mardi 4 septembre 2018

Cross-docking Might Just Be What Your Halloween Makeup Store Needs To Thrive

By Daniel Wood


Over the years, consumers have learnt to demand better shopping experiences from the businesses they frequent. This is particularly true when it comes to order fulfillment -- the ability to handle this speedily and accurately is key in growing your Utah Halloween makeup business. With that in mind, it's time you considered adopting cross docking as part of your supply chain strategy.

Think your business is too simple for you to start throwing around terms like 'cross-docking?' It's actually less complicated than you think. Specifically, it involves the use of inbound inventory to fulfill existing customer orders. A typical cross-dock facility is designed to allow unloading, screening, and sorting of incoming shipments under the same terminal. They're then dispatched to their relevant destinations via pre-selected means.

Much like every other concept known to man, cross-docking is far from being a universal answer for all supply chain problems. No prizes for guessing that careful planning and effort are mandatory for its successful implementation. Nevertheless, the technique has proved a handy tool for online businesses. So it's only natural that you'll want to take a look at its potential benefits:

Better Turnaround Times: This comes from the ability to link up both ends of your supply chain, thus bypassing the warehousing phase . Keep in mind, though, that this won't do away with the need for the said facility. In actual sense, what cross-docking does is reduce the amount of time inventory spends in storage. This creates room for quicker order fulfillment, more so when combined with automated processes.

Free up Room: The lower the amount of inventory needing long-term storage, the less space it will take up in the warehouse. This may very well be that opportunity you've long been seeking to free up room for expansion. It could also be a prospect to lower the square footage you rent. Ultimately, it's all up to you to decide what will best suit your business's bottom line.

Less Risk: A cross-dock facility will do away with most of the processes involved in your warehouse setup. This will in turn reduce the amount of handling your inventory experiences, thereby lowering the risk of damage and/or loss. The lean operation will also minimize instances of overstocking as well.

Cost-effective: Cross-docking allows products destined for a similar location to be shipped as a full load. It thus becomes viable to exploit the available capacity to the maximum, thereby paving way for economies of scale. This eventually leads to a greener supply chain in the long-term.

Added Worth For Your Customers: No prizes for guessing that your customers will appreciate the expedited order fulfillment. But how about using a fraction of the cost savings to offset the shipping expense on their part? Seldom will you ever get a better opportunity to enrich your customers' shopping experience.

The biggest concern for any product-dependent business is to match existing demand with supply capacity. Additionally, this is an era where cost-efficiency can be the difference between your success and failure. Cross docking could very well be your ticket out of this catch-22 situation. Of course, proper planning will be key during its implementation.




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