How do you know how much space you will need next year?  How do you know how much space you will need in the next 5 – 7 years?  Nearly the only certainty is that you don’t know.  Those of you that have decided to go it alone and lease or purchase a warehouse have been faced trying to figure this out.  Maybe you are growing and adding volume or product lines requiring additional space.  Maybe your are shrinking or moving to a just-in-time inventory and will need less space.  Under any scenario, wouldn’t it be nice instead of entering into long-term commitment and a large fixed overhead, to be able to just rent the space you want on a month-to-month basis?  That is what our outsourced fulfillment and distribution clients do from us.  As I look around at buildings and face very challenging decisions, I can truly realize the benefit of an outsourced warehouse.  Now if I could just find someone to outsource to I could avoid this space anxiety….oh wait, that is the business I am in!  Nevermind.

• Next day air = 17.5-8.5%
• Next day air saver = 8.0%
• 2 Day air AM = 6.5%
• 2 Day air = 7.5-8.0%
• 3 Day air = 8.0-10.0%
• Ground = 7.0-8.0%

2012 FedEx increases announced are as follows:

• Priority = 4.0-6.0%
• Priority = 4.0-6.0%
• Standard Overnight = 6.0-7.0%
• 2 Day AM = 6.0-7.0%
• 2 Day = 6.5%
• Express Saver (3 Day) = 6.5-10.5%
• International Priority = 4.5-9.0%
• International Economy = 5.5-7.5%

FedEx is expected to match the UPS Ground increases.  It is important to also note that the ground minimum shipment charge will increase from $5.17 to $5.49, a 6.2% increase.  In addition, other accessorial charges are as much as 10% higher in 2012, such as Delivery Area Surcharges, Residential Surcharges, Declared Value, Dimensional Rates and many other fees.

As always, TAGG works with its fulfillment clients to manages these costs between FedEx and UPS.  We match the right services with the right price to each of our clients…which can also include looking at the USPS as an alternative…although their recent announcements on service and price will be a whole other Blog!

One of the main drivers of complexity in the supply chain has been the explosion of sales channels. Lets say you wanted to buy a new sweatshirt. You could go to the mall to buy the sweatshirt. You may find it in a big box retailer such as Wal*Mart, Target or Kohls. Maybe you will see it in a catalog. What about a direct-response TV ad or shopping network? You could also go on line…just Google the sweatshirt and you will probably get more than a dozen sites offering it for purchase. More recently, you might get an e-mail from Groupon offering the sweatshirt at a discount. One sweatshirt, so many ways to buy it….and so many different requirements on your supply chain to get that sweatshirt to the store shelf or deliver it to your doorstep.

Last year I wrote an article “The Rise of Outsourced Fulfillment and Distribution” in which I discussed how the complexity of all these different channels has driven growth in the outsourced fulfillment industry. To prove that nothing is constant in retail, in the short time since I wrote the article, we have seen even more variations arise, if not whole new channels. Recently, we have been working with product manufacturers and web retailers on how to fill orders for promotional sites and daily-deal sites. This new breed of e-commerce can bring huge sales volume in a very short period of time by reaching a targeted audience with appealing offers.

Match Fulfillment to Your Sales Channel

Groupon, the largest of the daily-deal companies, announced that they sold more than 650,000 holiday deals between Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Remember though, all those deals that require delivering a product, need to be fulfilled with the right merchandise getting to the right buyer in a timely manner. Instead of a steady daily flow of orders, you have an explosion of orders, often in as little as 24 hours, that need to be picked, packaged and delivered. It is critical to have a fulfillment center who understands the channel and can handle the fluctuations without causing another explosion….this time in the supply chain. Some critical points to work through with your fulfillment partner are:

1. Plan Ahead Get your fulfillment center involved early, work out a plan and have inventory present at the fulfillment center prior to running the promotion.

2. Limit Variations Knowing how the product will be sold, the fulfillment center can pre-package and prepare the product for shipment prior to the daily-deal. The best scenario is at the time the promotion is run, all that will need to be done will be to pick product and apply shipping labels.

3. Understand Volume Dealing with volume fluctuations in fulfillment is all about dealing with capacity. It doesn’t matter whether your volumes will be 500 or 10,000, if you predict in advance, your fulfillment center can plan accordingly with personnel and equipment. The hard part is if you think it is going to be 500 and it ends up 10,000!

The new daily-deal sites and promotion sites have been called the biggest thing to hit on-line retailing since eBay. They are just in their infancy and many feel they will shape an entirely new way of shopping on-line. When thinking of using this channel, also think about your supply chain. There are some very unique characteristics of fulfilling orders from these sites and a little bit of planning and a whole lot of flexibility is necessary to ensure success.

Click here to download the PDF of this article!

So imagine its surprise when the current 3PL fulfillment and distribution company said no way. Can’t be done. A customized packing list? That’s asking way more than its Warehouse Management System could handle.

But not TAGG’s. Our new WMS is high-tech and made to do what this manufacturer wants: Be as unique as the products it creates. Add a logo to the packing list? No problem. Customize product and shipping information, based on a wide variety of available data? That’s easy. Create a sales message specifically for the customer? Done deal.

This dental manufacturer opened wide and said, “I want it!” And TAGG became the new 3^rd party logistics provider. It’s all part of TAGG Logistics’ commitment to providing healthcare companies with state-of-the-art distribution, fulfillment and logistics services. After all, we’re here to make healthcare better, and we’re doing it one custom packing list at a time.

And that keeps our new dental client smiling.

TAGG’s healthcare fulfillment business is focused on providing healthcare companies with a state-of-the-art warehouse and distribution system – letting our clients focus on making healthcare better!

“We focus on helping growing companies upgrade their fulfillment, distribution and packaging needs, once their original resources can no longer handle the volume,” said Tod Yazdi, principal. “To help more companies make this critical transition as smoothly as possible, it was time for TAGG to upgrade to Cadence. We thoroughly reviewed more than a dozen alternatives before we decided on this solution from Cadre Technologies, which is a leading software provider for the 3PL industry.

“TAGG’s investment in Cadence makes this superior technology available to the small and mid-sized businesses that turn to us to enable growth,” Yazdi added. “We expect to partner with Cadre for many years to come.” The entirely paperless system is state-of-the-art and provides greater visibility and control of inventory, using RF guns and scannable bar codes to track every product.

TAGG focuses on healthcare and consumer products via three facilities in St. Louis, Missouri, plus a West Coast fulfillment and distribution center in Reno, Nevada. Many of the products TAGG manages are highly sensitive and require special handling, particularly those from healthcare manufacturers. For example, TAGG is using Cadence to expand its ability to trace product lot codes. So if a healthcare product is recalled, TAGG knows instantly and exactly where the product was shipped. And that makes pulling those products off the shelf much simpler.

The same holds true for medical devices, which are often assigned individual serial numbers. TAGG’s new warehouse management system records and tracks each serial number. So if there’s ever a product recall, the precise location of every device is just a few mouse clicks away.

Cadence offers other technological advances as well. When TAGG assembles kits for a manufacturer, now lot numbers can be tracked by both the product components and the kit itself. And the new system can even customize packing lists, so there’s no question about what’s inside, where it’s from—and why it’s a welcome arrival at its final destination.

“In a word, our business is really about certainty,” Yazdi said. “And while technology is vital to deliver the certainty our clients expect, it’s just part of our story. We are here to make our clients more successful, and they want to be confident that we’ll do what we say and provide the service they expect. After all, we know it’s a big step to trust your products to a third-party distribution center, so we’re here every day to ensure you’ve made the right move when you come to TAGG. We like to say our business is right-sized for manufacturers that are moving up. When you’re ready to grow, we’re ready to help.”

About TAGG Logistics

Founded in 1979, TAGG Logistics is a leading fulfillment, distribution and packaging provider for small- and mid-sized businesses who have outgrown their current capabilities. TAGG provides order fulfillment, distribution services, contract packaging, 3PL, reverse logistics and kitting and assembly to clients in a variety of industries, with a focus on healthcare and consumer products. To learn more, visit www.tagglogistics.com or call 866-383-9127.

DENVER, July 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Cadre Technologies recently announced that TAGG Logistics of St. Louis, Mo. has implemented its Cadence integrated supply chain management and logistics software as its new warehouse management system (WMS). Cadence brings the entire fulfillment process together in a single, integrated package allowing clients to control orders from all sources. Cadence provides electronic storefront capabilities, organizes inventory of all types, directs and executes all logistics operations, manages customer/client accounts, tracks shipments and integrates accounting processes – all in real-time.

“Cadence has been developed precisely for companies like TAGG,” said Joe Peters, president and CEO of Cadre Technologies. “Cadre is delighted to provide a system that helps successfully manage TAGG’s broad spectrum of distribution, fulfillment and packaging activities across two geographically distant facilities. Their growing business demands flexibility and scalability, and we are looking forward to a long and productive relationship with TAGG.”

TAGG Logistics provides outsourced logistics services to its clients so that they can rededicate their work force, attention and capital back to their core expertise. The company provides order fulfillment, distribution services, contract packaging, kitting and assembly to clients in a variety of industries, with a focus on healthcare and consumer products. The company’s three facilities in St. Louis, totaling 200,000 square-feet, and 20,000 square-foot facility in Reno, Nev. enable it to provide nationwide coverage.

“Cadre and Cadence displayed subtle differences that will make a huge impact,” said Tod Yazdi, principal of TAGG Logistics. “Before selecting Cadence, we had used an ‘entry-level’ WMS package that couldn’t adapt to the growing fulfillment part of our services. As order volume grew, we knew we needed to invest in a new system.”

TAGG’s selection of Cadence was the result of a lengthy process that involved evaluating and narrowing down 20 WMS providers. In particular, the company sought a system that worked for 3PL companies with a strong focus on fulfillment and had a robust billing component, a feature that was lacking in many other systems.

VIEW ORIGINAL ARTICLE