F. Curtis Barry & Company’s Multichannel Operations & Fulfillment Blog

There’s been quite a bit of discussion about a new Michigan Services Tax that is expected to hit the state’s logistics and warehouse services businesses especially hard. Business leaders reacted angrily and strongly to the State Legislature’s passage of the tax, which will affect some 16,000 businesses, as part of a budget deal in early […]

The percentage of online sales compared to in-store sales continues to rise, and multichannel retailers’ order management strategies need to keep pace. Those engaged in e-commerce have more options all the time. Here are ten possibilities to consider:
1. Internet customers expect faster delivery, and having multiple distribution points can provide improve delivery times.
2. Being closer […]

Absolute productivity has declined in many companies.
Indeed, in conducting our benchmarking surveys (which we’ve done since 1996), we’ve discovered that many metrics, such as orders processed per full-time warehouse worker, remained flat, while dollars of sales processed per warehouse square foot have declined. In turn, labor rates have increased from an average of $5.50 to […]

F. Curtis Barry & Company ShareGroups always produce interesting insights, and the Warehouse Benchmarking ShareGroup meeting, hosted in Columbus, OH, by Victoria’s Secret Direct (March 12–13), was no exception to that rule. ShareGroup members generate their own “hot topics” for discussion during meetings. Topping this year’s list of the dozen warehousing and distribution topics of […]

What may seem like a rabbit out of the hat is usually the result of experience, and that applies to good advice in operations consulting as well as to magic. For instance, in a current interview Ken McKinney, director of distribution for Urban Outfitters, mentions F. Curtis Barry & Company in connection with his “welcome […]