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Purchasing a warehouse or leasing warehouse space for your company can provide you with many different benefits: It can give you a place to store overflow at your facility You can build inventory off-site Allow you to access storage for the products you sell frequently. If you don’t have the capital at this time, scroll down to Consider partnering with a 3PL. Before you decide to obtain a warehouse, consider the following:  Read More

Topics: Supply Chain Strategy, Logistics News, Regional Distribution Center

Everyone is reacting to the Covid-19 virus and the uncertainty and stress of the resulting changes are making us all fearful. Take a deep breath and remember our priorities: Care for people and prevent the spread of any illness Provide for continuity of operations to service customers Minimize financial impacts to employees, customers, and our operations. Internally, Spartan Logistics will take all conceivable actions to protect and inform our team and their families.Once this is accomplished, we have an obligation to consider the impact the virus has on our customers and how we can assist them. Major retailers such as Apple have reported that a prolonged outbreak could interrupt its supply chain, while Amazon has expressed concern that it won’t be able to import enough inventory to meet its annual Prime Day obligations. As one of China’s four central railway hubs, a virus outbreak quickly spread along the supply chain to the rest of the world, with outbreaks in 47 countries. Nearly 95% of Fortune 1000 companies are experiencing supply chain distruptions due to the rippling effect of the virus. Companies of less than 100 employees are likely going to be effected as well, seeing delayed goods, unfulfilled orders and unpaid invoices.  Read More

Topics: Supply Chain Strategy, Logistics News, Regional Distribution Center

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Topics: Rise of 3PL Fulfillment Services, Supply Chain Strategy, Regional Distribution Center

Railways keep most industries moving, quite literally. Unloading rail cars in a warehouse setting need to be executed quickly and safely upon arrival, so they are well on their way. So How Does Spartan Logistics Unload Rail Cars While Reducing Risk and Improving Production? With a collaboration of Spartan's Warehouse Manager, a local vendor with a national equipment manufacturer account, and a Director of Maintenance at the Spartan corporate level — the overall solution agreed upon was centered almost exclusively around the safety and increased productivity of a high-end rotating clamp truck to unload 2-3 ton paper rolls from rail cars from the Fort Smith, AR rail access warehouse.  Read More

Topics: Rise of 3PL Fulfillment Services, Supply Chain Strategy, Logistics News, Warehouses with rail capacity, Logistic Leaders

Tornadoes, floods, four-alarm fires, hurricanes, and other natural disasters are a doomed reality for any business. In 2012 I experienced such a disaster while working for an industrial company with no emergency plan in place. Without much warning, a tornado ripped through the rural county leaving a 1/4-mile of destruction along the way. Employees were not alerted where to seek shelter or lockdown—it was complete chaos. I was told by company personnel…”The county was a low-risk area for tornadoes so we didn’t see the urgency in pre-planning for such a disaster.” It’s like watching the news and you’re thinking…that could never happen here. So How Do You Prepare? The following is a list of critical procedures to implement: Designate an emergency planning team Develop an emergency disaster plan Designate employees to perform key emergency leadership roles Practice as many of elements of your plan throughout the year Have a customer communications plan Document a list of emergency contacts Perfect a procedure to inform employees of an emergency A fully stocked first aid kit Up-to-date fire extinguishers A safe indoor/outdoor gathering point A list of equipment that is required to be shut down or secured Secure flammable liquids and tanks Make sure everyone has photo identification available— local authorities may only permit people who own property in a disaster-affected area. Plan to temporarily relocate inventory and equipment  Read More

Topics: Rise of 3PL Fulfillment Services, Supply Chain Strategy, Logistics News, Logistic Leaders

Capacity remained the most pressing logistics issue across the supply chain as the new year began. This is especially true within the transportation sector, where the driver shortage, ELD mandate, and other factors severely impacted the trucking industry’s ability to handle increased freight volumes. Because of this, more shippers are looking to intermodal (rail) transport for capacity. According to the Association for American Railroads (AAR), intermodal volume rose by 3.9% in 2017. Through the first 28 weeks of 2018, AAR reported that U.S. rail carloads are up 1.5% annually at 7,259,135 and intermodal units are up 6.1% at 7,686,093. Part of the volume growth in intermodal was due to the capacity issues that challenged trucking as the electronic logging device mandate took hold and some carriers strained to find enough drivers to carry loads. We are experiencing a market with low truck supply and high freight demand. One of the reasons for tightened capacity is the ongoing driver shortage. Year after year, skilled truck drivers are retiring with fewer younger experienced drivers taking their places. Fewer drivers mean fewer trucks on the road to haul the increase in freight, which, in turn, drives up the cost of your freight and eventually that increase will have to be passed along to your customer. U.S. shippers are desperate for capacity and turning to modes they previously shunned as a result.  Read More

Topics: Warehouses with rail capacity, Intermodal transportation

On September 9, 2018, it seemed we were all fixated with any form of technology that was broadcasting up-to-date information and storm-related events throughout the state of North Carolina with reference to Hurricane Florence. The Governor of North Carolina urged all North Carolina residents and businesses to prepare for Hurricane Florence, issuing a State of Emergency management and emergency plan. Before the massive storm even hit, North Carolina emergency officials were preparing for what meteorologists have called the second “500-year storm” to hit the state since Hurricane Matthew in 2016. As reports grew with intensity during the week, Spartan Logistics’ Executive Management Team in Columbus, OH, maintained consistent communication with Maxton, NC Warehouse Manager, Bobby Morman. Prior to evacuating the building, all hands were on deck to board up glass windows and doors; the forklift propane tank cage was chained and secured while Spartan forklift operators brought in 10,000 contract customer pallets from the outdoor elements so they would not become projectiles when the storm arrived. Bobby Morman purchased a pallet of 76 cases of bottled water from a local Food Lion store to bring back to the warehouse to be distributed to all employees before evacuating the property—and then we waited. The monster storm battered the North Carolina coast, trailing inland, leaving a path of destruction throughout eastern coastal regions. The warehouse sustained minor damage to overhangs, but the outdoor lighting was destroyed due to the strength of the wind. Local authorities created shelters for those not able to escape the wrath of the storm in time.  Read More

Topics: Logistics News

Are you in touch with what is happening in the industrial real estate market? A shortage exists everywhere, creating real challenges for businesses seeking to expand in their marketplace. For example, Napa Valley's industrial warehouse vacancies are now at 1.3 percent. The thriving wine industry finds its growth and margins constrained due to a lack of space to store inventory, and higher freight costs to store it farther away. In 2017, commercial properties in most markets enjoyed the sustained growth of demand, high occupancy rates, and rising rents. This is under added pressure in 2018 due to rising interest rates and increased U.S. manufacturing activity encouraged by recent tax reforms. U.S. industrial rents now average $5.53 per square foot with a year-over-year increase of 5.3 percent. Many tenants are in the difficult situation where expiring long-term leases are 30-50% below today’s market rates. For example, if you have been leasing space for the past ten years at a $4.50 sq. ft. rate and the owner comes to you this year to let you know the rate is increasing to $6.50 per sq. ft., your options are to absorb this cost, buy the building or vacate. Do you have an immediate plan in place to address the options you’ve been given? As top logistics markets continue to operate at a sub–3.5 percent vacancy rate, you can expect continued competition for quality warehouse and distribution space to add pressure on rents through 2018. First Quarter 2018 warehousing vacancy by US Region - Source: U.S. Real Estate News: U.S. warehouse and distribution rents rise as vacancy rates dip.  Read More

Topics: Industrial Real Estate Market, Supply Chain Strategy

With an upswing view of the reignited economy and the growing demand for diverse products, your supply chain network—manufacturing plants, warehouses and distribution centers—face challenges like never before. In light of increasing freight costs, global complexities, more demanding customer service requirements, new e-commerce challenges and risk management considerations, it has never been more important to navigate and execute supply chain strategy/operations. Today's complex global business environment - with its rapidly advancing technologies, emerging world markets, and vastly extended supply chains, places increasingly critical decision-making demands on logistics professionals. In a world expanding global, the challenges of providing seamless supply chain solutions across geographical and cultural boundaries have continued to mount. Those who invest in Lean Supply Chain Management can improve a company's competitiveness and overall profitability by identifying warehousing, transportation and trade compliance, while at the same time eliminating waste and non-value added activities. Given that as much as 80% of the operating costs are in logistics—freight, labor and inventory—it is critical to have a better understanding of your supply chain strategy. It seems the 2019 theme is to continue building a supply chain network, working together to drive collaboration and reduce inefficiencies. It's important that both manufacturers and importers discuss better ways of communicating and sharing information with their partner retailers and distributors to help improve the customer experience. Many companies have expressed interest in exploring different ways of servicing the customer, looking to become agiler by stepping out of their comfort zone—those even recently investing in their own manufacturing facilities, allowing them to be more flexible in their strategic decisions. Food & beverage manufacturers are examining the possibilities of setting up one or more distribution centers for limited shelf life items, which will allow them to provide better service to their customer base and help reduce overall transportation costs. As new regulations hit the transportation industry, a common topic of discussion is how to better navigate the new Supply Chain landscape to continue to service customers more effectively; while proactive shippers continue to search for viable 3PL warehouse distribution centers to allocate inventory in markets closer to their customers, in an overall effort to mitigate delays.  Read More

Topics: Rise of 3PL Fulfillment Services

We've seen a lot of futuristic self-driving cars and trucks on the big screen, but none of them really resemble the autonomous (self-driving) killer tractor trailers from the movie Logan. The scenes with the autonomous trucks are short but gripping. They feature a number of menacing, cabless trucks racing down the highways without any care for the human race caught in their path. It’s a scary vision of the future and needs to earn the public's trust.  Read More

Topics: Future of Logistics, Driverless Trucks