New White Paper by Florida Based Material Handling Systems Integrator

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Nov. 17, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- TriFactor, a Florida material handling systems integrator (www.trifactor.com), announces the release of a new white paper titled, "5 Things Your Busy Season Can Teach You" by John T. Phelan, Jr., P.E. The information in the white paper is intended for warehouse and distribution industry professionals looking to improve their processes. Read the white paper below:

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For most distributors, especially in the retail industry, preparing for the busy season is well underway. With the holidays fast approaching, breaking out the checklist in order to stay ahead of the demand is priority number one for many DC managers. Even though process improvement is typically done during slower times, the full cycle of preparing for and then executing the busy season's tasks offers a wealth of opportunity for learning and understanding areas to focus on being a better distributor. Here are five gifts the holiday season can offer DC managers:

Gift 1 – Determine bottlenecks in your system  

When I was a plebe at the Naval Academy a while back, one of the first things that we had to memorize was a poem called The Laws of the Navy. I remember spending a lot of time in push up position with my platoon, repeating the 5th law which states (from memory) "On the strength of one link in the cable, dependeth the might of the chain, who knows when though mayest be tested? So live that though bearest the strain!"  How does this relate to a distribution center? It's simple; the DC's throughput is only as high as the slowest part of the process just like a chain is as strong as its weakest link. So during the height of the busy season, take a hard look at the processes or equipment that is slowing the downstream processes and equipment and then document it.  It might be easy things, like outdated automatic tapers or checkweigh scales. Or it might be more difficult areas, such as Value Added Services (VAS) and packstations that cannot provide the same output as the input.  In any event, it is best to know and understand the weak points so that they can be addressed during the slower seasons and thus improved upon for the next go-around.

To view the full white paper by John T. Phelan, P.E., please visit http://www.trifactor.com/Material-Handling-White-Papers/Busy-Season

SOURCE TriFactor