Scanning
- Detect contraband in conveyances passing through customs
- Strengthen customs function of protection of society from harmful and prohibited goods such as weapons which may not ordinarily be declared to customs
- Contribute towards increased revenue collection as ordinary goods can pass through customs unnoticed without any payment of tax
- Efficient utilisation of available resources in form of personnel
There are no known negative environmental effects from the use of Cargo scanners.
Quality Controls
Stopping Defective Items at the Door
Whether it’s a damaged item or an item that has been improperly packaged, your Quality Control team is responsible for stopping these items before they reach the customer. In most cases, unless the defect is very obvious, your picking team doesn’t have time to stop and inspect the items they are pulling. It’s up to your QC team to identify red flags and make sure that customers don’t receive those items. This often means re-picking a particular item to fill the order if something needs to be thrown out. In reality, only a small fraction of your orders will have defects, so your QC team should be able to work quickly and effectively without disrupting workflow on the front-end.
Improving Accuracy
Naturally, your QC team will also be looking for accuracy of orders going out. If they notice a trend of wrong items coming from a particular picker, they can address the source of the problem directly. Again, a small number of orders should have inaccuracies, but catching them now will keep your customers happy day in and day out.
Reducing Returns
As a benefit of your Quality Control systems, your warehouse will see significantly fewer returns coming in through your doors. Whether they result from defective items or accuracy errors, it is the returns that are usually most troublesome to your work flow. Processing returns can be a burden to warehouse efficiency because it requires additional resources with no additional profit. Every time you take an item back into your warehouse, you have to put it away again, while still sending money out the door to the customer, who may decide that this negative experience was enough to drive them away for good. In this area alone, it’s easy to see that the opportunity cost of not having a quality control team is far greater than the cost of having one in place.
Adding even a small quality control effort can do wonders for your warehouse efficiency as a whole. It can help reduce the number of damaged items in your warehouse and can isolate accuracy problems before they reach the customer. Implementing a quality control team often also has incredible effects on the number of returns you are seeing day to day.
Re-Packaging
Most of the time items that are shipped into the country on large sea going vessels are packed for the voyage, not for consumer consumption. The same holds true with produce shipped right off the farm –it is packaged for trucking. Those that are then going to fulfill customer orders with these products need to have a dedicated team of employees who specialize in unpacking these items and then building packing schemes that are the most conducive to fitting customer needs and delivery requirements. That’s where repack services come in.
If you hire, train and employ your own repack division, then you are responsible for every aspect of their performance, a weight too great for many small and medium sized business to bear without considerable expenditure. A much better option is to utilize repacking services, like the ones we offer at InOutWarehousing , so that you only pay for the service when it is used instead of worrying about taking care of permanent employees and facilities. Our team can built pallets and crates for shipping items as well as individually pack and label each order, tracking it all through our real time software that you have access to.
Cargo Sorting
Optimization of Material Flow
Where does it go? Where is it now? How do I find it? If you have ever found yourself in this kind of situation and then had to take a tour of the warehouse trying to track down something that needed to go out right away, then you are going to have dreamed of a system that makes the tracking of all your materials as easy as a touch of a button. Sorting is the solution and your best way of optimizes your material flow to maximum efficiency. No more discovering that the item you needed was moved to your sister warehouse two months previously and has now disappeared into a similar hole over there. Sorting prevents these issues before they can happen.
You will be able to see the items coming in at the start of the line, their movement through the warehouse, and their eventual place where they are set down. Sorting saves time and money, and lots of headaches
Storage & Automatic Batch Forming
With sorting in place, as things come in, they are assigned batches and then are filed accordingly, in a specific location. Everyone has probably been in a warehouse where things get stored wherever there is space, and though this may be necessary at times, if it is minimized you can significantly reduce the time it takes to pick the items. Being sorted and filed properly also means, in a digital sense, that something can be correctly identified by its dimensions, the material is made from, or basically whatever criteria you need it to be categorized by. In the event a batch cannot be stored in the assigned spot, it isn’t going to disappear in the system and become dissociated from the main batch. Sorting allows you to track and identify an item’s location under any circumstances.
Ideal Flow Right From The Start
If your warehouse is well organized, it stands to reason that your whole supply chain is going to run much more smoothly. If you start with a mess, then it is going to pass along the line and has negative effects all the way from the warehouse to the customer at the other end. Not being able to find items easily means not being able to send them on time, and means them not arriving on time. It is the kind of problem that, if not handled, can snowball pretty badly.
You constantly have materials and products coming in, and orders going out. If any part of that bottlenecks, it can’t help but have an effect on the rest of the operation. Getting the ideal flow going right from the start is going to be evident in the end product. Sorting makes a real difference.
When it comes to optimizing your warehouse and making it the most efficient place it can be, sorting is a critical component of your success. Working with a company that can assist you in developing a sorting system that works well for you can make all the difference. In Out Warehousing is a great choice, a company that has a lot of experience and the resources to take the strain off your own infrastructure and allow you to continue expanding the manufacturing aspect of your company. For more information about sorting or other American Manufacturing Solutions services, please contact us today.
Returns Management
InOutWarehousing has the dedicated team, refined best-of-breed systems, expertise and experience that allow us to guide clients to the best possible product returns processing management solution. Further, we have the facilities, resources and partners in place to ensure your returns are handled properly and your customers are satisfied with the complete purchasing experience. As a Corporation, you also can be sure that we always do right by our stakeholders, the community and the environment.
The average return rate is 30%. This is much higher than the returns rate for products bought in stores (5-10%). However, there is a big variation in online return rates. Apparel items such as clothing or shoes have higher return rates (around 40%). Some products have much lower return rates (around 15%).
It’s hard to predict return rates. However, like online sales, there is a seasonality to returns. Expect more returns after the holidays, as people send back unwanted gifts. In addition, if you sell a fitted item (such as clothing), you’ll have to factor a higher return rate into your supply chain.
Reporting
You might have noticed that the data mentioned above is essential if you are operating beyond say 20-30 orders daily. If you don’t have this data, managing orders becomes confusing, and operations turn into chaos. Moreover, how can you decide the picking strategy or handle peak demand if you don’t know about your current position? Reports help in both real-time decision making and strategic planning in the future. They also help in finding inefficiencies in the existing processes.
After going through all of these technicalities, I think you would want to know about the benefits of Warehouse Reports. I am quickly putting them down for your ready reference:
- Continuous process improvement
- Efficient workload distribution
- Healthier vendor-supplier relationships
- Better grip over inventory levels
- Higher client satisfaction
- Reduction in operating expenses and bottlenecks
- Better transparency of operations
- Firm implementation of safety norms
- Dependable business intelligence
- Development of warehouse best practices
- Formation of SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures)
Palletizing
Manual Palletization
This involves workers lifting boxes off the assembly line conveyor and stacking them onto a pallet. If the pallet is being loaded for a specific client the boxes will be removed from the pallet as required.
Semi-automated Palletization
Cartons are slid manually to form a layer and then an operator presses a button to automatically palletize that layer.
Automated Palletization
It’s hard to predict return rates. However, like online sales, there is a seasonality to returns. Expect more returns after the holidays, as people send back unwanted gifts. In addition, if you sell a fitted item (such as clothing), you’ll have to factor a higher return rate into your supply chain.
Robotic Palletization
Robots offer great flexibility alongside the capability of palletising multiple package sizes onto the same pallet.
Shaving / Topping off Pallets
During the holiday season, which are the last 6 months of the year, pallet sales are at its peak time. However, pallets are the cheapest during summer months due to the lower demands.
Companies can draw an estimate for the number of cartons by dividing the surface area of a pallet by 1.5. This is determined considering palletisation begins at the origin. However, they can only decide a final number after actual palletisation takes place.
Since plastic pallets are made of one piece, they have higher durability than wooden pallets.
More than one person should carry a pallet considering its bulky nature. However, if one person is lifting it it must be lifted with the correct posture and stance from the corner. Further, forklifts are used to carry and transport pallets from one place to another inside a warehouse.
Labelling
Magnetic
Magnetic labels are the best choice when the warehouse configurations change frequently, as they’re easy to remove and reaffix to another rack
Removable
Affixed using a tacky (though not permanent) adhesive, these labels are simple to place and remove when needed
Permanent Adhesive
Permanent adhesive labels are applied to items that require a one-time label.
While the adhesive is considered permanent, though, an excessive amount of moisture or exposure to solvents-even extreme temperatures-could dilute the effectiveness of the adhesive.
Shipping / Receiving
To track the status of a shipment, from pickup to delivery, with real-time tracking information, you can also contact us through call to our customer support
To protect customer privacy, authentication is required to view a shipment’s Proof of Delivery (POD). While basic shipment information can be viewed by anyone who enters the shipment’s Tracking Number/PIN, the POD contains private recipient information, such as the pickup and delivery address, and delivery signature.
To view the POD, the following information must be provided:
- Canadian shipments require one of the following: origin postal code, destination postal code or the bill to account number
- U.S. shipments require one of the following: origin postal code, destination zip code or the bill to account number
- International shipments require one of the following: origin postal code, destination country or the bill to account number
- Please note: Shipments using a manual bill of lading will require additional processing time before the POD is available.
Orders Pick and Pack
A pick and pack fee is the fee associated with picking a piece of inventory out from a warehouse and packing it for shipment.
Transloading
There are no material restrictions when it comes to shipping goods using transloading methods. Industries in aerospace, military, communications, construction, chemical, food, retail, and many others can utilize transloading strategies. Some of the most common types of goods shipped may involve, but are not limited to, the following:
- Construction materials: Lumber, metals, cinderblocks, bricks, sheetrock, loose gravel, and natural stones
- Warehouse merchandise:Palletized freight, shipping containers, boxes, general merchandise, small appliances, and equipment
- Oversized cargo: Military equipment, military vehicles, aerospace components, telecommunication equipment, transformers, heavy machinery
- Specialized freight: Hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, cryogenic materials, temperature-sensitive/climate-controlled shipments
Using a transloading warehouse to help with the movement of goods and shipments provides a range of advantages to a company. It is a unique tactic that can be implemented at any time in your logistical strategies to help ensure products reach their destinations at desired schedules.
Main benefits may include:
- Supply chain versatility:Your customers can be in diverse and remote locations. Transloading in logistics offers more options on how the shipment can reach the destination safely and securely by allowing you to pick the method most suitable based on available transportation routes. You are no longer limited to one mode of transportation.
- Lower overall costs:Fuel and transportation costs can be controlled via this method. Using rail service for part of the route can significantly lower fuel costs as rail cars use four times less fuel than just using only vehicles. When switching to vehicle transportation, the trucks offer fast and efficient delivery.
- Freight consolidation: Transloading warehouses allow large amounts of freight to be consolidated onto fewer rail cars, which provide more cost-effective solutions. If your materials or goods are located at multiple manufacturing sites but must all go to the same destination, each truck can drive to the transload facility located along the rail line. The goods can then be placed into the rail car as the train moves along the route, stopping at each facility to consolidate the goods into the same freight car while traveling closer to the destination.
Short Term Storage
We can cover the indoor, vehicle, and yard storage. With our services, your items will be safe and can be easily accessible.
Yes. You can store and protect your goods simultaneously with InOutWarehousing Distribution services. Simply ask for the best insurance for your cargo, and our team will build a comprehensive insurance plan for your interests.
Cross Docking
Because products aren’t put away in the company’s prescribed fashion during cross-docking, there’s an increased risk related to loss of inventory control by using the method the long term.
To implement cost-docking effectively, warehouse and supply chain managers should put into place robust inventory control processes and train warehouse employees on those processes. Even though cross-docked items are not put away in the company’s prescribed fashion, that does not lessen the need to account for those goods while accounting for stock and reconciling supplier and customer invoices.
There are a number of Cross Docking scenarios that are available to the warehouse management. Companies will use the type of cross-docking that is applicable to the type of products that they are shipping.
- Manufacturing Cross Docking: This procedure involves the receiving of purchased and inbound products that are required by manufacturing. The warehouse may receive the products and prepare sub-assemblies for the production orders.
- Distributor Cross Docking: This process consolidates inbound products from different vendors into a mixed product pallet, which is delivered to the customer when the final item is received. For example, computer parts distributors can source their components from various vendors and combine them into one shipment for the customer.
- Transportation Cross Docking: This operation combines shipments from a number of different carriers in the less-than-truckload (LTL) and small-package industries to gain economies of scale.
- Retail Cross Docking: This process involves the receipt of products from multiple vendors and sorting them onto outbound trucks for a number of retail stores. This method was used by Wal-Mart in the 1980s. They would procure two types of products, items they sell each day of the year, called staple stock, and large quantities of products that are purchased once and not usually stocked again. This second type of procurement is called direct freight, and Wal-Mart minimizes any warehouse costs with direct freight by using cross-docking and keeping it in the warehouse for as little time as possible.
- Opportunistic Cross Docking: This can be used in any warehouse. It involves transferring a product directly from the receiving dock to the outbound shipping dock to meet a customer sales order.
Loads Correction
General load
These are goods that require individual packaging. They can be handled in 2 different ways: firstly, there are those loads that can be handled individually, and, secondly, there is the general unitised load, i.e., loads which for their handling during the logistics process are unified on supports such as boxes, pallets or containers.
In both cases, the total load is recorded in units.
Bulk load
This is the load that is not recorded in units, but rather by mass and volume criteria, since these are goods prepared for transportation directly, where the means of transport itself acts as a container, generally specialised containers.
In other words, these goods travel loose, without any packaging. For example, normally gases, liquids or similar substances, which by their nature are difficult to package.
Small loads
These are loads that can be carried in one hand and that are generally unified in a single package. For example, cartons of juice or packs of beer.
Medium loads
They are slightly bigger than the above loads and may weigh up to 10 kg, but they can still be carried by hand.
Large or pallet loads
These are larger goods which require standardised packaging and are grouped on a pallet for handling. This type of load cannot be handled manually, but by mechanical means such as forklifts, etc.
The pallet load can be stored with a wide variety of storage solutions. Everything will depend on the function of the warehouse, the type of product, the available area, etc.
Some companies need immediate access to goods in their daily intralogistics operations. In such cases, the warehouse will be equipped with storage systems with direct access to the pallets.
However, other companies will prioritise the maximum optimisation of the available space, both floor and height, so compact and high-density storage systems will be the most appropriate solution.
Bulky loads
These are large loads that sometimes cannot even be stacked. They can range from large appliances such as refrigerators to construction items such as iron girders.
When loads are very bulky, like above, special mechanical equipment such as cranes are needed to move them.
Special size loads
These are exceptionally large and almost always very heavy loads (such as structural elements for the building of bridges), which even exceed the size of transport vehicles and require support vehicles, special traffic arrangements for their transport, etc.