Page 103 - Inbound Logistics | April 2017 | Digital Issue

venues where no one breaks a sweat. N.J.-based materials handling auto- companies must take care to avoid bot-
The difference between active mation solutions vendor DMW&H, tlenecks in their distribution networks.
wear and athleisure wear has a lot which works with several clients in the “The people who shop at these sites are
to do with the look and quality of online consignment fashion segment. very ‘right now,’” Roe explains. “If they
clothes. “Athleisure wear is more “Online resale gives shoppers access order an item and it doesn’t get to them
about the design and the fabrics than to brand-name, gently used high-end in a reasonable time, they will not come
it is about throwing on basic sweat- goods—shoes, purses, jewelry—at a back. So we see apparel companies
pants and deciding you’re dressed OK fraction of the price of new.” increasingly focused on how to get their
to go to lunch,” says Andrew Lynch, The boom in e-commerce consign- products in and out more efficiently.”
president of Zipline Logistics, a third- ment poses an interesting supply chain
party logistics (3PL) provider based in how to build a distribution infrastruc- Need it Now
challenge for one DMW&H client:
Columbus, Ohio.
For example, some designers today ture to keep pace with rapid growth.
use cashmere blends for the kinds of “We had to look at their forecasts and he “right now” attitude applies
items they used to make in cotton. “Or projections, and design a system that throughout the world of e-com-
the designers are finding ways to blend can flex and grow with them,” Roe says. T merce apparel sales. Retailer
cashmere with other fabrics to make it A second challenge stems from the efforts to satisfy customers who want
machine washable,” he adds. fact that every item in a consignment immediate delivery extend beyond the
Those fabrics have nudged what business is different. There’s no point distribution center into the transporta-
used to be ordinary sports apparel into installing storage slots designed to hold tion network.
a higher-value fashion category, creat- 100 units of a single stockkeeping unit “Many of our customers historically
ing new concerns about security. “If (SKU). “The company handles a wide shipped all their products by ground
that product is on a truck, we know that range of apparel—men’s fashion, wom- transportation, which involves a lon-
we need to follow routes that are similar en’s fashion, shirts, pants, scarves, gloves, ger transit time than they require to
to how we handle high-theft products,” shoes,” Roe says. “Everything has to satisfy consumers’ ‘need it now’ expec-
Lynch says. have its own, unique location, and that tations,” says Melissa Runge, vice
So Zipline is taking greater precau- takes up a huge amount of space.” president of analytical solutions at
tions for some retailers that sell sports Some items the client sells, especially Spend Management Experts (SME),
apparel. For example, it uses trucking accessories such as designer golf bags an Atlanta-based transportation consul-
companies that carry insurance suffi- and men’s watches, require special han- tancy. SME has helped those customers
cient for high-value loads and make dling; shoes do as well. Conveyors and negotiate transportation agreements that
sure drivers stay in communication with rails don’t work for them. But standard include the use of second- and next-day
the dispatch team. “We also give driv- apparel is more amenable to automa- air, along with ground options, antici-
ers advice about how to park at truck tion. “We installed a garment-on-hanger pating that faster service will become
stops—for example, under lights wher- rail system,” Roe says. “We also added more important in the future.
ever possible,” Lynch says. some flat storage for other items that SME also helps apparel companies
can be handled in that space.” adapt to another industry trend. While
Second Time DMW&H decided it was best to go slow ple shop for clothes, as well as for many
Given the client’s pace of growth, e-commerce has changed the way peo-
Around on automation in the company’s distri- other products, ordering jeans, a bath-
bution centers. “They can grow into
ing suit, or shoes online is never as
the system that we’ve already designed simple as ordering, say, a coffeemaker.
f you want to snag a Chanel skirt or and implemented,” Roe says. “We can What looks great on the on-screen
a Saint Laurent blazer at a bargain further automate as growth continues.” model may not look the same on you.
I price, you don’t need to hunt down DMW&H recommends that a company Many merchants approach this chal-
the nearest consignment boutique. in this situation build out its equipment lenge by offering free return shipping.
Online resale is thriving. in phases, based on which products are Others use a strategy that puts a little
One player in this segment, seeing increased demand. brick-and-mortar back into the e-com-
SnobSwap, says the market for online “If the faster-growing segments of merce channel.
consignment is growing by 10 percent their business justify automation—if “Some of our clients provide guide-
annually. Investors backed e-commerce the product will convey well, if it’s an shops or customer experience centers
consignment companies to the tune of item you can get in and out by moving that allow customers to touch, feel, and
more than $500 million between 2011 it around on a machine—that makes a try on apparel, and then order through
and 2016, according to Forbes.com. lot more sense,” Roe says. mobile devices,” says Runge. The guide-
“It’s a growing trend,” agrees Michael As the e-commerce consignment shop stocks samples of the retailer’s
Roe, account executive at Carlstadt, market continues to grow, apparel product lines, but there’s no inventory

April 2017 • Inbound Logistics 101