Is your warehouse productivity flatlining?

Manufacturers and distributors face increasing pressures to maximize efficiency in their warehouses. But how they do so varies greatly. Finding the right balance of processes, technology, labor productivity, equipment and training is an art form. Warehouse managers must integrate these components into a comprehensive strategy, something that is easier said than done. Warehouses vary greatly in their sophistication, size and layout so finding the right warehouse management system (WMS) is challenging. Further complicating the issue is trying to integrate your labor management system and labor standards into your overall WMS.

We hosted an event yesterday with itelligence, an SAP Gold Partner, and invited several of our mutual clients L'Oreal, Molson Coors and Ultima Foods to speak about how the combinations of SAP's warehouse and task management platform integrated with West Monroe's FLEXdls discrete labor management system, has helped them boost productivity, standardize labor practices and improve reporting. With the right strategy in place, our clients have realized productivity improvements ranging from 10 to 25% in their warehouses and more importantly, are able to sustain these improvements over the long-term.

Investing in technology, coupled with Engineered Standards, does help companies of all sizes boost their performance and gain a competitive edge. As a company grows and customer demands evolve, the likelihood of outgrowing outdated or home-grown warehouse management technology increase dramatically. How is your company keeping pace?