Picking Process / Sage Publications.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Obaze, Yolanda, author.

Sage Publications, author, issuing body.

Series:

SAGE skills: Business.

SAGE skills: Business

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Supply chain management.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

[Place of publication not identified] : Sage Publications, 2024.

Summary:

The inbound logistics process is the part of supply-chain management involved in the supply of products to the warehouse or manufacturing center. The outbound logistics process is the demand section of supply-chain management that ensures the efficient delivery of finished products to end customers. Outbound logistics is the process of storing, moving, and delivering products from the warehouse or distribution center to customers. You are the supply-chain manager at EaziBikes, a global bike manufacturing firm in China. Your team is tasked with delivering items stored at your warehouse, also located in China, to your customers. In this scenario, determine the best way to receive and confirm customer orders from different locations, locate products in the warehouse when they are ordered, pick products and pack them for transport, schedule truck loading, and ensure last-mile movement of packages so that they reach their destinations error free. The movement of multiple components from a warehouse to a destination can be costly if they are not managed appropriately. Failure to optimize the outbound processes can lead to rising inventory and transportation costs. Inventory costs include holding dead inventory or the wrong products, both of which take up valuable space. Transportation costs also can be significant in the outbound process. These include wasted resources, shipping the wrong products, not meeting demand, increased returns, delays in shipping, and repeated shipments to the same customers. To optimize the outbound logistics process, managers need to determine better delivery networks, faster routes, and organized schedules to keep costs down. Better delivery networks include properly managed distribution channels. Distribution channels refer to the networks of one or more organizations that participate in the flow of goods from the point of production to the final customer. This can include a direct shipment to the customer or a chain of intermediary firms that include wholesalers, retailers, transportation providers, and brokers that specialize in distribution. These intermediaries may or may not take possession of products up until final delivery. Collaborating with key intermediaries can be useful in designing and managing outbound logistics depending on the complexity of the supply chain. Supply chains become more complex when there is an increase in partners, customers, locations, and data associated with the movement of goods and services. For example, additional customers and freight providers can make supply chains more complex. However, incorporating strategies to build the right relationships within the supply-chain network can ensure efficient order fulfillment and shipping. This includes working closely with freight carriers to give the logistics manager more control over price and service-level agreements. Using technology also can be helpful in determining routes that reduce wait times and travel time between locations for last-mile delivery. Using automated route planning is key to reducing fuel charges and the number of drivers and to avoid wasting time due to delays, closures, or natural disasters. Route-planning software also takes into consideration important factors such as product weight and height, weather restrictions, traffic, roadblocks, and travel zones to avoid. The ability for EaziBikes to hire an outside company to perform most of the logistics and supply-chain management services, mostly as a cost-cutting decision, is a practice known as outsourcing. Outsourcing is another strategy to optimize outbound logistics. The logistics manager at EaziBikes might outsource work at the distribution center by hiring independent contractors to increase the speed of loading and unloading trucks. Independent contractors can be third-party logistics companies (3PL or TPL) that are contracted with to reduce costs and the complexity of outbound processes. The use of TPL service providers highlights an outsourcing strategy to use an external workforce or expertise to accomplish a specific process that cannot be efficiently provided by the organization's internal workers. TPL service providers save time, resources, and expenses by providing a specialized service. Outsourcing options may not be right for all companies. The logistics manager should carefully weigh whether to outsource contracts or form partnerships. Well-managed and optimized outbound logistics processes can facilitate faster and on-time deliveries; fewer order cancelations; decreased delivery failures, mistakes, and returns; reduced damage and loss in transit; lower costs for the customer; and increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

1-0719-5225-0

9781071952252

OCLC:

1438712689