New report from Peerless Research and Kardex Remstar highlights the top challenges and opportunities that modern order fulfillment and distribution operations are managing now and what lies ahead for 2024.
The persistent labor shortage, ongoing supply chain interruptions, rising freight costs and the fear of running out of physical space remain as some of the top issues that order fulfillment and distribution operations are grappling with right now. Organizations are also worried about their customers’ demand for faster delivery times, how to effectively process returns and a lack of data visibility across multiple locations.
Not surprisingly, these and other pain points are keeping warehouse and distribution center (DC) operators up at night and are expected to roll right over into the new year. As labor, materials and shipping costs continue to put pressure on companies’ bottom lines, more of them continue to turn to technology, automation and robotics to streamline their order fulfillment processes, reduce costs and compete more effectively.
They’re also making better use of vertical space and using space-saving equipment like automated storage and retrieval (AS/RS) systems to improve efficiency and further reduce costs.