New issues surface at SCOPE West

The line is between 3PLs and non-asset based supply chain consulting firms, is blurring said Jim Barnes, CEO of enVista.

In an exclusive interview given to SCMR before this week’s “Supply Chain Operations Private Exposition” (SCOPE) West in Las Vegas, Barnes outlined what he sees as some of the key issues surfacing next year.

“Our customers are telling us that solutions must be customized to accommodate the complexity of new distribution patterns,“ he said. “Our recent work with Nature’s Best demonstrated that point pretty well.”

In that particular case, the client operated a “Home Grown” (IBM Mid-range AS/400) warehousing system across all distribution centers. However, the system took on two different forms: a third of the centers operated with a Reserve Inventory System combined with a Voice Selection System, and the remaining centers operated on a system where selection was done via labels, and inventory labels were limited to Primary Pick Slots. The client needed to determine if a Best- of-Breed Warehouse Management System (WMS) and/or Labor Management Systems (LMS) offered adequate base functionality to achieve a rapid and significant return on investment.

In his SCOPE presentation, “The Best Case: How Distributors Transform Their Supply Chain and Achieve Excellence,” Barnes will reference similar examples of value-added consulting services.

“SCOPE is an excellent forum for new ideas and concepts to be tested,” he said. “It provides a real opportunity for us to network and stay focused on this ever-changing business.”