Distribution centers are typically, busy, noisy and often chaotic environments to work in. DC managers are always on the lookout for problems (actual and perceived). They must be ready to make operational and/or systematic changes as may be required to “fix” a problem or satisfy new business requirement. One of the challenges they must overcome is similar to the so called “fog-of-war” syndrome that we often hear about from military leaders. Before any corrective action can be taken there must be a clear understanding of the issues.

For those who are tasked with making operational and/or systematic changes, the greatest challenge may be sorting out assumptions/presumptions from the actual cause and effect. After discussing this with several DC managers, the following situations were cited as examples:

The first example is a type of assumption that says...