- Many retail stores require a distribution center in order to efficiently ship products from vendors to a store location. It takes a team of workers to successfully run a distribution center. Career opportunities in distribution centers include work in receiving, forklift operation, repacking, bulk and shipping package handling, human resources, industrial engineering, information technology, inventory loss prevention, machinery maintenance, occupational and equipment training, safety education, dock management and employee management.
- The distribution department for a company is responsible for ensuring timely product delivery in order to meet customers' needs. Typically the distribution center is focused on a common purpose such as retail distribution for retail stores, order fulfillment for distribution directly to customers, or cross-dock distribution, which receives products from a manufacturer, stores them for a short time, and then distributes the products to various retail companies. Some businesses have a distribution department that supports multiple channels such as cross-dock and order fulfillment.
- A career in a distribution center can have diverse education and training requirements depending on the career focus. For example, a forklift operator needs specialty education and training in machine operations, while a package handler career may only require a high school education. All distribution center careers need a business understanding and sensitivity to getting the product to its location as quickly and accurately as possible.
- Outsourced distribution is a logistics service typically provided to smaller retailers. While some companies are large enough to have a distribution center department, other companies outsource the distribution function in order to keep operations cost effective. Careers in an outsource distribution center can include package handling, receiving, shipping, inventory loss prevention, shipment tracking and management.
- A distribution center provides diverse career options resulting in varied salaries depending on several factors such as experience, education, responsibility and training. A distribution manager's average annual salary can range from $60,000 to $110,000, while a forklift operator's annual salary average is approximately $32,000.
- A distribution center provides a unique opportunity for career advancement through experience and training. For example, a package handler may be able to advance into a supervisory or management position after years of experience and training. Because a distribution team works closely together to reach the common objective--successful and accurate shipments--many positions are cross-trained and internal candidate career advancement is not uncommon.
