Warehouse Specialists - Too many cooks? - Who really controls the warehouse?

Organisational structures vary considerably between different businesses, but how often do people feel that they don’t really have full control of their area of responsibility and are required to respond to demands created by others, over whom they can exert little influence?

Successful businesses are a team effort.  They have to be, since the whole enterprise can be viewed as a complex chain of interconnecting processes.  Inevitably, perhaps, there are frequently some team members whose focus on their own role means that they can sometimes neglect the impact on the adjacent links in the chain.  Many logistics professionals will have personal experience of how this has affected their operations over the years.

The logistics function provides an absolutely crucial service to the business, but it often has to try to serve many masters.  So just who exactly is it that determines what warehouse does and how it operates?

Buying: “That new range of (you name it) will give me just the margin boost I need to meet my targets.  I must warn the warehouse that the new product characteristics mean they’ll have to reconfigure some storage/introduce different  handling processes/pack it differently”

Merchandising: “My period-end stock level targets mean that I’ll have to delay deliveries until the start of the next period.  The warehouse will have an easy intake for the last couple of weeks, but will see increased volumes at the start of the next period.  I’ll warn them to adjust their staffing levels”.

Imports: “That new supplier is too far away from our consolidation centre.  I’ll have to call off full container loads to get a decent freight cost, and maybe I’ll bring it in early to make sure we don’t hit import quota restrictions.  I hope the warehouse has room to store it for a while”.

Retail operations: “These poor sales mean that I have to trim back my receiving staff, which means these deliveries are too large for the new staffing level.  I’ll ask the warehouse to pick smaller quantities more frequently, so that we can cope”.

Marketing: “Trading is difficult at the moment, so we need to increase our promotions dramatically.  If we reduce the price but sell xx% more, the profit will be protected.  I’ll tell the warehouse to expect a surge in volumes”.

Finance: “The capital budget for next year is much too high, but we can delay that warehouse expansion by 12 months and postpone the truck replacement programme.  Maybe they’ll have to set up outsourced storage facilities and risk some higher down-time and maintenance costs on the trucks”.

HR: “I know the warehouse has to offer competitive rates in their area to attract good staff, but it means we would have to rethink remuneration packages throughout the business.  Maybe we could introduce new contracts, or avoid unsocial hours, or use temps to make up the numbers”.

Everyone has valid reasons for influencing the warehouse operation, but how much influence does the warehouse management have?

THE LOGISTICS BUSINESS, are a leading specialist supply chain and logistics consultancy, has experience in planning and developing supply chain, distribution and warehousing operations throughout the world. From supply chain and distribution strategy, to development of distribution operations, warehouse design and layout, as well as manufacturing logistics and IT systems design, its clients include many blue chip companies.  We also work on government initiatives on sustainable transport and waste minimisation.

For further information please call:Helen Morris, THE LOGISTICS BUSINESS on +44(0)1527 889 060, email helen.morris@logistics.co.uk