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If you’re in the business of moving products from Point A to Point B, logistics matter. Being able to efficiently fulfill the needs of your target audience is directly related to your ultimate business success.

For many organizations, handling reverse logistics can be challenging. If you think about it, most supply chains are created to get products from point A to point B, not bring them back in the other direction.

Online ordering has made shopping so simple that customers expect an equally hassle-free returns process. While product returns might be one of the costs of doing business, how you handle the 5 Rs of reverse logistics can impact how much this process will affect your company’s overall results.

For several months each year, warehouses face a surge of activity due to skyrocketing product demand. This peak season begins as early as October as people begin preparing for the upcoming holiday season and ends sometime in January as warehouses are still dealing with high return volumes.

Peak season is officially here. And, if your warehouse can manage its inflows and outflows efficiently during the busiest time of year, it should be smooth sailing during those other months. Knowing how to best run your operations when the stakes are highest might be challenging. But it will also improve your overall business results.

If you’re using a paper and pencil system in your operations, you’re not alone. Forty-eight percent of facilities are still conventional in receiving, picking, inventory replenishment, and storage (non-mechanized).

There’s a common misconception that warehouses operate in an endless loop of basic processes that move items from point A to point B. Sure, things get moved. But the supply chain is increasingly faced with labor shortages, pandemic issues, and rapidly changing market conditions, making the warehousing environment more complex than ever.

Modern ecommerce warehouse and fulfillment operations staff are tasked with some hefty challenges in any given year. But when the pandemic triggered an abrupt shift to online purchases last year, many were handling larger inventories and more receipts, picks, shipments, and returns than ever before.

When the temperatures start to rise in the summer, so do the dangers to your warehouse staff. The U.S. experienced its hottest June on record in 2021, and there were over 31 million people subjected to heat advisories or excessive heat warnings in one month alone.

When it’s over 100 degrees outside, you can bet that the temperatures are much higher inside a warehouse or distribution center. That’s why it’s vital that fulfillment centers, warehouses, and 3rd party logistics providers understand the dangers of heat stress and take the proper steps to avoid it.

Warehouses have been evolving for years, and the past few have been no exception. In an era impacted by a deadly pandemic, warehouses are among the rare businesses that experienced a surge in demand for workers, making it more important than ever for employers and managers to motivate their existing staff.

Peak season creep is no joke. According to the National Retail Foundation, over half of the consumers are well underway with their holiday shopping in early November, and many much sooner. As seasonal shopping preferences shift, warehouse preparation must react in kind, prompting the question of how soon is too soon to get ready for that peak season rush.

Ramping up your operations with the expectation of more activity is one thing. But what about changing your warehouse processes or making some upgrades? Would these types of changes benefit your operations or give you one more headache that you’ll have to manage in the coming months?