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After celebrating 60-years in business, Sedlak Supply Chain Consultants was recently featured in Retail Merchandiser and Supply Chain World.  With a focus on Sedlak’s healthcare and retail clients, the article highlights challenges common across industries, and provides examples of Sedlak’s ability to bring order from chaos Excerpt: “We take a long view of our client […]

Patrick Sedlak, Principal at Sedlak Supply Chain Consultants, was quoted in a recent article on the Modern Materials Handling website. In an article titled “Single Source of Truth with Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS)” by Roberto Michel, Sedlak was asked for his thoughts on whether DCs should use one CMMS or two.

    Healthcare supply chain management is a constant balance of cost, quality, and outcomes. The storage and movement of medications, equipment, and supplies is a substantial link in that chain.

    The growth of e-commerce, consumer price sensitivity, online “convenience” shopping, the Amazon effect, and the premise of returns are all driving fundamental changes in the retail industry. Supply chains and distribution best practices are rapidly evolving to support super flexible customer fulfillment and compete with the big dogs.

    New entrants in the last mile market in the U.S.

[From Internet Retailer] Amazon.com Inc.

Sedlak congratulates branded footwear and accessories retailer DSW for earning a top spot in Total Retail’s inaugural ranking of 100 publicly traded retailers based on their omnichannel capabilities. [From Total Retail] DSW received the top possible score (100) across the seven criteria — buy online, pick up in-store; search in-store products online; shared cart; loyalty points earned/redeemed across channels; […]

Mills Fleet Farm, which sells everything from hunting gear and lawn equipment to hardware and automotive supplies to clothing and branded foods, plans to build a 1.1 million square-foot distribution center in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.

As manufacturers, distributors and retailers all strive to run efficient operations that not only meet the demands of their traditional businesses, but also support their e-commerce operations, the race is on to develop efficient, optimized warehouses and DCs to support these multifaceted operations. Driven by the sheer volume of products and services being sold online—a […]

Flexibiliy and agility are essential for retailers striving to provide a seamless shopping experience across all channels. Principal Patrick Sedlak and Vice President Jeff Mueller are quoted in MHI Solutions magazine on how the distribution center environment is changing – streamlining processes and adding automation – to keep up with customer demand and address peak season challenges.

Patrick Sedlak is quoted in an article by Thomas Kaufmann on movers and shakers in self-driving technology. From preventing collisions to cloud-to-car mapping systems to artificial intelligence, innovations are on track to upend over one hundred years of human driving tradition.

Whether it’s retail, consumer packaged goods, third party logistics, wholesale distribution, or healthcare management, Sedlak Management Consultants continues to “Deliver Remarkable Experience” to its clients. “We're a highly effective and highly cilent-oriented firm,” said Sedlak President Will O'Brien.

“We’ve got a very rich history in retail,” Principal Patrick Sedlak said in a recent interview featured in Retail Merchandiser Magazine. For nearly 60 years Sedlak has been helping retailers develop and maintain the optimal strategies, facilities, operations and systems to meet the growing challenges of multi-channel and omni-channel fulfillment.

The increasing complexities and challenges of the retail supply chain resulting from consumer demands for an “anytime, anywhere” shopping experience can be overwhelming for many retailers. For nearly 60 years, retailers of all sizes and types have trusted Sedlak to find the right answers for their distribution and logistics needs.

In the July issue of Multichannel Merchant, Director of Supply Chain Solutions Dave DuBose discusses how the S&OP process, historically a planning tool more commonly used by manufacturers, can help retailers collaborate internally to anticipate and prepare for shifts in demand. “With the 2016 holiday season only five months away, it's a good time for retailers […]

Dave DuBose and Maureen Metcalf, host of the Voice of America Innovative Leadership Series, discuss Dave's experience with supply chain optimization and what corporate leaders should be thinking about with regard to how effective supply chain management contributes to accomplishing overall organizational strategy. When a supply chain is done well, it is cost effective and […]

Posted on April 12, 2016, at Device Talk, a blog by the Medical Device and Diagnostic Industry (MDDI), Steve Simco discusses how medical device manufacturers can build an internal capability for network design to provide a competitive advantage in the face of rising costs and changing dynamics in the healthcare industry. “It’s likely that disruptive […]

Online shopping is transforming the way manufacturers of consumer products do business and think about their supply chain. Supply chains now touch every corner of the business and systems integration provides real-time data on everything from inventory and sales to consumer behaviors and labor management.

The rise of omnichannel, as well as increasingly demanding fulfillment requirements, present technological challenges to the retail apparel industry. A retailer’s ability to create a seamless experience for shoppers, regardless of how they choose to shop – in store, online, mobile – is dependent on automation with precision to track inventory, speed to fulfill orders, […]

David Zuern, VP of Logistics from Benjamin Moore Paints discussed his network design project (by Sedlak) at the CSCMP annual conference in San Diego. The paint manufacturer that differentiates itself with very high service standards learned 5 critical things during its network study with Sedlak.

Sedlak celebrated with client Ascena Retail Group, Inc., at the formal opening of its world-class ecommerce fulfillment center in Greencastle, Indiana on May 14.

The Wall Street Journal investigates a growing trend for higher ceilings in warehousing and fulfillment facilities. Building vertically rather than horizontally allows omni-channel retailers to use 3-level pick modules and taller storage rack configurations for efficient fulfillment of e-commerce orders while minimizing the land requirement.

Should companies undertake the effort and expense involved in LEED certification or simple adopt eco-friendly practices? Lou Cerny makes the point that while LEED is the right ethical direction for companies, there needs to be a strong set of business reasons to support the certification process.

“With the fabric of healthcare distribution in flux, the challenge for pharmaceutical distribution executives is focused on how to leverage distribution infrastructure to reduce costs, but maintain the flexibility needed to mitigate risk across the supply chain. “Pharmaceutical distribution, like with any other industry, has its peculiarities that require specialized applications to keep products moving […]

Sedlak congratulates Under Armour on the recent groundbreaking for its new Distribution House in Mt. Joliet, TN, a suburb of Nashville.

Lou Cerny participated in a panel discussion on Sustainability and Risk Management at the CSCMP Annual Conference in San Antonio, TX. The session focused on how leaders are cutting costs by weighing environmental compliance and corporate responsibility when making facility design, operations and procurement decisions.

DSW is featured in Modern Materials Handling for its new cross-belt sortation system. Sedlak’s system design, procurement and project management services helped DSW increase store replenishment six-fold and double productivity at its Columbus DC.

Only ten years ago, the Internet and distribution were considered a relatively new partnering. MH&L columnist Tom Andel reflects on how rapidly times have changed as he remembers two material handling pioneers, Joseph Sedlak and Bernie Krill.

Jeff Mueller is featured in the April issue of Modern Materials Handling. Read the complete article here.

“Despite their importance, successful implementation of warehouse management systems (WMS) is seldom fully realized in highly automated distribution centers. This is evident in the many WMS implementations of new and upgraded distribution centers that are not adequately functional or fully utilized by staff—in some cases even years after they were targeted to be completed.

Jeffrey Graves contributed an article in the December 2012 issue of 3PL Americas. “As e-commerce continues its rapid growth into virtually every market sector, retailers are anxious to expand their presence online to capture this market share.

The recent introduction of several goods-to-person order fulfillment systems calls for a thorough understanding of their potential fit into any logistics operation. Read Jeff Graves' recent article about Goods-to-Person Fulfillment here.

On April 24 in Hackleburg, Alabama groundbreaking ceremonies were held on the site where VF Corporation's plant was destroyed when a tornado ripped through the town on April 27, 2011. The VF Wrangler plant is Hackleburg's largest employer.

“Leveraging broad supply chain experience from multiple industries, coupled with incisive analytics for precision system conceptual designs, and the capability to objectively examine and propose any design and system options – independent logistics consultants provide critical benefits that systems integrators cannot deliver, and continue to be the choice of supply chain executives for designing and […]

Whether staying in your current building or moving to another, there are things you can do to maximize the return on your improvement investment. Lou Cerny shares his thoughts in this article on retrofitting distribution facilities.