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Technology is constantly transforming the way we live and work. The growth of automation and various technological advances over the past several decades has been nothing short of astounding.

There’s nothing quite like that first sip of coffee in the morning. From cabinet to brewer to your favorite mug, it’s easy to achieve the perfect cup. But how did the coffee get from tree to truck to grocer? Here’s the intriguing supply chain journey of coffee.

In the past, a warehouse was just a place where goods were stored and eventually processed for shipping. There wasn't much talk about how warehousing could impact customer services. A lot has changed!

Online sales have soared since the beginning of COVID-19, with consumers increasingly forgoing trips to the store in favor of easy ordering from home. That means eCommerce sellers and logistics companies need to operate more efficiently to keep pace with higher volume and a growing list of lofty expectations.

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 your business sells, handles, or stores products, its success depends largely on the quality of its inventory management system. It’s not a sexy topic. But it sure is important. Unfortunately, when it comes time to spend capital on innovations that will boost business results, automated inventory management systems are often overlooked.

Forecasting needs for space, SKU counts and otherwise daily management of inventory is never a simple task. While the front office staff who design and create new products, forecast the sales and order the inventory for the coming season or sales cycle may have years of experience and a portfolio of modern tools to work with (i.e. software), the team running the distribution center generally is less well-equipped to deal with the operational aspect of those elements in a predictive and flexible manner.

With the holiday season in the rear-view mirror, there are a lot of messy warehouses out there digesting the aftermath of a contradictory set of challenges – depleted shelves, piles of returns, overstock on unpopular items and excess capacity. If you’re like most retailers – or manufacturers who are new to the E-commerce game in the last few years – then you are probably wondering how you ended up with so much overstock for some categories of your product, right?