Warehousing - Finding The Right Option
There are warehousing operations around the country of all sizes and capabilities. Sometimes you have the luxury of time to shop for the perfect one and other times, it feels like a fire drill. So how do you find the right option for you.
Here are some tips to help you in your search.
• Be very transparent about the space and services you need. Oftentimes, what is on a website is not 100% representative of what that group is good at doing. Ask for customer referrals based on the services you need. Most can send you a letter of recommendation saying how good they are to work with but if you need a kitting project and they have not done one in a few years, you are asking for trouble.
• Reverse engineering is key with the location of the warehouse in comparison to your largest vendors or customers. Run these routes or ask them to run them for you. Making life more difficult for your vendors and customers to save a buck will backfire.
• For a decade, builders constructed huge spaces and then put 4 dock doors in to handle 300,000 square feet of space. Make sure the warehouse has the dock doors you need to process freight and the yard space to accommodate truck parking, including overnight parking.
• Warehouses are big users of energy, and their carbon footprint is drastic. What are they doing to reduce this. Solar Panels on that huge roof to minimize cost = Awesome!
• Don’t assume that your hours are their hours. Make sure that the warehouse operation is truck friendly so that you have carriers that will want to deliver there. The word gets out quickly on the difficult ones and carriers will turn away your freight for more desirable locations. Also, confirm customer care hours, especially if you’re in a different time zone.
• Lastly, ask about their labor. Are they fully staffed? How can they ramp up for your volumes if they fluctuate? If they use temporary labor, what background checks take place to make sure safe, honest workers are handling your products.
WBT is proud to partner with the best warehousing companies across North America and are a call away from helping you.
Call Mike Matz, Director of Sales & Operations, today at 262-339-4701, or email here.
Chris Greenberg,
President and C.O.O.
West Bend Transit and Service Co.