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"Every hand it passes through must be documented – you break the chain, you break the case."

Quotes like the one above are something fans of Police Procedural shows hear in almost every episode. Clearly the importance of proper evidence handling is paramount in the legal process from its initial collection by law enforcement to any downstream handling in labs, court, law offices or wherever it may go – including the possible long-term storage in a cold facility where it may be preserved for a future day where more evidence might lead to making it relevant in an old, unsolved case.

Without saying it, it’s clear that a process like this is a sensitive one, involving labels, packaging, tracking of movement (“delivery”), storage location, categorization and more.

“IMAC” is the term used in IT that stands for "Install, Move, Add, Change" that describes the various phases of managing assets from the beginning to end of their lifecycle. Starting with the installation and continuing through the life of the “install” to include any relocations, modifications, relocations and even removal of both hardware, related equipment and the software that runs or manages it.

While the term originated as an IT acronym, in a world where software touches everything, it can be widely applied to areas you wouldn’t normally associate as IT-related. That includes one of the most static and almost unnoticed items in every warehouse and manufacturing facility – the ubiquitous racks!

What is a Rack Audit?

Operating a warehouse efficiently is challenging enough. Many warehouses, however, experience peak periods, where order volumes soar, requiring specialized strategies for order fulfillment. Before you can fulfill orders, you must properly manage your shipping and receiving docks. Here are some insights on how peak seasons impact warehouse dock management and how you can improve those operations. 

For almost thirty years, almost since the first wave of E-commerce began in the 1990’s, there has been constant stream of news that have heralded the closures of thousands and thousands of retail stores that would seem to have led to their complete extinction by now. In the industry, the term “Retail Apocalypse” (RA) was coined after one of those waves of big chain closures that started in 2010.

It’s not uncommon to picture trucks and trains when we talk about moving freight. But, what about planes or air freight? In fact, the global air freight market is valued at roughly $319 billion, with the potential for it to double over the next decade. This growth is fueled by things like eCommerce expansion, global trade, and shifting consumer demands. 

As online retail and eCommerce have become more popular in recent years, the practice of product returns has increased dramatically. For many reasons, consumers may wish to return items purchased online and ideally want to do so with as little resistance as possible. 

One of the most fundamental tools retail brands use to understand their marketplace positioning is point-of-sale data. From the moment a shopper places your product in their physical or online cart to the time they provide payment, the data you collect provides valuable information you can use to become more efficient and competitive. 

If you’re in the warehouse or distribution center business, you likely know that keeping deliveries on a predictable schedule can be challenging. Truck drivers and transportation companies have their own deadlines and agendas, which may not align with your internal priorities. What happens when you don’t have the internal capacity to handle unexpected deliveries or fail to get the items you need on schedule? 

Your warehouse loading dock is the gateway that basically all products must pass through. If something isn’t operating efficiently, it can put your operations and the entire supply chain on hold. Here is how poor dock management can impact your warehouse’s productivity, some common mistakes your business might be making in this area, and some best practices to improve efficiency.

When new items arrive at your warehouse, unloading them and getting them onto your inventory shelves as quickly and efficiently as possible is critical. But that’s not always as simple as it seems. In bustling warehouses with many incoming and outgoing shipments combined with heavy fulfillment operations, it’s easy for confusion to take over.