Understanding the Four Advantages of Retail Distribution Centers

Having a retail distribution center offers a fair amount of advantages over competitors that choose to not. Imagine having all of your products in four or five separate locations and imagine getting a product from each of these distribution centers to one location. While operation various distribution centers doesn’t sound awful, it is quite challenging to be able to run multiple distribution centers or origins for products.

For many, this has always been the way that distribution has been, but that does not mean that it needs to remain that way. One of the best methods to alleviate logistic nightmares of operation multiples distribution centers is to create an overall central distribution center. With the perks of having a single distribution center, you will be able to access all products and still be able to ship them where they need to go in a period of time. In this blog we are going to discuss the four advantages of having a retail distribution center. 

Four Advantages of a Retail Distribution Center 

The four advantages pertaining to a retail distribution center pertain to the following: 

• Accessibility - By far the biggest advantages of having a retail distribution center is having all products in one central location. This means that you have easy access whenever you need it. Instead of attempting to keep track of which products are where, you know, at all times, where your products are and have the capability to access them. 
  
  
• Transportation - Transportation is also another big advantage pertaining to having a retail distribution center. While you may see a slight rise in transportation costs, the fact that all products are in one central location will make shipping products much more efficient. While your product may have to travel a little further than they would if you had multiple distribution centers, spreading your products throughout multiple distribution centers could mean delays in shipping of products over others, which could lead to customer dissatisfaction. 
  
  
• Reporting - Depending on the business you’re in or what sorts of products you are offering customers, it is essential to keep a close eye on what you have in stock. With a central distribution center, it is essential to create these types of reports. You will only have to go to one source as opposed to tracking down multiple reports about multiple distribution centers.  
  
  
• Costs - Over the long run you will save money since you will not be operating multiple distribution centers. You will also be able to cut down employee costs because it does not take as much manpower to operate a single facility as opposed to multiple centers. 

A software that can aid with planning production and the process pertaining to a distribution center is PlanetTogether’s Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) Software. Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) Software offers thorough visibility into a manufacturing operation and can aid production tremendously through cutting costs and improving profitability. PlanetTogether’s Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) Software is a must for manufacturers that are seeking to enhance their production process and ultimately eliminate waste and achieve continuous improvement. APS also is important for production facilities that are seeking to achieve a competitive advantage and get ahead of others within their particular industry. 

Advanced Planning and Scheduling Software 

Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) software has become a must for modern-day manufacturing operations due to customer demand for increased product mix and fast delivery combined with downward cost pressures. APS can be quickly integrated with a ERP/MRP software to fill gaps where these system lack planning and scheduling flexibility and accuracy. Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) helps planners save time while providing greater agility in updating ever-changing priorities, production schedules, and inventory plans.

• Create optimized schedules balancing production efficiency and delivery performance
  
  
• Maximize output on bottleneck resources to increase revenue
  
  
• Synchronize supply with demand to reduce inventories
  
  
• Provide company-wide visibility to capacity
  
  
• Enable scenario data-driven decision making

Implementation of Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) software will take your manufacturing operations to the next level of production efficiency, taking advantage of the operational data you already have in your ERP.

Video: Capacity Planning for Retail Distribution Centers with APS

In this video, you’ll see how PlanetTogether Advanced Planning & Scheduling (APS) supports capacity planning in a retail distribution center environment. When you centralize inventory into a retail DC, you gain advantages in accessibility, transportation efficiency, reporting, and long-term cost reduction—but only if you can plan and schedule capacity effectively.

PlanetTogether APS uses the data already in your ERP/MRP system to:

• Model the storage, labor, and shipping capacity of a central distribution center
• Create optimized schedules that align inbound receipts, put-away, picking, and outbound shipments with real capacity
• Improve visibility and reporting, so you always know where inventory is and how loaded your DC resources are
• Support scenario-based planning to compare different DC loading strategies and service-level trade-offs before you commit

This video is ideal for distribution center managers, supply chain planners, and operations leaders who want to leverage APS capacity planning to get the most from a central retail distribution center. 

 

Turn Your Retail Distribution Center into a Planning Advantage

Centralizing inventory into a retail distribution center can dramatically improve accessibility, transportation efficiency, reporting, and long-term costs—but those advantages only materialize when you plan and schedule your DC capacity effectively. Simply moving stock into one building is not enough; you need the right planning engine to coordinate storage, labor, and outbound shipments every day.

Download our one-page “The Money Is in the Planning” infographic to see how combining a central retail distribution center with Advanced Planning & Scheduling (APS) can help you:

• Optimize DC capacity by aligning inbound, storage, picking, and shipping with real constraints
• Improve transportation performance while avoiding delays caused by poor visibility or over-committed resources
• Simplify reporting and analysis with a single plan that reflects inventory, capacity, and demand in one view
• Reduce operating and labor costs by using your existing ERP data to drive better decisions
• Use scenario-based planning to test different distribution strategies before you make changes across the network

Share it with your supply chain, logistics, and operations teams as a concise visual guide to where better planning and scheduling with APS unlock the full value of your retail distribution center.