ABCO Systems offers design engineering expertise to provide custom solutions for material handling and distribution system design for their customers. This requires a team of professionals who understand the intricacies of the modern-day distribution center, and the right strategic partners to meet and exceed the goals of our customers.
We are excited to highlight our partnership with Fetch Robotics, a pioneer of on-demand automation. Intelligent automation can be the workforce multiplier needed to accelerate throughput and productivity. Automation reduces congestion in aisles, limiting interactions between workers and potentially hazardous heavy loads and equipment, enhancing safety as well as performance and productivity.
Being able to incorporate Fetch Robotics into our design engineering allows us to provide both innovation and resilience to personalize each design to the unique needs of the customer. To learn more about ABCO Systems Solutions with Fetch Robotics, contact us at 201-429-0580 or at [email protected]. We look forward to providing you with your custom design solution with a unique blend of efficiency and resilience.
ABCO Systems – Solutions engineered for today’s challenges and tomorrow’s opportunities.
E-commerce has been evolving for years and has experienced a surge following the recent pandemic to become a powerful part of both online and physical business. Technological advances in automation have enabled more companies to take part in e-business, but these technologies are relevant to traditional brick-and-mortar businesses as well. Advanced inventory management and enhanced customer experience are important to all business ventures.
Inventory management is the backbone of any successful manufacturing or retail business. Using advanced automation technology can help implement a lean supply chain leading to sustainability.
E-commerce fulfillment center design is a focus of the ABCO design team. ABCO has a rich history of working with both large and small e-commerce companies to meet and exceed their order demand. Whether you are a small business looking for a scalable solution or a large organization looking to efficiently process large quantities of orders per hour; all can benefit from an efficient fulfillment center design.
Whether you are stepping into e-commerce or looking to make your fulfillment center more efficient, ABCO Systems can help design the right solution for you. CLICK to learn more about how we can partner with you to implement an efficient fulfillment center solution.
With third-party logistics providers on the rise, it is evident that the unprecedented growth the world witnessed in the e-commerce sector is here to stay.
Keeping up with the fast-changing landscape of the economy presents major challenges for 3PLs.
Here are some of the most notable challenges in 3PL distribution:
1. Meeting Consumer Expectations
COVID-19 has demonstrated exactly how fast consumer expectations can change. As a result, many companies have had to develop e-commerce fulfillment and online delivery options quickly while also adhering to strict operative guidelines. To make matters more complicated, e-commerce giants like Amazon have set the standard for consumers by offering free two-day shipping, accurate and fast order fulfillment, and full visibility of product-tracking.
To keep up, 3PLs can utilize dynamic storage solutions, warehouse automation hardware, and warehouse design consultation services to optimize their storage strategy and space. Solutions providers like ABCO Systems can help 3PLs design their e-commerce fulfillment centers to optimize throughput, drive down costs, and stay efficient.
2. Acquiring + Retaining Talent
A 2019 Report by Inbound Logistics showed that 64% of 3PL providers listed finding, training, and retaining qualified labor as a challenge they face. To stay competitive, providing high-quality service is of extreme importance in a consumer-focused industry. Without acquiring and retaining the right talent, e-commerce brands stand to lose a positive reputation, face slower business growth, and potentially lose money on higher labor costs.
To offset the risks and costs associated with turnover, providers can turn to 3PL warehouse automation solutions that reduce fulfillment times for orders. The right solution can reduce labor costs tremendously, and simplify operations in a way that simplifies the training process, too.
3. 3PL Warehouse Design + Automation
In the dynamic landscape of today’s economy, it’s no surprise that many distribution and e-commerce fulfillment centers today are struggling to scale their warehouse capacity to match demand. It is easy for warehouse spaces to become stagnant with outdated setups that past operations once required. To work around the conundrum of changing storage and capabilities requirements, 3PLs can consult 3PL solutions providers for insights on how to optimize their warehouse design and solicit specific recommendations on customizable storage solutions and 3PL warehouse automation hardware that maximize warehouse space and improve order fulfillment operations on a daily basis. Though automation requires a large initial investment, it reduces an operation’s overall cost-to-serve and can improve ROI in less than 24 months.
4. Shipment Visibility + Analytics
Managing inventory from a wide range of vendors can make it very difficult for 3PLs and e-commerce brands to ensure fast shipping times. To meet consumer standards, 3PLs must rely on leading-edge warehouse execution systems to be able to track and record all warehouse operations in real-time. To continuously manage those expectations, 3PLs must also depend on data analytics to identify and modify inefficient across their operations. By automating their supply chain processes and integrating them with all suppliers, 3PL companies stand to create much more long-lasting relationships with their consumers.
In 2020, the world of e-commerce saw unprecedented growth due to COVID-19, with even the largest e-commerce retailers like Amazon struggling to keep up with the demand. As we know, Amazon has set the standard for order-fulfillment for fast and/or free shipping. Intuitively, a 2021 report by Shopify, a leading e-commerce store platform, shows that 67% of U.S. consumers expect either same-, next-, or two-day delivery, with a full 65% of consumers checking free-shipping thresholds before even adding something to their carts.
Moving forward into 2021, third-party logistics providers continue to adapt to this fast-changing landscape in order to meet the ever-growing need for e-commerce fulfillment.
Here are some of the key ways 3PLs can prepare for another year of growth in e-commerce:
Warehouse Automation
Looking to 2021, 3PLs will have to rely on integrated supply chain solutions like automation to increase inventory control. 3PLs benefit from cost-to-serve modeling to do so. In other words, the more 3PLs can save on their internal process efficiencies, the more profit they can make. Warehouse automation hardware like conveyor systems, print & apply solutions, inbound & shipping sorters, put-to-light technology, order-fulfillment picking devices, and infrared technology for application weighing are all worthy automation solutions that can make growth in 2021 seamless.
Automated Storage
During peak-growth, 3PLs often need to expand their warehouse capabilities. Thus, 3PLs should look to warehouse storage solutions to increase their operational storage efficiency. According to 3PL news, a 3PL industry newshub, automated warehouses use up about 40% less floor space than traditional warehouses. To decrease your operation’s footprint, automated warehouse storage solutions like push back storage rack systems, pallet flow conveyors, automated pallet storage and beyond can all reduce 3PLs storage costs.
Labor Management
3PLs looking to follow the largest e-commerce retailers lead in labor management can benefit from basic labor management practices moving into 2021. These practices include:
Surveying team members on their concerns or challenges with new technologies
Implementing change management teams to oversee changes
Using robust systems to track laborer performance
Creating systems for worker and supervisor feedback
And putting worker safety at the forefront of all warehouse operations
Risk Management
A 2021 3PL Logistics Study by Infosys Consulting, Penske Logistics and Penn State University showed that readiness and continuity planning is a priority for 3PLs post-pandemic. Thus, internal strategies for unforeseen obstacles and challenges in the supply chain should be laid out for individual 3PLs in the coming year to better prepare.
In 2021, the 3PL businesses can emerge through another year of rapid growth by committing to smart practices and cost-saving hardware. By streamlining order fulfillment processes and investing in high-quality, innovative solutions— 3PLs may come out the other side just in time to grow with the trends.
Supply Chain works to keep shelves stocked and packages moving to arrive at your door. What it takes to make this happen, is not something the average person usually thinks about.Even people that have worked in this industry for years probably never realized the full scope of our dependency on them.
Over the past few weeks, we have all heard about how essential our supply chain is to food, medicine, toiletries and all the other items we use in our daily lives.This is a topic that much of the world never took into consideration until now.The Supply Chain affects everyone, and yet very few are familiar with the term and how it relates to their daily lives. The convenience of going to the store or clicking a mouse to receive whatever you desire, is the result of a vast network of people and machinery working seamlessly together.
Products from around the world travel to factory floors, warehouses and distribution centers. Some products are then manufactured while others move quickly, like food, from a farm to a network of warehouses and then to your local grocer. Items like produce, meat and fish are moved by trucks, boats and even planes to warehouses and distribution centers where forklifts race to receive and breakdown orders in just the right quantities for your local store. Buyers use software to track usage, predict sales, and stock the shelves. The reason shelves go empty in times of crisis is because the normal buying patterns spike and the supply chain needs time to react. In the short term, the supply is disrupted. During a snowstorm or tropical storm, the disruption is as little as a day. This pandemic is taking a herculean effort to not only meet the needs of our daily lives, but to also support our health care system. Companies like Wakefern, headquartered in Keasby, NJ are working hard to meet the increased demands while aiding the Governor’s office to move hospital equipment.Some companies have pledged to produce new equipment in their factories, fly planes to move products quicker and share technology to produce equipment faster.
Other items like clothing and consumer goods have longer lead times. Orders for clothing, TVs and seasonal items are predicted and created months in advance.As these items arrive at the warehousing and distribution facilities, they need to have space to store them until we return to normal levels of use.These facilities cannot leave the items on their docks clogging up their ability to ship the items that are needed to help fight the Covid-19 pandemic.Many consumers have moved to ordering personal care, pharmacy, and food on-line. This shift has created tremendous demand within these warehouses.
On-line powerhouses like Walmart and Amazon have been shipping at record levels as the buying habits of many have shifted. The web of manufacturing facilities, shipping, distribution centers, and delivery vehicles have been relatively quick to react in the short term. There will be a review of our dependence on critical items that are manufactured outside the U.S. This pandemic will likely lead to a resurgence of American-made, and in many cases, NJ-made products that will shorten the supply chain and eliminate uncertainty. The Harvard Business review reports that the U.S. supply chain contains 37% of all jobs, employing 44 million people.These 44 million people are working harder than ever to keep New Jersey and our country moving forward.
With all this additional strain being placed on our supply chain it is imperative that companies that support them continue to do so.From the mechanic that keeps the trucks running, the planes flying and the trains moving to the maintenance person that troubleshoots and repairs a conveyor system in the middle of the night. It is this support structure that ensures these items are getting to where they need to be. Companies like ABCO Systems, located in Belleville, have teams of service technicians repairing conveyors and automation equipment, keeping essential businesses up and running.Their engineers have even sourced and designed temporary systems to meet the spike in demand.
