Comments on: Getting Creative for Winter

By: Work: It’s a Lifestyle Thing

Work: It’s a Lifestyle Thing — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 23:31:13 +0000

[...] for us to have maximum freedom while still meeting the requirements of the business. We each work about 18 hours/week in the warehouse. The rest of the time we’re free to do whatever we want. Everyone has their own way of getting [...]

By: It’s a Lifestyle Thing - Adam McFarland

It’s a Lifestyle Thing - Adam McFarland — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 00:25:42 +0000

By: Adam McFarland

Adam McFarland — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 16:47:56 +0000

Jeff -

Here’s how I understand the process to be:

When you sign up for a business account number you are assigned a rep on the national level. I *think* they usually send an introductory email or do an introductory phone call, but after that it’s up to you to stay in touch with them. We usually have a ton of questions so we’ve gotten to know our rep well over the years.

Once you hit a certain volume they assign you a local rep. This is what just happened to us. The local rep is a little more hands on and will bend a little more to meet your needs because now you’re a “valuable” client to them and they don’t want to lose you. For example, they took Greg and George out to lunch and discussed our business to see if there’s other ways they could help us.

When Greg inquired about the later drop off’s, that local rep brought the issue up with the local routing department and someone from routing contacted us to work out a solution. Thankfully they were able to consolidate our deliveries and pick-ups into one.

Does that help answer your question? Greg is the one who deals mostly with FedEx, so if you’d like to know more just drop me an email and I’ll put you in touch with him.

By: Jeff Wilson

Jeff Wilson — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 16:21:51 +0000

How did you go about getting a rep from FedEx? I’m from a cold state too (Michigan)and realize the problems that cold weather can have not only on inventory but also labor.

By: nethy

nethy — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 07:58:03 +0000

New York is no place for people. Dunno how you Yanks stick it.
You’ve got such a big country, but you all huddle together in the freezing little corner & shiver all winter paying high rent.

By: Adam McFarland

Adam McFarland — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 11:13:24 +0000

Nethy – really good question. We have 2 zones: a 600 sq-ft room that we keep around 70 degrees and has five tables for us to work on, and the remaining 4,600 sq-ft of warehouse space that we keep at 55 degrees (the lowest we can keep our products at…and still damn cold in the middle of the winter when packing).

Greg went through and used spray insulation to fill any gaps to the outside or to our neighbors.

In the future, we’ll probably benefit from better insulation for the entire building, but we’re taking all of the renovations one step at a time. Hopefully by next year.

By: nethy

nethy — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 23:53:11 +0000

Also environmental cost…

BTW, How much of your warehouse are you using? What would it cost to insulate it?

This is probably beyond the scope of your business at the moment. But a smarter warehouse might go a long way. A smaller insulated area for constant work & a larger ’storage’ area that doesn’t get as much action time.