It is often said profit is made on the buy side of the equation in wholesale distribution. That is a true statement. However, it only holds true if you are disciplined enough not to give that profit advantage away during the quoting and pricing process.

It sounds like pie in the sky, yet one of my clients is considering implementing extensive automation to avoid the ever-escalating costs of labor. His vision would still involve some people, not a totally peopleless warehouse - one in which, day and night, all physical movement of items is handled by automated equipment controlled by software.