp at Cascade Corporation, a supplier of lift truck attachments and other products.

Flue space

Flue space is the physical area between rows of back-to-back racking (longitudinal flue space) and the area on either side of pallets in storage racks (transverse flue space). Flue spaces permit overhead sprinkler systems to put out fires at the lower rack levels.

I recommend: Read the second page of the online magazine Fire Protection Engineering article on storage, which discusses flue space with regard to solid shelving requirements for racking.