Warehouse Network Efficiency and Productivity Improvements

Global warehouses are constantly under pressure to reduce costs, improve productivity, and ship on-time with perfect quality. The need for lean warehouse management, as well as innovative and customer-centric practices, is becoming more and more essential, especially in the context of Amazon and other major players that are redefining supply chain operations.

Upon assessing that their warehouse performance was below industry best-in-class, and below industry average in many facilities, the global logistics provider desired to identify the appropriate process improvements to drive long-term, sustainable change. Carlisle’s team of Operations Excellence experts, who not only understand the dynamics of global warehouse management but who also deeply understand best practices and new strategies to drive success and results, was asked to partner with the client in the multi-year engagement.

The new partnership focused on deep evaluation of the selected focus sites within the client’s warehouse network, identification of areas of inefficiency, and implementation of effective and sustainable process changes.

• Warehouse Labor
• Quality
• Safety
• Customer Volumes
• Cost

Based on the identified key areas in which the client lagged the industry, Carlisle conducted internal benchmarks to determine the specific warehouse sites that required more immediate, hands-on support. Nine warehouse sites, spanning across the US, Brazil, and Europe were selected.

Carlisle and the client then workshopped to identify operational best practices that would become the foundation of the client’s lean operations program. The identified best practices were translated into specific actions for each pilot site, as well as standard corporate-level governance techniques. Once the approach was solidified, Carlisle deployed its team across the client’s sites to provide “boots on the ground” support.

Carlisle’s on-site team worked closely with the client’s management staff to establish a customized metric scorecard and monthly performance targets based on a glide path to industry-leading performance. Carlisle coached improvements, adjusted best practice recommendations based on site-specific needs, and moderated monthly performance meetings to provide a third-party unbiased perspective. This hands-on support helped each site understand the process changes required for success and “buy-in” to the recommendations.

This engagement has driven record performance improvements in the focus sites. Method 1 and 5 productivity (metrics to evaluate lines per head per year) improved across all warehouse sites – over half of the sites have seen more than a 50% productivity increase.