Oct. 27 - Warehousing in the COVID-19 era

Warehouse managers are adjusting workflows and keeping employees safe while also handling the new demand for e-commerce. View online | Sign up | Forward

Weekly edition | Oct.​ 27,​ 2020 Your Guide to Operations By Shefali Kapadia   BROUGHT TO YOU BY — Veriship Get Prepped for 2021 Rate Increases Carrier rates are going up in 2021 (yes, again). Get our prep guide to find out how you can cut costs and strengthen your operations. Download now.   Warehouse managers are adjusting workflows and keeping employees safe while also handling the new demand for e-commerce. (Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here.)  Warehousing in the COVID-19 era They still have conveyor belts. They still have forklifts. They still have racks. Warehouse changes in the pandemic are about the people. Providing personal protective equipment. Redesigning employee break rooms. Rerouting workflows to maintain social distance in the aisles, especially ones with popular SKUs.  And parcels are dominating the traditional "pallet-in, pallet-out" model — with managers hiring and training thousands to keep up with e-commerce demand. Dig into the warehouse changes. Temp hiring is slowing A Palmer Forecast expects demand for temporary workers to decrease 15% YoY in Q4. Why the decrease as we approach peak season? Palmer points to uncertainty around a federal stimulus and financial assistance for businesses impacted by the pandemic. Read more. STAT OF THE WEEK 'Awfully low' real-time visibility In a survey by Microsoft and Bain, 90% of supply chain decision-makers said they want to increase or maintain investment in real-time visibility, as shown in the chart below. Dive deeper. Credit: Matt Leonard / Supply Chain Dive / data from Bain Toy supply chains play catch-up Kids stuck at home (and parents stuck with them) creates a dire need for Barbies and Star Wars action figures.  So, Mattel and Hasbro are planning demand and making sure inventory is ready for replenishment when retailers come knocking. Read more. Opinion Poll             Which of the following best describes the changes in demand your company has experienced during the pandemic? Demand increased in most SKUs Demand stayed the same across SKUs Demand decreased in most SKUs Demand increased in some SKUs while decreasing in others Other — hit reply and tell us. Have a poll question you’d like to suggest? Let us know!   Last week's results are in! We asked: "Of the following, which do you feel is most detrimental to your business?" 42% of you said (A) Stockouts; 23% said (B) Overstocks/waste; 23% said (C) Poor product quality; 12% said (D) Other.                                                         Quick Hits BBC News With remote-control technology, forklift drivers can work remotely too. The Seattle Times To reflect the greater risk of injury to workers inside Amazon’s warehouses, Washington officials propose charging the company a higher workers’ compensation premium for its fulfillment centers. CIO Dive Gartner predicts companies that employ 'robobosses' will perform better than those that don't. HR Dive The average employee's capacity to absorb change without becoming fatigued has been cut in half this year. 3D Printing Industry Scientists in Barcelona have designed and 3D-printed a more reliable RFID tag. Parting thought In our business lives and our personal lives, we've stepped up cleaning efforts to guard ourselves from the virus. I rarely sanitized my smartphone pre-pandemic. Now I cringe at the thought of putting a germ hotbed up to my face. As Ike Sherlock of Total Distribution said in today's feature story, the forklifts are the cleanest they've ever been — and why stop in the future? It's now a habit. How many of the practices we adopted during the COVID-19 era will live on once the pandemic is long gone? Shefali Kapadia Senior Editor, Supply Chain Dive Twitter | Email

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