For nearly a century, the humble pallet has been the lifeblood of the supply chain. With the rise of the pallet, patented in 1939 by George Ramond, Sr. and Bill House, came the concept of the unit load, the ubiquity of lift trucks, warehouses lined with pallet racking, and many other familiar features of today’s supply chain industries. But what… Continue Reading
Food safety depends on maintaining the cold chain at every step, from producer to processor to foodservice operation to, eventually, the diner’s plate. In the United States, a handful of federal agencies regulate all the industries involved in taking food from farm to fork. These include the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and even… Continue Reading
The holiday peak season for distribution centers encompasses both shipping and receiving, making this area a potential efficiency bottleneck. Every DC manager needs a plan for scaling up outbound orders while simultaneously processing returns. The good news is that the elements of this plan don’t need to be expensive or difficult. We’ve already looked at a few strategies for preparing… Continue Reading
Every retailer has a peak season, and distribution centers are no different. Certainly, the peak can differ between one outlet and another — an office-supply store may experience peak season during the final days of the summer, when parents stock up for back-to-school season, while most general ecommerce DCs brace for the winter holidays. Whenever peak-to-average order ratios soar, it’s… Continue Reading
