You have to be light on your toes nowadays especially in today's rapidly evolving supply chain, says Bob Ferrari, program director, supply chain strategies for Manufacturing Insights.

In his recently released report, "The Agile Supply Chain: Three High-Value Process Transformation Projects," Ferrari argues that how warehousing managers rectify real-time events will determine their success in achieving a lean and efficient operation. "It's a matter of sense and respond," he says.

Ferrari stressed that the industry is migrating toward "flow-through logistics. Crossdocking, synchronized materials movement are becoming more prevalent," he says.

One way to achieve a more efficient product flow is gaining enhanced "visibility beyond the warehouse and into the logistics network," he says. Warehouse managers need to better understand, and respond to, disruptions in product flow.

Although a staunch advocate of appropriate technologies to drive a warehouse operation, Ferrari argues that process goals should be established and regarded as the top priority to make a supply chain agile.

"Sometimes, there's a tendency to overstress technology when process should be the focus," he says. Ferrari suggests that technology should be chosen to best leverage the processes managers have in place.