Focus on Increasing Value for Customers and Shareholders

As costs continue to rise and competition increases among businesses, companies must find ways to increase value for their customers and shareholders in order to succeed in today’s turbulent market. According to Michael Porter’s value chain concept, businesses can add value to a product or service by performing certain activities within a business. Generally, these profit-generating activities can be distinguished from the overhead and support functions of commercial distributors and company warehouses.

Value-adding functions often relate directly to the specifics of the individual business. Following are some value-adding functions that Porter highlights as common to most business and should be familiar to anyone who depends on their warehouse as part of their critical operations:

•  Inbound logistics
•  Outbound Logistics
•  Production/operations 
•  Marketing and sales
•  Services 

Warehouses are traditionally seen as purely cost-centers and not a potential area for value creation. Yet progressive businesses are turning their warehouses into a significant competitive advantage. Of the value-adding functions listed above, inbound and outbound logistics relate directly to wholesalers, distributors and distribution center operators. In addition, the quality of receiving, storing, and delivering product can affect production, marketing and sales, and services both positively and negatively.

Warehousing Practices in the Value Chain

The following white paper addresses the areas that are directly involved with the value-adds and ROI opportunities in automated warehouse processes. Specifically, this paper focuses on how progressive companies can keep mistakes at an acceptable minimum, improve efficiency, maintain compliance, maximize personnel utilization, and improve inventory management through effective use of inbound and outbound logistics and warehouse operations.

In a modern, automated warehouse management environment, these activities take place in a smooth, uninterrupted flow. Whether in a distributor or wholesaler model or in a dedicated distribution center serving a dispersed chain of retail stores, the process begins with receipt planning and execution.

If you'd like more information on improving your warehouse efficiency, you may be interested in viewing our complimentary whitepaper: True Tales of Warehouse Efficiency.