As E-commerce continues explosive growth, more companies realize the importance of optimizing their supply chain. Interested in jump-starting this strategic initiative? As Stephen Covey said, “Start with the end in mind”.
Ask yourself these questions:
- What is our forecasted growth over the next 5 years?
- How do we want to present our products to our customers?
- What is our desired SLA?
- What SLA makes sense?
- Can we support our SLA’s?
- What is the labor market within my existing network?
- What is the labor market in future markets?
- Who is my competition?
- What is my value statement?
- What are our core competencies?
- What is our appetite for acquisitions?
While not all-inclusive, your answers provide a baseline to support your fulfillment Go To Market strategies.
- Start with a Whiteboard session – capture meeting minutes, develop meaningful expectations, assign team member responsibilities, and agree upon completion dates.
- Key Data Points provides the right information to calculate the facility size, create a budget, and generate a timeline.
- Total # of SKU’s
- Average Cube of a unit
- On hand units
- Order information
- Orders shipped
- Average day
- Peak day
- Units per order
- % of multi-line
- % of single line, multi-unit
- % of single line, single unit
- % of orders shipped in a box
- % of orders shipped in bags
With this information in hand, a high-level solution comes to life!
- Facility size
- Cap-Ex Budgets
- FTE models
- Project duration
Below are some examples to help set expectations:
| Peak Day Units | Peak Day Orders | Facility Size in Square Feet | Average Cost per Square Foot | Design to Go Live |
| 400,000 | 60,000 | 900,000 | $45.00 | 15 Months |
| 700,000 | 90,000 | 550,000 | $30.00 | 12 Months |
| 300,000 | 100,000 | 605,000 | $35.00 | 13 Months |
| 400,000 | 125,000 | 550,000 | $35.00 | 18 Months |
Some final questions regarding software need to be answered:
WMS
- Legacy?
- Tier 1 or 2 providers?
WES
- What is it?
- How do I know if I need it?
WCS
- What’s the difference?
- If I implement, do I need WES?
CCS
- What do I need?
- Does the WCS supplier also supply the CCS?
For more information on how AHS, LLC can help with Optimization opportunities, give us a call today at 800-891-5504.