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International and European Removal Customers and Removal Companies can Finally Find Each Other

Anyone who is moving will know how stressful it is. The RoadAhead and its team have been involved in the international removal industry for many years and this is why the idea for an international and European online marketplace was born. The one thing the founders realised was that finding a removal company was one the most difficult and time consuming things to do. This is why The RoadAhead has developed a website which has now been live since February 2012 to make life easier for people who are moving anything around the world or within Europe to find a suitable removal company. Not only that, it’s proving to save people up to 70% on the cost of a removal.

Removal Customers

The RoadAhead offers removal customers a marketplace for finding rated removal companies. Every company that signs up is vetted to ensure they are who they say they are. It couldn’t be easier post your job by completing a very simple online quote form.

The system will automatically send the removal job through the system so it reaches any removal company that may be interested in offering a price. All of the messages and quotes are emailed directly to you. The only thing a removal customer has to do is ask any questions they may have and accept the quote once they have decided on the best removal company for them.

After a quote has been accepted, a small deposit is paid to the website and the remainder of the price quoted is paid to the removal company. Customers NEVER pay more than they have been quoted on the site.

Removal Companies

The RoadAhead can, in actual fact be used as a personal marketing tool for removal companies. There are features that allow a profile to look as professional as the company behind it. Such features as adding photographs, posting personal profile text and a feedback system are all standard with the website.

The team behind The RoadAhead have thought long and hard about how to help removal companies gain more business and have more of an online presence at the same time. On the homepage there are featured removal companies who gain this added extra when they have received some positive customer feedback from the site.

Any international & European removal company can sign up to the website and since the fee structure is based around the customer, it’s totally free for a removal company to use. All quotes made on the website are “closed” which means no-one else can see what has been quoted so unlike other sites we don’t work on the principal of driving prices down to unrealistic levels. Instead we try to achieve fair prices for both removal companies and removal customers!

The RoadAhead is a very simple but powerful concept which helps removal companies to gain more business whilst allowing customers to get an average of 5 quotes and make savings of up to 68%!

Author: Julie Coburn (G+)

Benefits of Automated Storage and Retrieval System

Benefits of Automated Storage and Retrieval System You understand that managing your inventory by excel spreadsheets is no longer a solution. You understand that the costs of data entry errors are too much to overcome. As such, you’ve moved forward with investing in an enterprise resource planning (ERP) software and have started to barcode all inventory counts. You also understand that to properly manage your warehouse means you must continually keep track of your work-in-process, raw material and finished goods inventory. Doing away with spreadsheets was the first step, while the second included purchasing an inventory management software. The third and final step includes upgrading your warehouse with automated storage and retrieval systems. So what kind of benefits can you expect from this third and final step? More importantly, why have so many of today’s enterprises decided to install these automated storage systems?

Reducing Costs of Obsolescence, Damage and Theft

There are three costs of inventory that can be reduced by using automated storage systems: Inventory obsolescence, inventory damage and finally, inventory theft. All three have a direct impact on profit, and most importantly, a direct impact on a company’s bottom line. The reality is that manual processes don’t allow companies to capture, track or eliminate these costs at the source. They don’t allow enterprises to track their incidence in real-time. In fact, most only find out damage, obsolescence and theft is a problem long after it has occurred.

Barcoding inventory is but one solution to this aforementioned problem. However, barcoding alone won’t reduce the incidence of damage, obsolescence and theft. Barcoding alone won’t improve the accuracy and precision and upgrade your materials management processes. What’s required is an automated storage and retrieval system that tracks, stores and protects inventory at all times. Again, speed and accuracy are essential. However, it’s wrong to assume that all storage and retrieval systems are automated and computer-controlled. Here are two options with respect to the types of storage systems your company can use.

• Manually Controlled Storage Systems: Raw material allocation and order picking is simplified with manually controlled storage systems. These systems and storage units are functional, easy-to-manage and just as easy-to-control. While they are not fully computer-controlled or integrated, they still allow warehouse personnel to manage storage spaces, carousels and bins with ease.

• Automated and Integrated Storage Systems: Fully automated and integrated storage systems are the ultimate in warehouse management and efficiency. They allow for complete integration of the company’s ERP software with the warehouse retrieval storage system. Order picking is optimized and controlled via ERP-generated work orders. The entire system allows operators to easily pull inventory via direct and remote terminals.

Automated storage and retrieval systems will not only improve how you manage your warehouse, but they will also upgrade your entire supply chain. You’ll no longer have to concern yourself with damage and obsolescence. You’ll have better control of incoming and outgoing shipments. You’ll protect your inventory from theft by being able to segregate your inventory within vertical and horizontal storage carousels, thereby keeping your most valued inventory out of reach.

This has been a guest post by the Schaefer Shelving, helping customers improve their supply chain, logistics, storage and distribution processes.

Top 5 Ways To Use The Internet To Buy And Sell Trucks

Top 5 Ways To Use The Internet To Buy And Sell Trucks A few years ago, the only way to buy or sell trucks was to list an ad in your local newspaper or place a sign in the windshield. These days, the Internet has made these methods almost obsolete. The Internet offers both buyers and sellers a number of advantages over more traditional marketing methods including offering a wider audience and keeping expenses low.

In order to be successful in finding the truck you want or selling one that you don’t, keep these tips in mind.

1. Global Audience: The Internet grows by leaps and bounds every single day. Thousands of new users make their way onto the World Wide Web daily, which means that the pool of potential buyers grows exponentially with each passing week. The main benefit of an online market for buyers is that the fierce competition and the lower cost of advertising tends to force prices down. This equates to better deals for both buyers and sellers.
The truth is that newspaper ads just don’t work anymore. Fewer and fewer people subscribe to local newspapers, which in turn bumps up the price for advertisers in order to keep the paper afloat. The pool of potential buyers is limited, which results in lower chances for success.

2. A picture is worth a thousand words: Sellers looking to truly reach their audience should be prepared to supply plenty of pictures in order to capture the attention of would-be buyers. Pictures of the exterior, interior, tires, tread wear, and engine are all essential to creating a successful advertisement. Studies have shown that ads with strong descriptions and plenty of ads have an 85% higher click through rate over their less illustrated counterparts.

3. Choose the right website for your application. There are literally thousands of websites aimed at helping you sell or buy a truck. Some are free, some are not, but just like in the real world, you get what you pay for when it comes to the options you have for making your advertisement stand out. While spending lots of money on your ad really doesn’t make sense, since it cuts into your profit, paying a small fee for extras such as listing standard and optional equipment is a great way to snag buyers looking for specific feature.

4. Shop from the comfort of your own home. For buyers, looking at trucks online is the best way to see the greatest number of trucks without spending a dime in gas. Buyers looking for a specific make or model can browse the Internet, view thousands of offerings and create a short list of sellers to contact in a matter of hours, a process that used to take days, weeks or even months. Most buyers are able to locate the specific vehicle they are looking for, in a price range that fits their budget, and make arrangements to view and test drive the vehicle(s) in the same day, saving time, money and effort.

Using the online marketplace is definitely the best and most efficient way to buy and sell trucks. The process is easy, low cost, and can reach the largest number of people in the shortest amount of time.