What “integrated” means
A traditional warehouse sells you space: you store your goods in and figure out the operations. Integrated logistics adds operational staff and processes: the warehouse manager is the vendor, not you.
It pays off when the internal cost of managing the warehouse (staff, errors, downtime) exceeds the margin gained by doing it yourself.
How it works, in practice
- Onboarding — analysis of the client’s flow, movement mapping, definition of procedures.
- Setup — assignment of warehouse zones, labeling, definition of inbound/outbound and order management procedures.
- Operations — goods receiving, inventory management, order fulfillment, last-mile distribution.
- Reporting — periodic reports on movements, stock and performance.