Riverside Logistics

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August 27, 2021 by Logistics

So, you found the right warehouse location, did you look at the transportation cost that goes with it?

More often than you would think, warehouse siting decisions are made without considering the transportation part of the equation. Transportation costs usually are at least 3 times as much as warehousing costs. In some cases, transportation can be one of your largest expenses in your supply chain. Why this is the case, is beyond me, but don’t be one of those companies that finds the perfect spot for your warehouse, only to discover after-the fact, that you can’t get capacity to service it, or that the rates to haul freight into and out of it are higher than you expected, or both.

Typically, warehouse site selections hinge upon three or four basic categories:

  1. Availability of structures suited to your needs in the locale your entering
  2. Labor costs and availability in the area you are looking to locate to.
  3. Inventory costs such as taxes in the locale and state, think California vs Nevada here.
  4. So, what did you miss? Transportation. Is the location highly accessible by truckload, intermodal, and LTL modes? Can they service it daily? Will there be enough capacity available to your facility to handle your outbound shipping volumes? This is especially critical if you are a high volume FTL shipper. How far away are you from key markets you want to service, one day, two days, longer? How much does this matter, a lot or a little? From a transportation standpoint, is this going to make your life difficult? For example, in the winter, are you in a snowbelt location that could disrupt your ability to ship because carriers cannot get into your location.

Now let’s shift the key question set over to transportation costs. In transportation there are head haul and back haul markets. A good example is the northeast market. You pay a lot to run freight into the northeast because drivers don’t want to go there because its congested and hard to get around, and  there are also many toll roads. On top of that, and more importantly, there aren’t as many loads going out from the northeast as there are coming into the northeast. So, if you have a location shipping to the northeast a lot, then your freight rates will be higher than if you have a location in the northeast that you are shipping out from.

Seasonal concerns are an issue. If you site in the deep south, you will have to contend with what is known as “produce season”. This is when every truck wants to go south to pick up produce going north. Rates into the deep south go way down (during this time frame) but capacity is hard (sometimes impossible) to find coming out from this area. Same holds true for “lawnmower” season in TN/Ohio market. There are examples of when seasonality works for or against you. Being cognizant of this is extremely important to your warehouse siting decisions. You could end up putting yourself in a more/less competitive position by making the right or wrong warehouse location decision.

As you can see from the above discussion, transportation cost and service levels should play a big role in your warehouse location decision. The impact of a bad decision could have a large negative impact on your ability to be competitive and to service your customer base the way that they need to be serviced.

 

Jim Durfee – Vice President Business Transformation

If you would like more information on our consulting services please call at 804- 474-7700 Option #4

 

Filed Under: News & Events, Supply Chain, Third-Party Logistics (3PL), Warehouse News Tagged With: Cost associated with a warhouse, Cost Considerations when choosing a warehouse location, East Coast Supply Chain, Richmond, Riverside Logistics, United States East Coast Warehouse Considerations, VA, Virginia, Warehouse near the Norfolk Port, Warehouses in Virginia, Warehouses near the Richmond Marine Terminal (RMT)

January 7, 2020 by Logistics

What quality controls should your warehouse provider offer?

This question is often asked when selecting a 3PL provider to handle the storage and distribution of products.  Before I can answer this question, I must start by defining quality controls.

Quality control (QC) is a process by which entities review the quality of all factors involved or an aggregate of activities (such as design analysis and inspection for defects) designed to ensure adequate quality in product production or distribution. ISO 9000., a series of international quality standards, defines quality control as “a part of quality management focused on fulfilling quality requirements”.

In summary, it’s a system for verifying and maintaining a desired level of quality.

So, why is this important when evaluating providers?

Obviously, you want to make sure whoever is managing your inventory is making sure they handle your products in a way that doesn’t create damage, losses, mis-ships, or compromise the integrity of your products while in their care.  You want your service provider to successfully catch issues early on and limit any future mistakes. This can help tighten up inefficient processes or aid in diagnosing a specific problem and improve warehouse efficiency, which should save you money in the long run.

What should you look for when evaluating providers?

My first question to a would-be provider:   What type of Warehouse Management System (WMS) is in place?  The most effective way to ensure quality control is to build it into the process.  This can be done by implementing a WMS that requires some form of scanning, audit trail capturing and location and storage unit barcoding.  In many WMS, such as the one we use, pickers are required to confirm remaining location quantities after each pick.  If used properly, a WMS can drastically reduce the error rate and help identify and document many non-conformities.  However, it won’t eliminate them if there are manual tasks within the processes.  There will always be opportunities for deviations.

Hence the need to verify the provider has procedures in place for unloading, receiving, inspecting, putaway, auditing, and shipping.  These procedures should identify non-conformances using trailer/carrier inspection (unloading/loading) forms, capturing inventory discrepancies during receiving, storage, and shipping, and damage/returns reporting processes.  In many cases, these procedures will describe the inspection steps for checking or double-checking and any other value-added services such as cycle counting or physical inventory programs.  There should be a system for making sure the procedures are reviewed frequently for accuracy.

Are there employees trained on these procedures or work instructions?  There should be a system in place for documenting training and making sure training is being completed and tracked for all activities from safety to routine inspections.

Finally, do they have a quality system in place for capturing and tracking errors and providing corrective action and preventive actions (CAPA)?  Any quality control system should provide a venue for capturing and reporting metrics around the effectiveness of their program.

If your provider doesn’t offer any or most of these services, you should start looking for a new provider.  Here at Riverside, many of our customer’s products are regulated by the FDA or some other governmental agency.  These agencies require strict adherence to many, if not all, of the items that I mentioned above.

As a result, we have met the audit expectations from our ISO certified customers and our largest facility location is NSF Food Grade certified.  Even if your products don’t need to meet the more stringent requirements, you can benefit from the best practices these requirements provide as we hold all our facilities to similar high standards for quality control.

Michael Kenny

Director, Warehouse Operations

 

 

 

Filed Under: News & Events, Warehouse News Tagged With: Corrective Action and Preventive Actions (CAPA), Medical Warehouses in Virginia, NSF Food Grade, Procedures for unloading, Quality Control -ISO9000, Quality Warehouse in Virginia, receiving and inspecting and shipping, Richmond, Riverside Logistics, Riverside Logistics Warehouse, Third Party Logistics Company, Virginia, Warehouse Management System (WMS), Warehouse Quality Controls, Warehouses near Richmond Marine Terminal, Warehouses near Virginia Ports

August 23, 2019 by Logistics

Riverside Logistics has multiple warehouses in Richmond & Henrico Virginia ready to improve your Supply Chain!

Riverside Logistics Warehouse 3plRiverside Logistics offers different sizes, levels of quality and staffing types of warehouse space. Our warehouses offer easy access to I-95, I-64 and I-295 and to the City of Richmond. Businesses who need a distribution/warehouse space on the East Coast strategically located in the Mid-Atlantic need Riverside Logistics! We are an ideal choice.

Our central Mid-Atlantic location allows us to reach 2/3 of the US population within a two-day drive.  Our warehouses have access to rail, ports and major interstate highways making Richmond, Virginia a desirable distribution location.

Riverside Logistics is proud to have industrial warehouse space near the Richmond Marine Terminal (RMT) in the Richmond Metro Area.  With 125,000 square feet of warehouse space located within minutes of the Richmond Marine terminal (RMT), we offer drayage, container unloading, order processing and cross-dock opportunities.

There is about 500,000 sq. ft. of warehouse space conveniently located near the Richmond International Airport in Henrico County. Combined, we manage over 600,000 sq. ft.

Riverside Logistics has different storage options available from bulk floor to fully racked systems.  If you are growing and need to expand your warehouse space but don’t want the big capital investment and hiring challenges a new warehouse may require, we may be a perfect fit.  We are constantly evaluating the market for warehouses that are available to help our current and new clients grow.

In addition to warehouse space, we offer transportation services to help reduce the cost and improve your supply chain. We are always looking for new opportunities. Make Riverside Logistics your supply chain partner!

 Call or e-mail us and let us know what type of warehouse you need!

Call 804-474-7700 Option #4     or   Click Here!

Filed Under: News & Events, Warehouse News Tagged With: Food Grade Warehouses, Mid-Atlantic Warehouses, Paper Industry Warehouses, Warehouse near the Virginia Ports, Warehouses near the Railroad, Warehouses near the Richmond Marine Terminal, Warehouses on the East Coast, Warehouses with Quality Control

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