Tips for logistics service providers


An overview of tips & tricks for logistics service providers by Alain Beerens, Managing Consultant & Partner at Groenewout. 1. Shippers are keen to gain ever-more insight into their supply chains. By offering digital tracking & tracing tools, you can improve the service experience for your customers. 2. Whereas large customers look for a logistics service...

Logistics to have an even greater impact on company success


An interview with the four Groenewout partners – Alain Beerens, Wendel Dijker, Mari van Kuijk and Arthur Zondervan – by Marcel te Lindert. V.l.n.r. Alain Beerens, Mari van Kuijk, Arthur Zondervan en Wendel Dijker From linear supply chains to autonomous networks, and from a cost to a competitive weapon – in 2016, the year in...

Data integrity continues to be neglected in supply chains


Ensuring that the data is correct is the most fundamental component of business operations. While that might sound obvious, in practice it is far from it. Supply chain studies regularly reveal that it is difficult to obtain the right data. Here, I will attempt to outline a number of arguments for raising your supply...

´Supply chain is a combination of logistics, finance and commerce´


Trend: The supply chain has increasingly become a topic of discussion at board level, which means that companies are making plans that straddle the borders of their business units. The challenge is to be willing to work together and to have faith in the fact that an integral strategy will benefit the entire organization. “Within...

How to achieve sustainable growth of your webshop


On 18 June Groenewout organized the latest innovation update and networking session in Breda. The program was divided into two sets of three parallel sessions, and the venue was Dinalog’s modern offices in Breda. With more than 30 participants and featuring plenty of knowledge sharing, interactive discussions and networking, the event was a resounding...

How to reduce your stock by 50% while maintaining the same service level


For any company, one of the biggest capital investments is stock. To put it in perspective: one month’s worth of stock is equivalent to investing just under 10% of your annual revenue. How many projects on that scale have you implemented in the past year? Achieving the right degree of product availability without excessively high...

Direct shipment


The ‘pure’ e-tailers are continuing to evolve and expand, and some of them are in the midst of a process to open their own brick-and-mortar establishments. Almost all traditional retailers now also have a webshop in addition to their physical stores, and most suppliers are working hard – or at least have taken the...

Vacant manufacturing and logistics facilities


The number of vacant industrial premises (manufacturing and logistics facilities) has been growing for many years. The latest figures published recently by Dutch property association NVM showed that 12.6 million square meters of industrial premises are currently standing empty. Logistics facilities account for almost 3 million square meters of that total, and the category has...

Kiva: Turning a material handling application into a success story


It is important to learn from the past. After the failure of online grocery delivery service Webvan, Michael Mountz was able to turn Kiva into a real success story. Kiva, an innovative material handling application, was sold to Amazon last year for 775 million dollars. How did Mountz do it? The use of robots in...

Save transport costs in current traffic situation


Traffic congestion, tight time windows for deliveries, and pressure on transport costs – each of these are valid reasons to take a critical look at transport routes. Route optimization can deliver significant cost savings and improve the service level, especially in the case of a finely meshed customer distribution network. Since this type of distribution...