These familiar tools gain new importance in an age of dimensional weight pricing, warehouse capacity crunches, and omnichannel fulfillment. Cubing and weighing systems have been important pieces of warehouse equipment for decades, providing precise size and weight data that allow workers to safely store material on racks, collect it on pallets, and load it on trucks. DC workers often take these systems—which lack the cachet of, say, high-speed sortation systems or sophisticated planning software—for granted. However, recent changes in the industry are shining a spotlight on these devices and giving users a new reason to upgrade their equipment and reap further benefits. MASTERING "DIM WEIGHT" Companies in every corner of the supply chain universe felt the ground shift under their feet on Jan. 1 this year, when FedEx Corp. and UPS Inc. changed the way they price ground parcel services. As of that date, the giant carriers extended the dimensional weight pricing structure they had long applied to air and ground shipments of more than three cubic feet to all ground parcel shipments. Under the new "dim weight" rules, the companies now determine shipping rates for parcels based on a combination of their weight and dimensions, not their weight alone. The change has reverberated particularly loudly for companies shipping lightweight items in large cartons, since the carriers effectively charge them an extra fee for occupying a disproportionate amount of space on a truck. In turn, the advent of dim weight pricing has made cubing and weighing systems more important than ever. If you’re multiplying length by height by width in inches, then dividing by 166 for a domestic shipment, you’d better have an accurate measurement system. The reason for that is that FedEx and UPS will measure your package too, and then hit you with a chargeback fee if […]