DWS Compact
Automatic data capture of product weight, volume dimensions
and bar code. 360° data acquisition for safe planning and control
of product flows, calculation of capacity utilization or capacity
planning.
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THE 3;IN;1 SOLUTION
DWS: DIMENSIONING WEIGHING SCANNING
wipotec-ocs.com
rollouts, especially if customization of
transportation plans, internal management
processes, or billing is required. And if
new suppliers are involved, then some type
of technology integration could well be
necessary.
4Choose a partner with experience in handling new-product launches. New-product launches, with their
demands for precisely timed deliveries to
hundreds or thousands of far-flung locations in a tight time window, are not
for amateurs. There can be advantages to
working with motor carriers and 3PLs that
have extensive experience meeting those
specialized requirements. They have the
people, processes, capacity, and systems in
place to successfully carry out these uniquely challenging assignments. The dedicated
new-product rollout team at Logistics Plus,
for example, has standardized the way it
gathers, documents, and shares information internally and with its core group of
carriers. Each customer and product launch
has unique requirements, Bosko notes, but
the standardized process saves a lot of time
while minimizing slipups and ensuring that
everyone knows what’s required.
The time-sensitive nature of product
launches means there’s no room for error
when it comes to deliveries. Bosko, Penske’s
Moses, and Monkmeyer of DHL all stressed
the importance of using motor carriers
that thoroughly understand the specialized needs of this business segment and
have consistently demonstrated reliable,
on-time performance. Shippers that regularly roll out new products with non-ne-gotiable delivery deadlines may want to
consider dedicated contract carriage, where
a 3PL provides dedicated equipment and
personnel and manages the fleet for a customer, Moses suggests.
Whether shippers work with a 3PL or
directly with motor carriers, the best outcomes occur when they give their service
providers advance notice, communicate
expectations, share detailed information,
and work with them to anticipate how
changes will affect operations and costs.
Do all that, and those high-performance
phones and hot new sneakers will be ready
and waiting when the first customer walks
through the door.
more trucks and thus raising freight
costs.
Product launches can affect how
people do their work too. “If the
new product requires integration
of a new activity with your existing network ... and the scope of
work changes, then we will need
to explain that to our drivers and
supervisors,” Moses says. Consider
the example of medical supplies that
used to be palletized for large weekly
deliveries to hospital loading docks
but now are delivered daily as loose
cartons directly to nursing stations
or storerooms inside the hospital.
That’s a significant change in drivers’ jobs that would not only require
training in the new procedures but
also affect how much time they
spend at that one location.
Shippers should also think about
how potential problems might
affect deliveries at different points
in the supply chain and work with
carriers and 3PLs to develop an
action plan for handling such glitch-
es. Monkmeyer has seen shippers
order new products from overseas
and assume they’ll be able to whisk
the goods through customs and on
to stores the way they always do.
However, “if it’s the first time you’re
shipping from that country or from
that supplier, that first load could
end up sitting in port for two weeks
while customs checks on it,” he cau-
tions. That will cause a major delay
in the product’s arrival in stores, of
course. But the unforeseen change
in timing could also result in further
holdups down the road if the motor
carrier is unable to shift its resources
at a moment’s notice when the ship-
ment is finally released.
Motor carriers and 3PLs may
need to acquire new transportation management software or modify their existing systems to accommodate large or frequent product
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