Most Recent Articles

If you sell goods online, you know that stuff comes back at a predictable rate. People make mistakes when ordering, find that something doesn’t suit their needs, or get a product in the mail with some type of defect. You might have perfected your logistics process, but what happens when items need to move in the opposite direction?

Humans have been benefitting from vaccines for over two centuries. But the process for developing and distributing vaccines effectively has been neither neat nor direct. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage across the country, the sense of urgency for a solution has never been greater. 

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.

If you’re like many small manufacturers, you started your business in one of the following ways:

1. You saw a gap and had an inspired idea that you turned into a successful product
2. You worked for another manufacturer and saw a better opportunity to become their supplier.
3. You cashed out of your first career success to fund your dream startup.

And if you are a 2^nd or 3^rd generation business owner, then your family likely started one of those ways too, and they did well enough to make it successful for over a full generation.

Regardless of how you started and what you started with, everyone has the same problem:

Last month, Michael Evans offered five business predictions for 2016 in Forbes. Since he begins with "this coming year may be the most challenging since 2008 to 2010", this sets off warning bells in the minds of many. Michael Evans prediction begins with "2016 holds a lot of challenges for business growth and expansion, and smart CEOs and investors should position themselves for a highly volatile year".: Does this language cause you to pause?