Tag: public warehouse

The Benefits of Shared Warehousing during Peak Season

Outsourcing your order to a 3PL company can benefit your company in many ways and support you especially in peak season. Let’s see how you can benefit from shared warehousing.

Shared Warehousing

In a shared warehouse, you only pay for the space and resources you utilize for your goods. The main benefits come from the fact that the availability of space and resources are flexible- gives you complete freedom for your volume and operational needs of goods, especially during peak season. Let’s see how shared or public warehouse is the best option during peak season:

Flexible Space Requirement-

Suppose you need 10,000 sq feet of warehousing space in the holiday season. But as the peak season approach and your estimation went a little wrong with increasing order volumes, and now you need to expand that space to 15000 sq. feet. Your 3PL company will help you to easily expand as much space you need. And if your space requirements go back down to 10,000 sq feet again after the holiday season, your 3PL will scale downward as per your need.
Shared warehousing is also a good option for companies with their own warehouse but needs space and resources during the peak time of months.

More Staff for More Workload

Just as the need for space and resources tends to increase during the holiday season, so does the labor demand increases to support customers and workload. Most of the 3PL company hires new staff for a temporary period of time for everything from pick and pack to handling resources and customer service. It is very important to ensure that the hiring staff is right for your operation. You must discuss the qualifications and vetting processes with your 3PL to make sure that your supply chain quality is preserved.

Check Your Expenses

Let’s say that you have an e-commerce business that nearly doubles its sale around the holiday time. If you are handling all the operation both peak and non-peak season yourself, you would have to buy your own warehouse or rent a space for your own fulfillment. Space can be fully utilized in the peak time but during the non-peak periods, space will not be used to its capacity. The costs of finding resources, training temporary workers, and other handling costs can put a large strain on your finances. Shared warehousing is a better option for saving costs, you simply pay for what you need when you need it.

Tenaxx Logistics

At Tenaxx, we offer a wide range of services including transloading, cross-docking, and shared warehousing. Contact Tenaxx Logistics today to learn how our expert staff and facilities can support you in the time of peak season.

5 Types of Warehouses for your Supply Chain

What is a Warehouse?

A warehouse is a planned place used for the handling and storage of goods. The finished goods from the manufacturer or raw materials from suppliers come into the warehouse and then handle and moved according to how they are expected to move through the system. The warehouse is an important place to maintain an efficient flow of materials and goods from the source to the final point where it will be used.

Here are five types of warehouses:

Public Warehouse

The public warehouse is a storage facility that can be leased for any business with short-term distribution needs. Most small businesses or companies cannot afford to own, lease, or staff, their own warehouse. If you own a small business that holds product inventory, a public warehouse is a good option for you. Also, retailers that operate their own private warehouses may occasionally require extra storage space if their facilities do not have this much capacity or if they are making a special, large purchase of products.

Private Warehouse

This type of warehouse is owned and managed by suppliers and resellers to store their own stock of goods. For example, a major retail chain may have several regional warehouses or “fulfillment centers” supplying goods to their stores, or a wholesaler will operate a warehouse at which it receives and distributes products.

Climate-Controlled Warehouse

Climate controlled warehouse are used for storing goods that need special equipment, such as refrigerators for storing frozen products, clean storage space for handling sensitive computer products, and humidity-controlled space for delicate products, including produce or flowers.

Automated Warehouse

With advances in computer and robotics technology many warehouses now have automated operations. The level of automation can differ according to the warehousing requirement, from a small conveyor belt transporting products in a small area all the way up to a fully automated facility where only a few people are needed to handle storage activity for a number of goods incoming and outgoing in the warehouse. Nowadays many warehouses use automated machines and tools to handle nearly all physical distribution activities, such as moving product-filled pallets around buildings that may large in area.

Distribution Center

These types of warehouses store products for a very short interval of time as compared to a warehouse. In distribution center products are received from many suppliers and quickly shipped out to the customers, therefore the flow velocity of goods through the distribution center is more than the flow velocity of goods through a warehouse. Apart from storing products, distribution center offers value-added services like product mixing, order fulfillment, packaging, and cross-docking.

Choose Tenaxx Logistics

If you’re looking for shared warehousing services, look no further than Tenaxx Logistics. We have the space, services, modern equipment, and commitment to customer satisfaction needed to make your transition to the world of warehousing a smooth one. To know more about our warehousing services, contact us today.

KNOW ABOUT 3PL WAREHOUSE COSTS FOR YOUR BUSINESS

If your business is growing and you’re thinking to go for warehousing options, the idea may seem a bit challenging. Warehouses are large facilities that need proper management and maintenance.

If you’re planning to build or rent a full warehouse for your business operation, then warehousing costs is something to give your attention to. If, however, you’re partnering with a third-party logistics company (3PL) to provide you with shared (or “public”) warehousing services, then your costs will only reflect the space and services you need. In this blog, we’ll examine 3PL warehouse costs and provide you with the information your 3PL company will ask you to provide accurate pricing.

Different Types of warehousing

If your operation is looking for a warehousing service, you have three options.

1. Build or rent a warehouse yourself and take full charge of it. This by far your most costly choice. With this option, you pay for the building, the staffing, the equipment, the warehouse management system, and other technologies. If your actual volumes don’t match your forecasts, you can be left paying a lot of money for resources you’re not using – or scrambling to add resources to keep up.

2. Use dedicated warehousing services of a 3PL. With this option, you hire a 3PL company to fully dedicate of its warehouses to your operation. Your 3PL can provide the staff, equipment, and systems required for your business operation – saving you considerable amounts of time and money and acquiring these yourself.

3. Use a shared warehousing service. Shared warehousing is the most common – and cost-effective – a type of warehousing. With this option, you utilize a 3PL warehouse and place your goods alongside several other companies and pay for only space and services you need.

Find your 3PL Warehouse Costs

If you decide to partner with a 3PL for either dedicated or shared warehousing, there are many key points that will affect your costs.
1. The first point you need to address in calculating warehouse costs is the location. As a rule, warehousing in large metropolitan areas is going to be far more expensive than it will be in rural areas.

2. The second point to consider is whether you need dedicated or shared warehousing services. The more costly of the two, dedicated warehousing is typically a good option for larger operations that have very consistent volumes.

Information your 3PL will need from you

You will need to provide your 3PL with detail about your business and goods so that they can determine the services and type of space needed in order to provide you with accurate pricing. The basic information that your 3PL will need from you for storing and handling the warehouse for you are mentioned below.

Storage information needed

• Average pallet dimensions (height, width, weight, depth)?
• Pallet characteristics (e.g., stackable or racking)
• Inventory turns per year
• Amount of shipments per year
• Estimated inventory volume
• Average inventory (in terms of number of pallets)
• Number of cases per pallet
• Product temperature requirements
• Hazardous material information

Handling information needed

• Number of orders processed per year (B2B and B2C)
• Average order size (pallets if B2B, pieces if B2C)
• Pick and pack facilities (for eCommerce fulfillment)
• The average number of inbound orders per day
• The average number of outbound shipments per day
• Percentage of cross-dock shipments
• Transportation requirements
• Intermodal and container details/requirements

Related: Advantages of Using Public Warehouse

Choose Tenaxx Logistics For Cost-Effective 3PL Service

If you’re looking for a 3PL for your warehousing operation, look no further than Tenaxx Logistics. We have the space, services, modern equipment, and commitment to customer satisfaction needed to make your transition to the world of warehousing a smooth one. To know more about our warehousing services, contact us today.

Key Stages of Order Fulfillment Process

Order fulfillment is an important part of the supply chain process. It is the process of receiving, processing, and shipping orders to the end customers. It’s possible to handle fulfillment in-house or outsourcing it to a third party logistics company that handles the process for you.
To maintain quality control and maximize profit as much as possible, many smaller operations opt to handle their own order fulfillment process. But if you want to focus more on the main fields of activity, and work more efficiently and productively, opting third-party logistics is the best solution. The order fulfillment process varies according to the type of business, inventory management, and supplier selection and can become highly complex. Here are mentioned the key stages of the order fulfillment process:

Receiving Stage

When you receive inventory from suppliers and manufacturers at your warehouse. the next steps will be:

1. Count all the items which you have ordered.
2. Check to make sure no items have been damaged during shipment.
3. Add the record of new inventory to your warehouse management software to keep the count, sales numbers for each item and also to track the location of items.
4. Add SKUs/barcodes to every item you received if they aren’t already labeled correctly.
5. Place individual items into ready-to-deliver kit packages, if necessary.

After following all these steps carefully, the next stage is to shelve it in the warehouse. By properly storing the items in the warehouse, you can maximize the speed and accuracy of your order fulfillment process thus can increase warehouse productivity.
Store each SKU in its own box, with overflow stored in another area of the warehouse. Keep SKUs that sell most often in boxes closer to the packing stations for easier access.

Processing Phase

The order processing phase starts when an order is received from the customer. Typically, fulfillment software integrates with shopping cart software so that when someone places an order online, the order is automatically sent to your fulfillment software at your warehouse, too.
After receiving the order, items are picked by staff and taken to an order packing area. In the packing area, firstly the items are checked for quality and packaged with the best materials appropriate for the items. Packing slips and other information are added, then the box is sealed and moved to the shipping station.

Delivery Phase

Once the order is in the shipping station, it’s ready for delivery to the end customer. In the shipping station, the package is weighed and the best delivery method is selected. Once the package is ready to deliver, the shipping station will update the status of an order to make sure customers can track their orders until they are delivered. After the order has been delivered to the customer, it can be considered fulfilled.

Choose Tenaxx Logistics for Your Order Fulfillment Services?

Want to find out more about our order fulfillment services? Contact Tenaxx Logistics today by filling out our online form or call us at 519-260-2738 and let us know what your business requirement. We’ll talk to you about possible shipping requirements and give you an accurate estimate for the services you need.

Types of Pallet Racking System in Warehouse

With a well-designed pallet racking system, you can improve warehouse productivity, increase storage space by 40% or more depending on the warehouse design. Choosing the right pallet racking system can make a big difference in your business outcomes. The main step is to decide what type of pallet rack suits best for your business requirements.

Here are mentioned some common types of pallet racking systems and their applications:

Selective Pallet Rack

Selective pallet rack is the most common and flexible pallet racking system in the industry. It provides efficient use of storage space and quick access to every load stored using any type of forklift. This type of rack is available in debris-resistant, easy-to-clean structural steel (ideal for food handling operations). The selective pallet rack is used commonly in manufacturing, retail, and general warehousing.

Back Racking / Push-Back Rack

These pallet racking systems have a last-in/first-out (LIFO)) rotation and are fabricated in structural or roll form. These systems are suitable for high-density multiple product storage. Push back racking allows easy access to inventory items and also good for a specific selection of inventory items. When a pallet is loaded or placed on the structure, the next pallet is pushed backward on the rails where it rests firmly. When the pallet is unloaded, they are ‘pushed’ to the front of the structure. Therefore it is called push back rack or back rack system. It is generally used in food-oriented operations, general warehousing, and retail.

Pallet Flow Rack

Pallet flow rack, also called gravity flow racks, utilize sloping racks. In pallet flow rack, new pallets are added at the higher end and removed from the lower end, thus it is a first-in/first-out(FIFO) loading system. Pallet flow storage can double or triple storage capacity as compared to drive-in or conventional pallet rack systems and is a perfect solution for freezer warehouses, food distribution centers, and storage of high-volume, perishable consumer goods.

Double Deep Rack

Double-deep racks are made by placing one row of selective racking behind another. This is the most affordable way to create high-density storage in the warehouse. Double deep racking can increase storage for up to 40% depending on the warehouse structure. It is recommended for general warehousing and manufacturing business.

Roll Formed Cantilever Rack

Cantilever racking is ideal for storing long products such as textiles piping, tubing tires, furniture, carpet rolls, steel rods, and timber. The racking structure has long arms extended from a metal framework specifically designed to store long and heavy items. Cantilever racking allows easy access to all the inventory items as it has no front column, unlike other pallet racking systems.

Drive-In Racking

Drive-in pallet racking system follows last-in/first-out rotation. It is designed to increase the utilization of floor space within a warehouse. This type of racking system requires a small passage area for the same amount of storage thus saving storage space. It is designed in a way that allows forklifts to make their way through the aisles to continue stocking and adding more pallets. It is suitable for large-volume storage of similar products, general warehousing, freezer, and high-turnover retail products.

5 Ways to Optimize Your Pick and Pack Process

The picking and packing process is an important part of the order fulfillment process. By optimizing the overall pick and pack system, you can streamline your order fulfillment, gain customer trust, and increase your business profits.

Here are given 5 ways to optimize the pick and pack process:

Utilize your Warehouse Space Effectively

The items should be placed according to the order requirement. By designing your warehouse for efficiently storing and picking of items, you can save the time it takes to gather items for your orders. The arrangement of items should be done carefully such as always place top-selling items near the packing stations, store items right next to each other which are commonly packed together.

Keep Your Warehouse Well-Ordered

By keeping your warehouse area clean and well ordered you can make pick and process easy and fast. Ensure that the items your packers staff needs for orders are arranged correctly around the workstation. Always place the items from receiving inventory in the same place to avoid wastage of time in searching for items.

Use WMS for Tracking Items

Use a warehouse management system (WMS) to keep the record of items that are listed in the order and to find them easily. By using advanced warehouse management software you can save lots of time in it takes in finding and keeping the record of the items for orders.

Try Different Order Picking Methods:

Try different order picking methods such as zone picking in which each order picker is assigned a particular zone and will do order picking within this zone only, or batch picking where the assigned picker picks multiple orders simultaneously.

Ensure your Inventory is Up To Date

An optimized pick and pack process always depend on the accurate inventory system. Always ensure that your inventory is up to date for easily keeping the records of the items and to track them easily. Check for items that are out of stock and place the orders of those items for avoiding delay in the order fulfillment process.

Bottom Line:

Your pick and pack process is only one important part of running a warehouse efficiently. With the help of up to date inventory management system, you can optimize your pick, pack, and shipping process and increase your business profits by maximizing warehouse productivity and gain customer trust.

If that’s what you want in your business, we are here to help you.

What are the Risks Related to Cross Docking?

What is Cross Docking?

Cross-docking is an order fulfillment strategy where products from a supplier or manufacturing unit are shipped directly to a customer or retail chain without any need for mid storage of goods in the warehouse. It is a process of receiving products through an inbound dock and then transferring them across the dock to the outbound transportation dock. It consists of trucks and dock doors in inbound and outbound sides with minimal storage space. The process starts when inbound products are arrived through transportation such as trucks/trailers and are assigned to receiving dock on one side of the cross dock terminal. The goods are sorted and screened to identify their end destinations and moved to the other end of cross dock terminal with the help of a forklift, pallet truck, and any other transportation medium. After completing the loading of goods at the outbound dock, the products delivered to the end customers.

Major Risks Related to Cross Docking

1. Implementing the cross-docking strategy in the warehouse required capital investment. This can translate into a warehouse redesign to save space for a conditioning area and/or the adoption or designing of a warehouse management system to assist with cross-docking tasks.
2. Cross-docking fully relies on a team to transfer items from inbound to the outbound dock, organizations need to be trustworthy of their suppliers’ ability to deliver the right products in right condition on time to the cross-docking terminal.
3. A number of Transport Carriers needed to take full benefits of the cross-docking system. A sufficient number of transport carriers will be needed for the delivery of goods. Since the operation is mainly dependant on trucking, there is an increased cost, need for parking space for trucks in the warehouse, and need for enough docks to implement the system.
4. It requires time for proper planning and execution: without coordination between supply and demand and proper planning, cross-docking is not suggested in the warehouse. Therefore, in the global computation, cross-docking should save enough time to cover its application in operational planning.

Need Help with cross docking?

If you want to know more about cross-docking and how Tenaxx Logistics can help your business contact us today!

Advantages of Using Public Warehouse

What Is Public Warehouse?

A public warehouse offers you the best solution for all your temporary storage of goods on a short or long-term basis. A public warehouse provides short or long-term storage to companies on a monthly basis. Public warehouse fees can be taken together as storage fees and inbound and outbound transaction fees. A public warehouse can charge per pallet or charge for each square foot that is used by a company for storing their products.

Public Warehouse Is a Complete Package

1. The public warehouse not only provides storage space to a company, but also offers other services such as inventory management, physical inventory counts, and shipping functionality. The public warehouse charges its clients for a certain rate for the goods stored, the area of the warehouse used and the services the client wishes to use.

2. The company using the public warehouse does not have to hire warehouse staff, does not require any inventory software or warehouse equipment. The public warehouse provides a complete package of a dedicated workforce, inventory control software, picking and, packing facility and charges their clients accordingly.

3. Most companies use the public warehouse for the short-term, but it can often lead to a long-term relationship as companies been familiar with the convenience of the public warehouse services. Companies that own and operate public warehouses invest significantly in modern equipment to remain competitive. They offer clients increasing levels of flexibility in order to retain and attract more clients.

Conclusion

An optimized supply chain is one that delivers orders to its customer at the right time – and does that by spending as little amount as possible. If you can’t afford your own warehouse, a public warehouse may be one solution for your storage needs.