UNEX Wins SDCE 100 Award for 3rd Consecutive Year

UNEX Manufacturing, Inc., the trusted industry leader in providing innovative order picking solutions, was chosen for a 2018 SDCE 100 award from Supply & Demand Chain Executive. The Supply & Demand Chain Executive 100 award recognizes innovative ideas and solutions that guide industry leaders to maximize efficiency, profitability and more. UNEX Manufacturing was selected for helping to speed assembly operations using carton flow systems to keep up with the growth of the client, which is an automotive business that transforms vans, SUVs and taxis into handicapped-accessible vehicles.



“We are extremely pleased to be selected for the third consecutive year to win this prestigious award for helping our client fit more products into their existing footprint, while speeding assembly lines,” said Brian C. Neuwirth, VP of Sales and Marketing at UNEX Manufacturing. “Our Flow Cells are made of steel construction and support up to 1000 pounds per level, making them 13 times stronger than the tube and joint flow rack systems that were previously installed at the client’s facility.”

“First and foremost, we want to congratulate the winners of this year’s Top 100 for their successful and innovative projects, which serve as models to companies of all sizes for what is achievable in their supply chains,” says John Yuva, editor for Supply & Demand Chain Executive. “Regardless of company size, these projects are best-in-class examples of the types of efficiencies and bottom-line results that supply chain executives should be striving toward in their own operations. Our 2018 winners provide a roadmap for how to get there.”

The 2018 Supply & Demand Chain Executive 100 spotlights a few of the industry’s most successful and transformational projects that deliver value to enterprises across a range of supply chain functions. The supply chain projects featured in this awards program offer a forward-looking perspective for the industry on new opportunities designed to drive operational success.

By implementing UNEX carton flow workstations and lineside racks in the sub-assembly area, workers efficiently complete small assembly tasks such as welding components, modifying doors or preassembling axels. Individuals work from a convenient work table with parts, lights and tools all within reach, rather than having to move around to different locations to find things, resulting in increased productivity. UNEX Span-Track is a patented carton flow solution that increases space utilization by 50%, reduces carton imprints with 300% more surface area than other roller track options, and increases throughput up to 150% when compared to order picking from pallets.

About Supply & Demand Chain Executive

Supply & Demand Chain Executive is the executive’s user manual for successful supply and demand chain transformation, utilizing hard-hitting analysis, viewpoints and unbiased case studies to steer executives and supply management professionals through the complicated, yet critical, world of supply and demand chain enablement to gain competitive advantage.

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source https://www.unex.com/unex-sdce100-3rd-year/

E-Commerce Fulfillment: 7 Ways to Build (Capital E) Efficiency

Consumers now have more ways to buy than ever before, a trend that is accelerating at rocket speed through partnerships, acquisitions, software innovations and device upgrades, prompted by demanding customers and lucrative new markets and boosted by the ease of use of new interfaces, currencies and payment options. In a world where Alexa can order your household staples and notify you when your package arrives at your door, why would anyone go to the mall? In 2016, worldwide retail e-commerce fulfillment sales reached $1.915 trillion dollars; by the end of 2020, it’s projected to reach a whopping $4 trillion, according to EMarketer.com. Meeting the (multi-faceted) challenges of e-commerce sales – handling all these SKUs from all these sources via all these channels to all these destinations – will require a focus on optimization and efficiency that will revolutionize fulfillment. When so many companies are falling behind, how do you get – and stay – ahead of the game? Implementing these 7 best practices can help you streamline your supply chain for greater accuracy and efficiency in e-commerce fulfillment:

• Consolidate picks: A sensible cluster-picking strategy with appropriately sized carts allows pickers to handle multiple orders in a single trip, which increases pick rates and reduces travel time.
• Build cohesion across channels: In e-commerce, there’s no room for segregated fulfillment. You must be able to receive, fulfill, ship, and return equally well in and across each of your facilities, from warehouses to retail centers, seamlessly and transparently, to ensure operational accuracy and follow through. Focus on creating cross-channel transparency, communication and competence.
• Keep omni-channel warehouse strategies omnipresent: When designing or renovating your DCs, plan for fluid omni-channel processes with optimum functionality and flexibility to meet demand in every channel.
• Equalize production, fulfillment and labor loads: Integrate supply chain systems to balance workloads, minimize fluctuations for your facilities, equipment and staff, and accommodate seasonality.
• Fine-tune your WMS: Expand existing WMS capabilities to include automation and applications designed to meet the specific challenges of e-commerce fulfillment. Supplement your WMS with a slotting analysis program like SKUBE to ensure every SKU or part you carry is optimized and accounted for.
• Scrutinize seasonality: A close study of seasonal demand patterns often reveals distinct differences by channel. For instance, holiday fulfillment for wholesale orders will increase and peak significantly earlier than for e-commerce orders, allowing you to analyze and optimize seasonal hiring and training.
• Supplement with regional or pop-up DCs: Since 2016, DC operators have been experimenting with the use of smaller, temporary fulfillment facilities to handle the highest volume, fastest-moving SKUs for increased speed and efficiency, especially near large urban hubs.

Realistically, the “traditional” DC has no place in today’s fast-paced, high-demand, customer-centric, omni-channel marketplace. Successful operators recognize this reality – and invest in innovations to meet its challenges with speed and efficiency.  UNEX Manufacturing helps e-commerce operations improve efficiencies and speed of fulfillment with carton flow, pick shelves, gravity conveyors and other material handling systems. UNEX solutions help e-commerce businesses reduce operating costs and keep orders flowing. Contact your UNEX Pickologist today.

The post E-Commerce Fulfillment: 7 Ways to Build (Capital E) Efficiency appeared first on Carton Flow and Order Picking Solutions from UNEX.

source https://www.unex.com/e-commerce-fulfillment-efficiency/

E-Commerce Fulfillment: 7 Ways to Build Efficiency With a Capital E

Consumers now have more ways to buy than ever before, a trend that is accelerating at rocket speed through partnerships, acquisitions, software innovations and device upgrades, prompted by demanding customers and lucrative new markets and boosted by the ease of use of new interfaces, currencies and payment options. In a world where Alexa can order your household staples and notify you when your package arrives at your door, why would anyone go to the mall? In 2016, worldwide retail e-commerce fulfillment reached $1.915 trillion dollars; by the end of 2020, it’s projected to reach a whopping $4 trillion, according to EMarketer.com. Meeting the (multi-faceted) challenges of e-commerce sales – handling all these SKUs from all these sources via all these channels to all these destinations – will require a focus on optimization and efficiency that will revolutionize fulfillment. When so many companies are falling behind, how do you get – and stay – ahead of the game? Implementing these 7 best practices can help you streamline your supply chain for greater accuracy and efficiency in e-commerce fulfillment:  

1. Consolidate picks: A sensible cluster-picking strategy with appropriately sized carts allows pickers to handle multiple orders in a single trip, which increases pick rates and reduces travel time.
2. Build cohesion across channels: In e-commerce, there’s no room for segregated fulfillment. You must be able to receive, fulfill, ship, and return equally well in and across each of your facilities, from warehouses to retail centers, seamlessly and transparently, to ensure operational accuracy and follow through. Focus on creating cross-channel transparency, communication and competence.
3. Keep omni-channel warehouse strategies omnipresent: When designing or renovating your DCs, plan for fluid omni-channel processes with optimum functionality and flexibility to meet demand in every channel.
4. Equalize production, fulfillment and labor loads: Integrate supply chain systems to balance workloads, minimize fluctuations for your facilities, equipment and staff, and accommodate seasonality.
5. Fine-tune your WMS: Expand existing WMS capabilities to include automation and applications designed to meet the specific challenges of e-commerce fulfillment. Utilizing your WMS alongside a slotting analysis program like SKUBE will ensure every inch of useful space is being used in the best way possible.
6. Scrutinize seasonality: A close study of seasonal demand patterns often reveals distinct differences by channel. For instance, holiday fulfillment for wholesale orders will increase and peak significantly earlier than for e-commerce orders, allowing you to analyze and optimize seasonal hiring and training.
7. Supplement with regional or pop-up DCs: Since 2016, DC operators have been experimenting with the use of smaller, temporary fulfillment facilities to handle the highest volume, fastest-moving SKUs for increased speed and efficiency, especially near large urban hubs.

Realistically, the “traditional” DC has no place in today’s fast-paced, high-demand, customer-centric, omni-channel marketplace. Successful operators recognize this reality – and invest in innovations to meet its challenges with speed and efficiency. UNEX Manufacturing helps e-commerce operations improve efficiencies and speed of fulfillment with carton flow solutions and other material handling systems. UNEX solutions help e-commerce businesses reduce operating costs and keep orders flowing. Contact your UNEX Pickologist today.

The post E-Commerce Fulfillment: 7 Ways to Build Efficiency With a Capital E appeared first on Carton Flow and Order Picking Solutions from UNEX.

source https://www.unex.com/e-commerce-fulfillment-7-ways/

UNEX Wins Food Logistics Green Supply Chain Award

 

UNEX Manufacturing, Inc., the trusted industry leader in providing innovative order picking solutions, win the 2018 Food Logistics Green Supply Chain Award. Food Logistics’ annual Top Green Providers recognizes companies whose products, services, or exemplary leadership is enhancing sustainability within the food and beverage industry.

“Using green supply chain technologies within your distribution operations will help to lower energy costs and decrease your carbon footprint to address consumer concerns about sustainability,” said Brian C. Neuwirth, VP of Marketing and Sales at UNEX Manufacturing. “We are pleased to once again win this prestigious award.”

“The agricultural sector and food supply chains at large have long recognized the importance of environmental stewardship for long-term sustainability in both business and for future food production globally,” notes Lara L. Sowinski, editorial director. “Food Logistics remains committed to promoting those in our industry who understand their leadership role in sustainability and work to raise the bar with new products, services and strategies each year.”

Each year, the criteria for earning a spot on the list become more stringent for applicants. For example, the editorial staff evaluates a company’s participation in such programs as the EPA’s SmartWay and other recognized sustainability programs; facilities that are LEED-certified, and/or feature solar panels, LED lighting and other energy saving installations and retrofits that produce measurable reductions in GHG emissions, to name a few.

UNEX provides a number of cost-effective, flexible solutions that help distribution operations with green supply chain initiatives to keep products flowing through fulfillment. UNEX boosts storage capacity and accessibility to storage areas, allowing companies to keep their same footprint, which reduces energy consumption.

About Food Logistics

Food Logistics is published by AC Business Media, a business-to-business media company that provides targeted content and comprehensive, integrated advertising and promotion opportunities for some of the world’s most recognized B2B brands. Its diverse portfolio serves the construction, logistics, supply chain and other industries with print, digital and custom products, events and social media.

The post UNEX Wins Food Logistics Green Supply Chain Award appeared first on Carton Flow and Order Picking Solutions from UNEX.

source https://www.unex.com/green-supply-chain-2018/

Adapting NextGen Technologies- What’s Stopping You?

Back in 2014, when the MHI Annual Industry Report was titled “Innovations That Drive Supply Chains,” 84% of supply chain execs predicted that they would adopt inventory and network optimization tools within the next 3-5 years. Yet, now that 2018 is here, the actual adoption rate is a full 40% less than predictions! The same is true for the rest of 2014’s “transformational” technologies: adoption rates are roughly 20-50% lower than expected.

These figures come from the 2018 Annual Industry Report, which is appropriately titled “Overcoming Barriers to NextGen Supply Chain Innovation.” So what’s the holdup?

According to this year’s respondents, there are 3 main barriers that stand in the way of adopting NextGen technologies:

• Making the business case. Justifying the costs of implementing innovative new technologies is difficult because the potential value is unknown. On the other hand, the costs of inaction – and falling behind – can be dire.
• Addressing the skills gap and workforce shortage. Attracting talent with technical and analytical skills is not a new challenge, but solving it becomes even more critical as NextGen systems replace physical work with insight based tasks that require multi-faceted expertise.
• Building trust and ensuring cybersecurity. Even the most casual observer knows that new technologies come with new risks, no matter how large or small the company. Building in robust, multi-layered security features at every point along the supply chain is vital to building trust among all partners and stakeholders.

So how do you tackle these barriers? That answer depends on your own specific culture, partners, workforce, industry and markets. But there’s no doubt that you must tackle them. As MHI CEO George Prest put it in the 2018 report, “While the transition to NextGen supply chains is complex, inaction is not a strategy. Ignoring these important developments may leave your supply chain at a severe disadvantage in the future.”

UNEX Manufacturing has materials handling, storage and order picking solutions that tackle many of the barriers of adoption, such as helping with the labor shortage by speeding fulfillment and reducing amount of labor needed. Our solutions are cost-effective, yet made of the highest quality materials, so you get the most value for your investment. Contact your UNEX Pickologist today.

The post Adapting NextGen Technologies- What’s Stopping You? appeared first on Carton Flow and Order Picking Solutions from UNEX.

source https://www.unex.com/adapting-nextgen-technologies/

NextGen Supply Chains: Are We There Yet?

NextGen seems to be the supply chain industry’s favorite new terminology. But what does the term actually mean?

As buzzwords go, NextGen is pretty broad and nebulous. We’ve seen NextGen supply chains called “connected commerce,” described as “unified commerce solutions,” and defined as “the creation of complex yet seamless supply chain networks.”

What we haven’t seen is much on NextGen’s specifics. Can incremental improvements lead to NextGen? Or does NextGen require a completely new process? How do we know if and when our supply chain has officially become NextGen?

While the 2018 Annual Industry Report: Overcoming Barriers to NextGen Supply Chain Innovation doesn’t define the term, it does help refine the NextGen vision and put it into an industry context by listing the 10 Key Attributes of the NextGen Supply Chain. These characteristics, existing contemporaneously and operating seamlessly, set the stage for NextGen:

• Digital: Data-gathering sensors and smart devices transform reams of data points into actionable insights by feeding information to artificial intelligence technologies for analysis and direction.
• Connected: Seamless sharing across all links throughout the supply chain enables operators to tighten up plans and processes in ways that minimize waste and increase speed and accuracy.
• Collaborative: Unlike the traditional competitive supply chain model, NextGen supply chains are collaborative, removing barriers to achieve shared benefits, including lower costs and better service delivery.
• Always-on: The Internet never sleeps, and now that customers can order online any time from anywhere, neither can supply chains. Even raw materials suppliers, manufacturers and vendors must mount round-the-clock operations in order to meet market demand for fast turnaround and seamless service.
• Driven by forward-looking analytics: Historical data will always have its place, but as companies adopt and apply emerging predictive analysis capabilities, they discover unexpected ways to improve performance and gain a competitive advantage.
• Transparent: From sourcing and production through order placement, fulfillment and delivery, NextGen supply chains provide not just visibility – but full transparency and access – to all stakeholders, including customers and end users, in real time, creating connection and avoiding unintended silos.
• Secure and trusted: In a digital, interconnected, transparent network, security is a vital characteristic, not only to identify threats and manage risks, but also to build in the level of trust that’s needed to ensure enterprise-wide participation.
• Agile, adaptive and responsive: Across-the-board connectedness gives partners the insights they need to anticipate and adapt to market demand in unison, working hand in hand to optimize outcomes.
• Effective and efficient: Efficiency vs. effectiveness has long been the supply chain dichotomy, an ongoing strategic competition between resource management and service delivery. NextGen helps eliminate the need for tradeoffs by simultaneously improving both, based on a customer-centric perspective.
• Safe and sustainable: The supply chain’s role in promoting and protecting workplace safety, societal responsibility and environmental sustainability faces scrutiny like never before, and consumers punish those who ignore issues of health and sustainability. NextGen’s flexible connectedness helps companies find ways to incorporate automation to eliminate safety hazards, increase use of recycled and repurposed materials, minimize water and energy usage, even cut back on unnecessary travel, as tangible demonstrations of brand values.

Chances are, your supply chain operation already includes at lease some NextGen characteristics. The challenge is to continually build upon these capabilities, leveraging the resulting information and insights to prepare for the future. Yes, technologies will continue to evolve and capabilities will continue to improve. It’s called progress, and in every generation, that’s something to look forward to.

NextGen supply chains are digitally enhanced and connected via smart devices and sensors, creating a seamless network of information that can be used for continuous improvement and creating a lean environment. UNEX Manufacturing engineers understand that in order to remain competitive in today’s environment, businesses must harness this data for better transparency. UNEX helps companies survive in the 21^st century by meeting customer expectations and speeding fulfillment. Contact your UNEX Pickologist today.

The post NextGen Supply Chains: Are We There Yet? appeared first on Carton Flow and Order Picking Solutions from UNEX.

source https://www.unex.com/nextgen-supply-chains-yet/

Meeting the Challenge of Supply Chain Innovation

The 2018 MHI Annual Industry report has been released, and its findings are right on the nose. Titled “Overcoming Barriers to NextGen Supply Chain Innovation,” the results from this fifth annual survey on supply chain innovation and challenges show that much has changed since that initial report came out in 2014 – and much has not.

For instance, the 2014 report cited supply chain executives’ top two strategic priorities (analytics and multichannel fulfillment); top two barriers to innovation (a talent shortage and cost-reduction pressures); and top three emerging innovations to watch (sustainability, mobility/machine-to-machine technology, 3-D printing).

In the 2018 report, respondents cited their top challenges as consumer demand on supply chain (73%) and hiring qualified workers (64%). The number of key innovations they’re eyeing increased from just three in 2014 to 11 in 2018: robotics & automation (65%); predictive analytics (62%); Internet of Things/IoT (59%); artificial intelligence (53%); inventory & network optimization (53%); driverless vehicles & drones (52%), wearable & mobile technologies (45%); cloud computing and storage (40%); blockchain/distributed ledger technologies (35%); and 3-D printing (35%).

Realistically, supply chain pressures have not so much changed as amplified and intensified exponentially.

As the report’s intro bluntly notes, “Today’s supply chain does much more than just physically move materials and product from place to place. In an increasingly digital world, supply chains are the backbone of an information ecosystem in which a connected and carefully coordinated set of movements and actions must be tracked at every level in order to maximize efficiency and meet customer demands for increased flexibility, visibility, and transparency.”

In just five short years, supply chain execs have shifted from warily contemplating technology’s applications and impact on a changing industry to confronting the hard realities of the digital, omni-channel world. Surveys like the one from MHI give us all insights into what we’re facing – and help us fix our focus on the future as we develop solutions.

With customer expectations going through the roof, UNEX Manufacturing knows what it takes to speed fulfillment operations so you can meet the market’s demand. UNEX has the systems to help retailers, assemblers, distributors and manufacturers get products into the queue and out the door quicker. Contact your UNEX Pickologist today for details.

The post Meeting the Challenge of Supply Chain Innovation appeared first on Carton Flow and Order Picking Solutions from UNEX.

source https://www.unex.com/meeting-challenge-supply-chain-innovation/