Benchmarking Warehousing and Distribution Operations

Benchmarking warehousing and distribution operations is an appropriate and popular first step in re-engineering warehousing operations. Within the warehousing and distribution industry benchmarking has traditionally been focused on comparing quantitative performance measures, such as operating cost — typically measured as warehousing and/or distribution cost as percent of sales; operating productivity — typically measured in “units” (lines, orders, cases, pieces, pallets, pounds, etc.) handled per person-hour; and response time and shipping accuracy. These operating cost and productivity performance measures are easy to compute and comprehend, and have become the industry standards. Statistics describing such performance measures are available for a number of key industries from the Food Distributor’s International Association, the Warehousing Engineering Research Council, the National Association of Service Merchandisers, and a number of consulting firms.