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Each month, our print newsletter Distribution Center Management provides in-depth information and ideas to help readers better manage the warehouse or distribution center.

But we often have valuable background material, additional information, or related resources that we just can’t fit in the newsletter. Listed below are a wide range of documents that add further insight and understanding to the articles in Distribution Center Management.

These documents may be viewed and printed with the Adobe Acrobat Reader. You may download a free copy by clicking on the yellow icon.

Learn more about the Distribution Center Management newletter.

August 2010

Tabletop Disaster Test — The Small Business Administration encourages planning for emergencies and testing those plans with a tabletop drill.

National Industrial Index — Warehouse rental rates will slide in 2010, while vacancy rates will rise, says commercial real estate brokerage Marcus & Millichap.

June 2010

Safety Postcards — At UniFirst Corp. safety is a 24/7 job. So workers receive safety postcards at their homes. Some cover work-related topics, others focus on general safety.

Efficient Packaging — The right packaging can help your organization go green and lean. Terry Harris of Chicago Consulting explains how.

May 2010

Cargo Theft Report — What are thieves’ favorite targets? This report by LoJack Supply Chain Integrity and the Supply Chain Information Sharing and Analysis Center gives the rundown for the first nine months of 2009.

March 2010

Operating Costs — The Boyd Co. ranks dozens of markets based on the costs of running a 450,000-square-foot DC. San Francisco is the priciest, while Jackson, MS, is the cheapest. See where other markets rank.

Retail Supply Chain — See the Retail Industry Leadership Association’s report on managing costs in the supply chain.

West Coast Diversion — Slowly but surely, imports are arriving through the East Coast and Gulf Coast rather than the West Coast. See Grubb & Ellis’ chart illustrating this trend.

February 2010

Go Green Sources — Before the economy took a turn in late 2008, green initiatives were all the rage. And while sustainability hasn’t dropped off the radar yet, most companies are looking for initiatives that are both green and help reduce costs at the same time. According to Lou Cerny, a vice president at consulting firm Sedlak, changes to exit signs, urinals and cartons can make a difference.

Packaging Sustainability Report — The future is bright for sustainable packaging, according to a Tompkins’ Supply Chain Consortium survey of top retail- and manufacturing-related companies. (Online registration required.)

January 2010

The Worker-Centric Warehouse — Sponsored by the Material Handling Industry of America, Dr. Kevin Gue and his associates are conducting a survey of warehouse workers to determine their level of satisfaction in different areas. Read their manifesto here.

Walgreens’ Anderson, SC, DC — 30 percent of the workforce at a Walgreens DC in Anderson, SC, is made up of people with disabilities. These employees have been trained to work side-by-side with other team members, with the same productivity goals, earning the same pay. Watch a video of the Anderson, SC, DC in action here.

Conveyor Safety Resources — Conveyors can be one of the best productivity-enhancing tools in today’s DCs, but injuries cost U.S. employers millions of dollars every year. That’s money you can save and pain you can avoid with the right processes and design. These resources can help you upgrade conveyor safety in your own facility:

• Conveyor Safety Poster (PDF document courtesy of Cisco-Eagle and Hytrol Conveyors): This printable poster can be posted in break rooms and conveyor area to reinforce training.
• Conveyor Safety Manual (PDF document): Printable conveyor safety standards from Cisco-Eagle and Hytrol Conveyors, Inc.
• Conveyor Safety Tips from The U.S. Department of Labor. Some tips on belt conveyor safety.
• Concepts and Techniques of Machine Guarding. Information from OSHA on machine guarding techniques.

Forklift Accident Brings Down The Warehouse Video — Need another reason to implement forklift safety procedures in the DC? Watch this YouTube footage of a forklift accident that literally brings the warehouse down.

December 2009

Green Roofs — Is a green roof right for your DC? This article by Tecta America’s Mark Gaulin can help you decide.

Rubber Pallet Bands — U.S. Foodservice-Fort Mill’s DC was able to save $8,000 in five months by replacing shrink wrap with rubber pallet bands. The DC has also seen a reduction of more than 100,000 pounds of shrink wrap per year. Here is a list of some of the many manufacturers and distributors of rubber pallet bands.

Inventory Management Seminars — These seminars, led by the Distribution Team’s Jason Bader, teach more than 30 different “hunting for cash” ideas that DC managers can implement immediately. All aspects of purchasing, inventory management, warehouse operations, branch operations, receiving and put away, cycle counting, dead stock management, and distribution industry technology are covered. To learn more about these seminars, visit The Distribution Team’s website.

November 2009

Is Fear of Benchmarking Costing you Money? — Consultant Debra Ellis says one of the best ways to identify inefficiencies in your picking process is to implement a benchmarking system. But if the idea of benchmarking is a bit daunting, remember that not doing it could cost you money. Want help getting started? This article by Ellis can help.

Mezzanine Flooring Case Studies — Choosing the right flooring for a mezzanine in your DC can be tricky business. Read these case studies to learn how other DCs have made that choice.

Fundamentals of a Workplace First-Aid Program — A good first aid program is an important part of any health and safety plan, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Having a first aid plan in place can help reduce lost-time injuries and help workers recover faster. Get a jump-start on creating your workplace first aid program with this document from OSHA.

October 2009

Advanced Energy Design Guide — The U.S. Green Building Council, in association with a number of other organizations, is offering an Advanced Energy Design Guide series of publications as free electronic downloads. One publication in the series offers advice for warehouse buildings to reduce energy usage by 30 percent. (Registration is required.)

AC Electric Versus Internal Combustion Forklift Trucks — Should you choose a three-phase AC electric forklift truck or a more traditional internal combustion truck? This whitepaper from Jungheinrich Lift Truck Corp. can help you decide.

September 2009

Nine Signs Its Time to Replace Your WMS — Is your WMS outdated? This whitepaper from HighJump software offers in-depth information on how to tell if you need a new WMS.

Tips for a Healthy Spine — Approximately 80-90 percent of the population suffers from spinal pain at some point. People who lift heavy objects are more likely to experience back pain, which puts DC workers at risk. This paper from the American Chiropractic Association can help teach both you and your employees about the importance of having a healthy spine.

August 2009

Lean Readiness Quiz — Are you ready to go lean in your DC? Or are you already lean? This quiz from Lean Cor LLC can help you determine your company’s current lean logistics and supply chain management levels.

Video Image Detection — Video image detection uses cameras to detect the presence of fire and/or smoke in the DC, providing faster detection times than conventional detectors. Watch this video from axonX LLC to see video image detection in action.

July 2009

Pandemic planning resources — The Centers for Disease Control is continuing to investigate human cases of H1N1 flu in the United States and is working closely with Canada, Mexico and with the World Health Organization. As part of its response to the outbreak, the CDC is issuing new H1N1 flu guidance, now available online.

World Health Organization updates — The World Health Organization offers a number of resources and updates on the H1N1 flu virus on its website.

Advanced pandemic planning whitepapers — These whitepapers by Regina Phelps, principal of EMS Solutions, offer advice for executives in a number of industries on how to properly prepare pandemic plans.

June 2009

Overcoming the Challenges of Split Case Picking — Learn how to implement automated split case picking solutions in this whitepaper by Diamond Phoenix CEO Tom Coyne.

What Is the Storage Utilization Factor? — The Storage Utilization Factor (SUF) is one of the least understood terms in warehousing. As such, it is also one of the principles of warehousing that causes the most operational problems for companies. This whitepaper by Fred Kimball of Distribution Design helps clear up the confusion about the SUF.

May 2009

AS/RS System Videos — Automated storage and retrieval systems can help a DC optimize material flow, reduce costs, and decrease labor requirements. Watch video of an AS/RS in action on the Westfalia website.

Taking Difficult Conversations “Seriously” — Larry Johnson, consultant and author of Absolute Honesty: Building A Corporate Culture That Values Straight Talk and Rewards Integrity, writes about how to discuss those tough issues with employees.

April 2009

Driving Higher Workplace Performance — Bruce Ennis, a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, was assigned the task of improving warehouse performance for a Western Canadian Industrial Distribution Center. In this article, he tells you how he drove performance improvements on a tight budget.

A “Warehouse on Wheels” — Watch video of demountable containers that allow a DC to load multiple demountable containers on one trailer chassis at night, long-haul them to a regional market on semi trailers, then demount as a low-cost alternative to a regional DC or cross-dock.

Sample battery management reports — The EBatt battery management systems use software designed to allow managers to track and improve the efficiency of battery-operated vehicles, including battery-powered forklifts, pallet jacks, high-lifts, and other inventory handling equipment. Download samples of the various reports to learn more about these systems.

March 2009

Directory of dock scheduling software providers — Looking for a provider of stand-alone dock scheduling software? This directory of vendors can help you choose the one that best meets your needs.

“Consultant in a can” — Hempstead Consulting has developed a cost comparison tool designed to let you compare loaded carrier offers. View a sample of the spreadsheet here.

February 2009

Open Source WMS — Want to learn more about open source WMS? Software provider Compiere offers this description of its Compiere Warehouse Management system, built on an open source platform.

How much do you know about sleep? — Use the National Sleep Foundation’s interactive tools and quizzes to assess your own satisfaction with sleep, test your sleep IQ, and educate your employees about the importance of sleep.

January 2009

Receiving Operations and Docks — Looking for ways to improve receiving? This paper from CATTAN Services Group offers information on registering inbound information, analyzing dock requirements, sorting, staging, inspecting, and more. Also included is a template to use as a warehouse inbound shipping register.

Logistics Cost and Service Database — Download a copy of Establish, Inc.’s 2008 Logistics Cost and Service Database presentation. Online registration required.

December 2008

Multimodal RFID applications — LXE has created a new framework to improve efficiency, velocity, visibility, and accuracy in the supply chain. Known as ARIA (Adaptive Recognition and Information Assurance), it consists of a suite of mobile computing technologies, next generation software applications, and new business processes designed to work together, in harmony, with operators in the execution of supply chain transactions. Watch how a voice computer and a mobile RFID reader work together to improve case pick applications.

Bluetooth scanners — Watch video of wearable Bluetooth-enabled ring scanners designed for hands-free operation.

Real-time vehicle monitoring — Optical real-time location systems are designed to optimize fleet operations through real-time monitoring and reporting of vehicle statistics. They can increase driver accountability, improve operations visibility, and decrease warehouse operations costs. Watch an animated demo of how these systems work.

November 2008

The 2008 Cross-Docking Trends Report — This industry-wide report from Saddle Creek Corporation identifies common cross-docking practices, challenges, and emerging trends within the U.S. logistics industry. Online registration required.

October 2008

The 2008 WMS RFP Template — Choosing the right WMS is critical, but how do you write a proper request for proposal (RFP) to ensure you get the information you need about WMS vendors? This template from HighJump Software will help you create the right kind of RFP for your distribution center. Online registration required.

Six steps to creating a successful domestic violence awareness program — Although there are many ways to create a successful workplace program to prevent domestic violence, the Corporate Alliance to End Partner Violence (CAEPV), a national nonprofit organization, offers six easy steps employers can take to address intimate partner violence through workplace education and awareness programs.

September 2008

Material handling equipment savings calculator — Few things can seem less clear than your materials handling cost picture. Purchase price, financing, repairs, downtime, maintenance, operator training, overhead, administration, and retiring aging equipment all contribute to a complex and potentially profit-draining operation. Yale Materials Handling’s Fleet Savings Calculator is an online tool to help gauge potential savings that might exist for your forklift and lift truck fleet.

August 2008

Bridge Assignment Matrix — This unique job analysis system from Norman Peterson and Associates documents and plots bridge assignments according to the level of physical demand to assist with the appropriate placement of injured employees.

Solar power installations — See solar power in action in this video from American Capital Energy.

July 2008

The Seven Deadly Wastes of Logistics whitepaper — Learn more about the evolution of lean principles, from the beginning of Henry Ford’s revolutionary assembly line process for his Model T automobile in the early 1900s, through Taiichi Ohno’s creation of the famous Toyota Production System in the mid-20th century, to adoption of these principles in addressing today’s logistics and transportation challenges. This paper presents real examples from executives who worked within the Toyota Production System and were effective in expanding these principles beyond the traditional manufacturing/assembly environment.

June 2008

Property loss prevention data sheets — Looking for information on installing and maintaining sprinkler systems, engineering guidelines, and other information to help prevent fires in the DC? FM Global offers a wide variety of loss protection data sheets on these topics and much more. All of the data sheets are free, although users must register before accessing the downloads.

Fire safety fact sheets — The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) offers a number of fire safety facts and tip sheets online.

May 2008

Robotic fulfillment systems — Watch Kiva Systems’ robotic mobile fulfillment system in action in this video.

SmartWay Technology Package Savings Calculator — Truck technologies that save fuel or use fuel more efficiently can pay for themselves through fuel savings. They also help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other air pollution. The EPA’s SmartWay calculator is designed to help truck owners compare the costs and estimate the fuel savings associated with various efficiency technologies. The calculator is designed for owners of single trucks as well as multiple-truck fleets.

April 2008

It Always Comes Down to People — Voice-directed work can boost productivity, accuracy, safety, and job satisfaction in the DC. Those results are most easily realized when organizations simultaneously plan for the people side of a voice deployment. This white paper from Vocollect offers advice on how to plan for the human factor.

Moving Toward the Talking Tag — Voice and RFID are complementary technologies that enhance the benefits offered by each, but with a lot of media hype surrounding RFID, it’s tough to figure out how the combination will really work. This white paper from Vocollect debunks some of the myths of RFID and voice.

March 2008

Watch carousel and vertical lift module (VLM) technology from Remstar to learn how it works:

• Shuttle XP Vertical Lift Module video
• Horizontal carousel order picking video
• Vertical carousel video
• Horizontal carousel consolidation video
• Flow rack consolidation video

February 2008

Training is the key to good forklift safety — Even if associates operate forklifts safely, a defect can cause or contribute to a serious accident. A forklift must be checked for defects daily — usually at the beginning of a shift. The State of Washington Department of Labor and Industries provides these checklists for gas or LPG, and electric lift trucks.

2007 Logistics Cost and Service Database — Establish has compiled a distribution cost and service database which they have updated annually since 1973. Specific data elements include costs for transportation and warehousing, order and line fill rates, cycle times, and information availability. This document outlines firm the 2007 cost/service data, shows the long- and short-term trends in the data, and looks at the implications these trends have for the logistics/distribution community.

Global supply chain blogs — Establish has launched multiple Supply Chain blog sites, updated daily to bring readers the latest news, commentary, and trends in global demand/supply chains. The blog draws material from a broad cross-section of sources to ensure daily readers are kept abreast on the most current supply chain topics.

January 2008

2007 Food Logistics Industry Report — This industry-wide report identifies common practices, challenges, and emerging trends within the U.S. food logistics industry and provides valuable insights for all readers.

December 2007

Industrial Lighting Solutions: The Right Light^SM in Diverse Industrial Applications — What do a tissue manufacturer’s warehouse, a truck repair/maintenance shop, and a distribution center all have in common? In this case study, find out how each of these facilities found a solution to save energy and improve their lighting.

November 2007

Creating the Demand-Driven Workforce — Not many analysts make the connection between customer demand and the supply of human resources needed to execute distribution functions. In this article by RedPrairie, find out how to use workforce planning and allocation to create a demand-driven workforce for improved efficiency, customer service, quality and safety.

October 2007

Policy and procedures handbook — The Pennsylvania Department of General Services’ Warehouse and Distribution Division maintains high performance and productivity with strict adherence to well-defined procedures. Here are three key sections of its handbook.

Supplier Shipping and Receiving Guidelines

Inventory Management

Metrics

September 2007

Is your lean warehouse getting fat? Find out with this checklist reproduced from Lean Warehousing, written by industry consultant, Kenneth B. Ackerman.

August 2007

Safety inspections — Safety inspections are no simple matter as this 12-page Warehouse Safety Analysis Report from Pinnacle Engineering Inc. shows.

Going green — Tomorrow’s distribution centers will be environmentally friendly, sustainable, and consume far less energy. Here’s a list of green techniques ranging from standard practices to bleeding-edge technologies.

July 2007

Retrofit relief — Warehouse design and consulting firm KOM International offers its clients this 16 step start-to-finish plan to a successful retrofit.

Crisis averted — When a tornado knocked out agricultural retailer Tractor Supply Company’s Waco, Texas DC, the company was ready with a business continuity plan. Lawrence Corrigan II, of Tractor Supply Company was at the recent WERC conference in Nashville to present his views on preparedness and recovery. The attached PowerPoint slides depict the damage the storm caused the warehouse, plus they outline the company’s business continuity plan.

June 2007

Attendance policy — To help solve its absenteeism problem, Weekenders USA revised its attendance and punctuality policy, as seen here.

Selecting piece picking methods — This white paper discusses various piece picking methods and explains how to determine which options will best fit your operations. From OPSdesign Consulting.

May 2007

Performance scorecard — Certified Grocers Midwest developed this scorecard to grade DC performance.

April 2007

Training document — This sample training document is a one-page job description that covers the key responsibilities and establishes a mutual relationship between an individual and his supervisors to ensure training is completed.

Perfect delivery index — This sample illustrates how to measure the perfect order index, and provides a list of the specific metrics that go into this index.

March 2007

Reducing waste for a lean DC — Case study on using Value Stream Mapping, work observation statistics, and Kaizen Circles to identify and implement waste reduction in a DC packing operation.

Perfect order — Presentation on perfecting the perfect order measurement by Kate Vitasek for the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals. (PowerPoint file)

Lean warehousing — Presentation on performing a Kaizen event to improve DC performance at Hubbell Canada. Presented by Cal West at the Durham (Canada) Chapter APICS Professional Development Meeting.

February 2007

Floor maintenance — Handout on maintaining and repairing DC floors from presentation by Steve Metzger at the Material Handling & Logistics Conference.

January 2007

Energy prices and logistics costs — an analysis of the true impact of rising energy prices on logistics.

December 2006

Horizontal carousel consolidation video — watch the horizontal carousel consolidation technology in action to learn how it works.

Flow rack consolidation video — this video demonstrates how a flow rack consolidation system works.

November 2006

Sample customer survey — modify and use this sample survey to find out how well you are meeting your customers’ needs.

DC job advertisements — an analysis of the pros and cons of three actual DC job ads.

October 2006

Adding radio frequency technology to the warehouse — provides a step-by-step process for adding radio frequency technology to your DC.