While many search for the high-level cure-all to common distribution woes, John Hill, principal of Esync, has instead gone on the offensive, urging industry professionals to strengthen their warehousing fundamentals.

At the Warehousing Education Resource Council annual conference, Hill explained that reinforcing the proper values at the floor level can ensure a smoother and more efficient warehouse operation.

"How do you balance your priorities?" he asked conference attendees. "We have the tools for the job." These tools include a clean and efficient work environment, the proper conditions, appropriate technologies and, most importantly, the right people running the show.

"Fundamentals are still the key," he says. " 'Touch' means cost," Hill adds regarding handling practices. He suggests that attendees profile their operations. Establishing appropriate key performance indicators (KPIs), evaluating performance across the operation, identify issues bogging down execution and investigating alternatives are vital steps in operation profiling, Hill asserts.

Susan Rider, immediate past president of WERC, told Modern that the conference was designed to find the type of solutions Hill preached about at the conference. According to her, the Dallas-based conference did its job. "We got a lot of positive feedback from attendees," she adds. "Understanding where efficiencies can be found in the warehouse was a primary discussion point" for the speakers at this year's event.

As to fundamentals, Hill suggests that managers explore their materials handling flows by mapping product movement. Tracking product moving throughout the warehouse can lead to investigations of inefficient movement in the supply chain, he asserts.

Although RFID remains a hot topic in the industry, Hill argues that the technology is a "viable technology—in the right application." He believes that the industry is still "10 to 15 years" away from implementing RFID technology on a consumer product basis. Challenges delaying widespread implementation include a lack of national or international tag standards, low read rates, little real testing (non-pilot) and an unrealized return on investment. Despite some of the technology's inherent drawbacks, Hill says, some companies are currently utilizing RFID to tag more valuable products.

Others are using RFID to track product or shipments as they make their way around massive shipping ports. In addition, Hill recommends that warehouse operators refrain from installing "random RFID infusions in the supply chain." He suggests that prior to any RFID implementation, managers should "fine tune their operations" and then decide if RFID is an appropriate step.

In terms of management, Hill says that too often decisions are made without the consult of those operating the equipment and "getting the work done." Hill asserts that he can learn more about an operation speaking with people on the floor for ten minutes than he can in hours of operational meetings with upper level management.

In another session at the conference, Amy Carovillano, vice president of logistics and distribution at The Container Store, added that input from floor employees is vital to understanding the pulse of the overall operation. "Communication is leadership," she explains. "There are tangible results to proper employee management."

Looking ahead, Hill explains that "marrying the flow of materials with data regarding those materials equals synchronization." Synchronization promotes and cohesive flow of throughput in the supply chain, Hill states.