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Can Innovative Tech help SME Logistics Companies meet High Demand this Peak Season? 

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Global Logistics, Global Trade Daily, News, Technology

Can Innovative Tech help SME Logistics Companies meet High Demand this Peak Season? 

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Pumpkin Spice season is here, marking the beginning of peak season 2023. 

Peak demand season hits North America’s logistics network from August to November, leading into the busy holiday season. The busy season offers an opportunity for businesses to capitalize on high demand, with some business models completing most of their yearly orders in a few months. 

For supply chain planning, goods must be available online, in storage, and on the shelves on time, with the correct levels distributed across the country. However, the combination of seasonal demand, with cyber sales, thanksgiving, and end-of-year holiday peaks, can cause some headaches for businesses that aren’t using digital tools for accuracy, scalability, and demand planning. 

“For this, you need the right data and systems— that will allow you to scale up operations and daily output with ease and take advantage of the seasonal peaks,” said CartonCloud Head of North America/ COO Shaun Hagen. 

Working closely with customers and industry partners throughout their expansion to North America in 2022, CartonCloud’s team often highlights the crucial role timing plays in the impact of tech implementation for SME businesses. 

“Operators need to have the right system in place before peak season — or as soon as possible— to ensure they are capturing the maximum benefits of the software, and giving themselves the best chance at capitalizing on peak seasons,” Mr Hagen said. 

Warehousers, 3PLs, and broader supply chain partners rely on accurate demand predictions to navigate early seasonal demand each year. Suppliers must plan ahead to navigate inventory and stock purchasing, warehousing, and distribution to make the season’s timing. 

“So much of a business’ wasted overheads is to do with having inefficient operations,” Mr Hagen said. 

“The surprising thing is that many businesses actually don’t realize how much time and money they are losing with the clunky or unsuitable systems they are using — because it’s the system they’ve always used, or because they are concerned about the hassles of switching.” 

“Since CartonCloud entered the USA market early last year, we’ve had some incredibly insightful conversations with industry partners and customers — looking at the systems they’ve been using, and their expectations for setup and support,” he said. 

“Ultimately, their expectations are too low — they believe a new system will take months to set up and get running, and more often than not, the support and customer service level they

receive is the reason they start looking for something better — which is when they come to us. 

“Our software is designed by logistics people, for logistics people — with exceptional customer support and implementation that gets you up and running on the system — so you can start seeing results faster. 

“For us, it’s all about our customer’s success — their business growth and satisfaction is paramount to everything we do, and it shows in their success and customer reviews”. 

CartonCloud’s unique, integrated Warehouse and Transport software has been designed by logistics people, for logistics people — to help businesses streamline operations and scale up for seasons of high demand. 

“To manage and plan for demand in logistics peak season, first, you need to know your customers’ needs, their seasonality, and expected sales/ demand over the peak season — and then ensure you have the right systems in place to prepare and achieve this,” explained Mr Hagen. 

“Warehouse and Transport Management (WMS/TMS) software is the backbone of any logistics operations— but a cloud-based system gives you an edge, providing critical workflows, integrations, and constantly updated new features that let you do more, with less effort. 

“No matter what size your business is, with the right systems in place, you can reduce manual data entry, reduce mistakes, and increase your day-to-day profit.” 

Mr Hagen said logistics operators should be looking to automate online ordering with e-commerce integrations, access and assign orders for picking from a WMS and TMS with a mobile app to ensure accuracy at each step, and ultimately streamline data at every stage of your operation. 

CartonCloud is top-rated by users across the globe, and listed as a top WMS and TMS supplier again in 2023 due to its ease of use, intuitive design, and exceptional customer service delivered by logistics experts. 

High-performing logistics operators are using innovative technology to capitalize on high demand and see better ROI this peak season. 

Get expert WMS Software with industry expertise. 

With CartonCloud’s easy-to-use— yet powerful — WMS and TMS you can leave the technical side to us. With a cloud-based warehouse and transport management system, you can also enjoy the benefits of (SaaS) software as a service. This means access to our friendly support team and knowledge base to answer any questions you have, or log any issues. 

Book a free demo and see CartonCloud’s powerful software in action.

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Global Logistics, Global Trade Daily, Warehousing

How top 3PLs are Automating Warehouse Cross Docking 

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Cross docking requires the ability to validate and accept incoming stock with accuracy and speed and consolidate outgoing consignments based on last-mile destinations,”

— Shaun Hagen, CartonCloud COO/ Head of North America 

With the right management and workflows in place, implementing cross docking can save you hours, and reduce costly storage overheads. So what is cross docking, and how does it work? 

Cross docking (and transloading) is used frequently in American logistics and global supply chains to optimize delivery routes and transport legs, and reduce unnecessary warehouse storage periods. 

Logistics software provider CartonCloud summarizes cross docking as where a staging area within a warehouse is used for short-term holding, as stock is sorted, collated and assigned to outgoing runs based on delivery location. When implemented correctly, cross docking can provide the ability to optimize your supply chain to be as fast and productive as possible. However, navigating incoming stock, handling stock in staging, and collating stock to outgoing runs to optimize truck load and last-mile delivery can be extremely complex. 

Many American logistics businesses use the trusty pen and paper for cross docking operations, even when they have a WMS in place for other warehouse operations — however, paper records can be notoriously inaccurate, and create hours of admin time to manually enter data into warehouse systems after the fact. So why are warehouses still using paper? The recent Q1 2023 CCLI industry survey found a staggering 97% of companies currently use paper records for at least one operation in their day-to-day business. 

The nature of cross docking requires fast processing and allocations, and clear, concise reporting in real-time — something a lot of WMS software providers are unable to deliver, and paper processes miss the mark on. Having the ability to automate the process with cloud-based software saves time and increases accuracy. Until now. 

“For cross docking, you need to have the ability to easily validate and accept incoming stock with accuracy and speed— and also have the ability to consolidate and allocate to outgoing consignments for delivery, based on their last-mile destinations,” explains CartonCloud’s COO/ Head of America Shaun Hagen. 

“We work with a range of logistics providers to help them streamline their cross docking operations, ultimately moving them off pen and paper or other platforms, to use barcode scanning and automated allocation— which boosts their accuracy and saves a huge amount of time.” 

Many American and global supply chains often have freight passing through several warehouses before it is assigned to the delivery run for its final destination. Cross docking removes unnecessary miles and storage periods, by optimizing delivery runs based on grouped end destinations.

Mr Hagen explained using the cloud-based system to automate data entry and streamline freight validation and order details for optimized cross docking can maximize supply chain efficiency by coordinating outgoing stock within combined transport consignments. 

Ohio-based 3PL warehouse ODW use CartonCloud for cross dock operations and contract logistics order charge capture. 

“It has been valuable both as a stand-alone WMS and a complement to our own WMS,” said ODW’s Ms Gates. 

Want to know if cross docking is right for your business? CartonCloud’s powerful cross dock features provide logistics businesses across the United States and North America with transparency over incoming stock, in order to manage and track stock sorting and movement. Find out more at www.cartoncloud.com, and book a FREE DEMO today to see the system in action.

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Archives, Global Logistics, Global Trade Daily, Warehousing

Why 3PL Warehouses Need to be Flexible Amidst Warehouse Rental Drop 

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Smaller logistics operators are preparing for uncertain times ahead, amidst recent reports of warehouse leasing decline as retailers pull back from inventory stockpiling. 

“What we are seeing in the industry right now is a state of flux as the market responds to wider challenges,” said CartonCloud COO/ Head of North America Shaun Hagen. 

“The key thing is having the ability to make smart, data-led decisions, and to be flexible. Flexible in terms of your ability to bring on new customers with varying requirements, and the flexibility to scale up workflows with ease, and without increased overheads,” he said. 

“For small and medium-sized enterprises (SME’s), this lies in the adoption of mission-critical warehouse and transport management system software, to automate and streamline business processes from end to end.” 

CartonCloud has supported over 450 small-medium-sized warehouse and transport operators to overcome market changes, digitize their operations, and grow their businesses. 

The company’s intuitive integrated WMS/TMS software has caused ripples in the North American market since their expansion last year, due to the intuitively designed mobile app, automated workflows, and design for smaller businesses. 

“It’s important to remember right now, as things continue to shift and evolve — that logistics is a unique industry,” Hagen said. 

“We’ve seen this first-hand over the past few years, with the impact of the COVID-19 lockdowns, where our industry rose to face many challenges, and continued to grow and evolve throughout a number of hurdles and challenges. 

“It’s also shown us the importance of having scalable systems and a WMS that can grow with you and let you bring on new customers.” 

He said CartonCloud’s unique design and usability was created specifically with small and medium-sized operators in mind, providing integrated WMS/TMS software to support logistics companies to digitize their operations without the hassle or expenses usually associated with implementing new software. 

“CartonCloud is actually built by logistics people, directly for the logistics industry, so we’ve removed the hurdles that prevent smaller players from accessing and implementing new technology. We’ve poured extensive time and resources into ensuring our onboarding process is simplified and efficient, to get new customers set up and benefiting from the system as soon as possible. 

“Even down to our pricing model, which is subscription-based, meaning our customers can grow with us, in a way that is sustainable for them.”

Since their expansion into the North American market last year, Mr Hagen said they have received consistent feedback from businesses in the USA and Canada regarding their local onboarding and customer support. 

“Right now, with so many changes impacting the logistics industry, business owners and operators want to know they can speak to a real person, with industry experience, who can provide advice and support to help them get the best solution for their business,” he said. 

“We have a team of experts based locally in Canada who are there to work with each business we speak to, to help them evaluate what they need from a solution, to vet if we are indeed the right fit for them, and then to support them through onboarding and set up. 

“It makes a massive difference to our customers, to know that the people behind their software have actual industry experience and expertise and that they are there to support them throughout their growth.” 

CartonCloud’s cloud-based warehouse and transport management system software is designed specifically for small-medium sized logistics companies, providing them with the tools they need to digitize operations, streamline and reduce overheads, and increase daily output.