Home: Publications

By Art Van Bodegraven

How can we stop from drowning in a rising tide of SKUs? Art Van Bodegraven discusses tactics and techniques for survival, along with the positive side of SKU proliferation. more...

By Chuck LaMacchia

Inventory is a significant and visible asset in most companies - often the largest. Executives and shareholders have focused on inventory levels for years, but it has frequently been reduced arbitrarily, without a full understanding of supply chain implications. This paper discusses approaches to sustainable, and appropriate, inventory reduction. more...

By James M. Apple, Jr. and published in Modern Materials Handling Magazine.

Business is growing. Current processes and systems seem inadequate to meet the rising demand. We need more capacity. But, how much?
Developing the capacity requirements is not only the first step. It will be the primary driver of the project cost. It deserves more than a cursory statement; “Let’s plan for sufficient capacity to meet our peak in 2009.” more...

By James M. Apple, Jr. and published in Modern Materials Handling Magazine.

One of the original principles of materials handling system design is the Unit Load Principle; handle as large a load as possible to reduce the total number of moves. For years, this principle guided the development and application of pallet load handling. Today, it’s hard to imagine a time when standardized pallets were not an integral part of any storage and handling system. more...

By James M. Apple, Jr. and published in Modern Materials Handling Magazine.

Whenever we clean out the refrigerator at our house, I get the ikky job of disposing of the leftovers. The last time that we did it, the parallel between our refrigerator and many of the warehouses that I’ve been in recently was just close to ignore. more...

By James M. Apple, Jr. and published in Modern Materials Handling Magazine.

In many ways, this runs contrary to the classic definition of distribution in which we buy in pallets and sell in cases. Picking one or two pieces instead of a pack of 12 seems like suicide in the warehouse! 
Breakthroughs in process flexibility now permit manufacturing in efficient lot sizes of one. But, even though the lead-time has been greatly reduced from the past, the manufacturing lot size of one does not satisfy the immediate needs of critical service parts or the off-the-shelf impulse purchase at the retailer.  These needs require inventory at the point of sale. more...