Top Trend for Warehousing and Distribution Professionals
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 current importance to participants was the availability and quality of labor.
One of the basic points of concern related to the labor market is steadily rising costs, not to mention the corollary difficulty of simply finding reliable labor. In many markets, direct companies are in competition with labor users from other types of warehouses as well as other forms of retail and wholesale distribution. Labor rates appear to be on a continual increase nationally. In many markets the going wage is above $11.00 per hour. When you compare that with an average closer to $7.00 five years ago, you get a sense of the impact wages can have on warehouse operations. In addition, most companies that provide benefits such as insurance now are paying insurance rates as high as 15%–20% of wages, and even higher in some cases.
There is other evidence to highlight the importance of this labor issue. In recent client studies for new distribution center sites, F. Curtis Barry & Company has found that labor availability and quality has become a major factor. In fact, labor availability now often competes with transportation costs as the No.1 factor in where a company will decide to move a distribution center.
Labor quality, availability, and cost is the issue at the top of this year’s warehousing hot topics, but what are the others? The full list is posted on this blog, where you can leave a comment or join a discussion—What are the most important warehousing concerns for your business?
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F. Curtis Barry & Co. provides inventory management and forecasting solutions to multichannel companies interested in inventory management systems and inventory forecasting.