Posted: September 20th, 2016

Which is more important to a distribution centre, a good transportation system or a plentiful workforce

Which is more important to a distribution centre, a good transportation system or a plentiful workforce? Respond to the two answers below.

1) What is your opinion on Elder’s answer? Be sure to make a good argument for your position and support your response with evidence from a resource.

A distribution centre is an automated warehouse built to receive products from manufacturers and suppliers, take orders, complete orders efficiently, and distribute products to customers quickly. Distribution centres are devised to move goods to their destinations rather than just as a location for storing inventory. The transportation system and workforce both affect the company’s pricing of products, delivery performance and the condition of the products the customers receive.

Transportation systems in my opinion rely on the flow of information to function effectively. Information such as customer transactions, billing, shipment and current inventory levels are related to the performance of the transportation system. A plentiful workforce is not necessarily a good workforce. Employees typically no more than 40 hours a week, (unless you are a Soldier) they demand benefits, health insurance, require training, and might be disruptive at work. Too large of a workforce can cause overcrowding at a distribution center, leading to accidents. Without the information required for a good transportation system, a plentiful workforce will not be able to function efficiently. As a result, a good transportation system is more important than a plentiful workforce to a distribution centre.

Sources:
http://www.mwpvl.com/html/walmart.html

Armstrong, (2013). Marketing, an introduction, 11th edition.

Gabrys, B., (2006). Knowledge-Based Intelligent Information and Engineering Systems: 10th edition