The Thunderbirds soared into the sky over North Texas at this weekend’s Fort Worth Alliance Air Show where, reportedly, more than 120,000 people were in attendance. Logistics Plus employees at the Dallas-Fort Worth Warehouse got a firsthand glimpse – and some amazing photos (see below) – as U.S. Air Force’s aerobatics squadron screamed across the overhead skies.
More than 120 enlisted personnel, representing nearly 30 career fields, form the backbone of the Thunderbirds. Enlisted team members are selected from units across the Air Force in a highly competitive hiring process. While each position has its various selection requirements, all eligible candidates must show a proven record of success and extensive job proficiency. The last time the Thunderbirds flew, in an extremely rare incident, one of their jets crashed minutes after finishing up an air show over the Air Force Academy graduation in Colorado Springs. The pilot ejected and was unhurt, and no one one the ground was injured because he crash-landed in a field.
Shown below is a video slideshow of the USAF Thunderbirds performance at the Fort Worth Alliance Air Show.
As recently reported, sources say the giant online retailer Amazon.com is expected to close the Fulfillment By Amazon (FBA) program to new sellers during the Q4, 2016 period. New sellers who have not yet sent in their first shipment to Amazon will not be able to do so until January 2017. Amazon’s latest move will leave many hopeful retailers – without their own self-fulfillment programs – on the sidelines as other previously-established FBA sellers fight for those coveted Q4 sales.
Why is Amazon doing this? With the rise of demand and sales that Q4 brings, Amazon usually experiences a huge flood of sellers looking to cash in on the holiday shopping craze, but these ‘growth spurts’ don’t come without consequences. Amazon boasts a huge network of fulfillment centers in 23 states; in fact, they reportedly have over 50 fulfillment centers, over 20 sortation centers, and more than 90,000 full-time employees, but these facilities are not intended to be long-term storage warehouses, but rather temporary short-term storage facilities. The growing number of Amazon FBA sellers, coupled with slow-moving inventory, has put a strain on these fulfillment centers to the point that Amazon was forced to take measures to keep inventory flowing through its veins.
So what can new Amazon sellers do? If you have inventory coming and you see yourself blocked from selling your items on FBA, you still have the option to sell your products through a self-fulfilled (or Merchant-fulfilled) type of scenario with the assistance of a third-party warehousing and fulfillment provider – like Logistics Plus. We are an established and approved member of the Amazon Solutions Provider Network (SPN), so we know how to help sellers import, warehouse, label, and deliver their merchandise according to Amazon specifications.
When you work with Logistics Plus, instead of sending your orders to an FBA distribution center, have your goods delivered to one of our many warehouses around the U.S. (you don’t need to store your merchandise in your own home or garage any longer as some sellers have resorted to doing). When your merchandise is stored at a Logistics Plus warehouse, our warehouse management system (WMS) software provides you with online, complete real-time visibility to your inventory on-hand. Beyond that, the process is very similar to FBA; only you won’t need to worry about inventory management, security, picking & packing, labeling, etc. – Logistics Plus does all of this for you.
Orders come directly to you through the Amazon system.
You then forward the order to Logistics Plus along with the prepaid shipping label and packing slip.
Logistics Plus picks and packs the order, labels it, and then sends the order to your customer.
You monitor the status of your order through our online WMS.
That’s it. Now you can focus on marketing and selling your products rather than worrying about the warehousing and logistics side of things. If you’re ready to begin your own Merchant/Self-Fulfilled program with Logistics Plus, click the button below to learn more and get started. Alternatively, you can send an email to amazonretailer@logisticsplus.com. We’re here to help!
Centrally located in the fourth largest metro area in the United States, the Logistics Plus Dallas/Fort Worth, TX (DFW) warehouse provides 180,000 square feet of prime storage space. Additionally, the facility is located on the 18,000-acre AllianceTexas development which is anchored by the Alliance Global Logistics Hub – one of the world’s premier inland ports. The Logistics Plus Southwest location offers shippers a strategic multi-modal transportation hub, including:
Access to two Class 1 rail lines (BNSF and UP)
Proximity to Fort Worth Alliance Airport – the world’s first industrial airport
Connections to Highway 35W from Mexico to Canada; Texas Highways 114 and 170; and regional sorting hubs for both FedEx and UPS
Fully activated general-purpose Foreign-Trade Zone (FTZ) space and services
Triple Freeport Inventory Tax Exemption on goods that move in and out of Texas within a 175 day period
Comprehensive inventory management and fulfillment solutions
Pneumatic tire forklift with 62,000 lb. lifting capacity – the BIGGEST in N. Texas!
Open space, high ceilings, and tall doors perfect for heavy-lift and big cargo
Retail warehousing expertise with Fulfillment By Amazon (FBA) and direct-to-customer solutions
Secured facility with monitored cameras and alarms
Bulk storage and racked storage
Inventory control and warehouse management system (WMS) technology
Recessed loading docks and grade level docks with inside and outside load/unload capabilities
Comprehensive ground (LTL and truckload), rail, air, and ocean transportation services
If you’re interested in learning more about the Logistics Plus DFW warehouse, our comprehensive logistics solutions, and how to take full advantage of our Southwest hub, please email us at dallas@logisticsplus.com. You can also click the image below to view/download a copy of our Logistics Plus/AllianceTexas brochure.
As previously announced, in collaboration with The Big Picture, Erie Art Museum, Erie Arts & Culture, and YMCA, the “Erie Industry” mural was recently installed on the Logistics Plus Skinner Warehouse in Erie, PA. Yesterday a ceremony was held to officially introduce the mural to the community. In case you missed it, the video below has highlights from the event.
Logistics Plus® eWorldPlus™, powered by CargoWise One®, is a powerful cloud based logistics platform that helps companies improve integration, automation, and communication within their supply chains. It integrates into a company’s business with its customers and partners, streamlining processes and increasing the efficiency, visibility, and profitability of its operations. With hundreds of new features, the newly upgraded platform offers end-to-end visibility – from purchase order (PO) to shipment, customs clearance, domestic transportation, warehousing and distribution, and to final delivery.
CargoWise One, a global integrated single-platform operating system for the logistics industry, is used by the world’s largest logistics companies in 115 countries to manage the movement of goods and information across the supply chain and is known for its powerful productivity focus, extensive functionality, comprehensive integration, and compliance capabilities. As the backbone to eWorldPlus, Logistics Plus customers enjoy some of the following capabilities:
A deeply integrated global freight forwarding solution that organizes and coordinates every aspect of shipments, consolidations, NVOCC operations, imports, exports, transshipments, and on-forwarding. For international and domestic operations covering multiple transport modes, eWorldPlus can help manage highly complex, time critical operations while improving productivity.
A customs clearance system that simplifies the customs process by retrieving the calculated duty and tax, and predicts entry fees for the relevant customs authority prior to submission.
Ocean liner and agency shipment management. All operations are consolidated into one cloud-based system. Access to integrated sailing schedules and space allocations, bookings and bills of lading, container control and detention, accounting, and automated data exchange provide the functionality, visibility, and automation necessary to manage seamless shipments on a global scale.
Comprehensive warehouse management system (WMS) with complete visibility and inventory control for effective operations. A company’s goods will be delivered in full and on time, every time. It suits the present scale of any business – from small warehouses with few orders to large, multi-warehouse operations – and can be reconfigured to match future growth.
Efficient local and overland domestic transportation. Whether door-to-port or port-to-door, trucks or tracks, refrigerated, point to point, bulk or line haul, eWorldPlus is the comprehensive solution that seamlessly manages consignments to and from everywhere in every form.
Online track and trace grants customers increased visibility to monitor the status and movements of goods in real-time at any time. Visibility is now a key customer requirement, and eWorldPlus web tracking capabilities provide customers with 24/7 access to tracking information through a feature-rich online portal. Information is available on demand, it can be pushed to designated staff, or it can be auto delivered to back-office systems.
Project management capabilities allow Logistics Plus specialists to create and configure tasks, supply-chain milestones, and exceptions; record, manage and display tasks, manage projects; and configure triggers to perform actions when events occur. All relevant documentation is kept in one place, always available and accessible in the cloud.
Enterprise efficiencies including accounting, customer relationship management, human resource management, electronic document management, EDI and data integrations are supported for virtually all modern and most legacy systems.
If you’re interested in learning more about eWorldPlus powered by CargoWise One, click the button below to get started. Logistics Plus technology solutions come with no contracts to sign, no commitments, and no hidden fees.