2011 Distribution Solutions Attendees

The audience is fascinated by the AWMA seminars focused on building a CSA Compliance Program; the use of voice picking to optimize warehouse operations; effectively planning and managing warehouse expansion; and taking advantage of AWMA’s InfoMetrics program to use data to build the bottom line offered at this year's Distribution Solutions Conference in Fort Worth, TX.

CSA Session with Mark Weaver

Mark Weaver, safety consultant at J.J. Keller & Associates Inc., addresses the audience about the requirements of the new federal Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) program and additional pending transportation-related regulations.
 

2011 Distribution Solutions Show Floor

Butch Bellah (l),  Church Point Wholesale, and Steve Stomel, ProCat Management Services, LLC talk on the 2011 Distribution Solutions Conference Show Floor.

Timmons Review Voice Picking System Implementation

Chris Timmons, executive vice president, operations, at Eby-Brown Co., reviewed his company’s implementation of a voice picking system to increase its warehouse efficiency.
 

Bellah Talks about Warehouse Expansion

Butch Bellah offers advice on managing warehouse expansion at the 2011 Distribution Solutions Conference in Fort Worth, TX.

Corrigan Shows the Value of InfoMetrics

Zeno Corrigan, vice president, sales & marketing at Pine State Trading Co., Augusta, ME, discusses the value of the AWMA InfoMetrics program at his company.

Four educational sessions sponsored by AWMA provided solid information for convenience and foodservice distributors who attended the 2011 Distribution Solutions Conference October 24-26 in Fort Worth, TX.

“This year’s conference featured a lot of technology, both in the educational sessions and on the expo floor,” noted AWMA President & CEO Scott Ramminger. “Our AWMA sessions were extremely informative, and we thank the distributors and suppliers who participated.”

Jon Burklund, president/COO, Burklund Distributors, Inc., East Peoria, IL, and the company’s director of operations, David Stonecipher, agreed and said the opportunity to meet with peers from other distribution firms, including foodservice distributors, from across the nation, was also a big advantage.

The four AWMA seminars focused on building a CSA Compliance Program; the use of voice picking to optimize warehouse operations; effectively planning and managing warehouse expansion; and taking advantage of AWMA’s InfoMetrics program to use data to build the bottom line.

CSA Compliance: Use Safety as a Competitive Advantage

Distributor transportation executives were encouraged to take advantage of a “perfect storm” of events and build a solid fleet safety program, in compliance with new federal standards, that could actually be used as a competitive advantage.

Mark Weaver, safety consultant at J.J. Keller & Associates Inc., Neenah, WI, told distribution conference attendees that requirements of the new federal Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) program, additional pending transportation-related regulations, highly publicized and costly jury awards, and the development of new technology all are attracting the attention of upper management.

“You now have executives and legal departments listening,” he said, advising fleet execs to develop one-, two- and five-year safety implementation plans that will comply with CSA and at the same time show customers that “I get it there safely, on time, in good condition, without being delayed.”
    
“You can use your CSA reports to a competitive advantage,” Weaver suggested.

The CSA 2010 program, which took effect last November and is administered by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), is intended to help reduce motor carrier related accidents through improved motor carrier compliance with regulations covering interstate commercial vehicles over 10,000 pounds.

The objective is to more readily identify high-risk carriers and allow FMCSA to intervene earlier and apply more efficient “interventions.”

For more information about CSA please visit https://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/.

Implementing Voice Pick to Optimize Ops

Chris Timmons, executive vice president, operations, at Eby-Brown Co., Naperville, IL, detailed his company’s implementation of a voice picking system from Lucas Systems Inc., as the company sought to increase its warehouse efficiency.

“We wanted to reduce costs, improve order accuracy and picking productivity,” said Timmons.  “But we could not sacrifice an ounce of customer service in return for technology.”

The system, called Jennifer VoicePlus, has delivered on all of those goals, he said.

“Voice is intuitive, user friendly, endlessly scalable,” he explained. “I don’t have to have six zones in my warehouse. I can change (labor) throughout the night, all night long with no technological changes.”

The system was first installed in one distribution center and since has been implemented in all seven.

“Jennifer delivered on what we had hoped for,” said Timmons, noting that carton/each pick productivity increased 40.1 percent and 33.4 percent for cases. The ROI analysis was at 12 months,” he added. “I thought that was too good to be true. But by the time I got to my seventh plant online, I had already paid for the entire system.”

Meanwhile, he added, that shortages – already at very low levels – dropped another 46 percent. “Our customers are real happy,” Timmons said.

Bottom line, said Timmons, Jennifer allows Eby-Brown to better deliver on customer requirements, provides better service from the DC with better quality and fewer returns. Order accuracy has improved and productivity gains are substantial.

The Jennifer VoicePlus system used at Eby-Brown supports voice directed order selection across multiple picking styles and products, ranging from bulk items, foodservice items, candy, HBA and other piece-pick products. The system also features an enhanced QC/Audit module that runs on a handheld mobile computer. Like all Jennifer VoicePlus systems installed since 2005, the Jennifer system at Eby-Brown supports voice and scanning interchangeably, using the integrated scanner of the user’s multi-modal mobile computer, in this case, the Motorola MC9000 and MC3000.

Effectively Planning & Managing Warehouse Expansion

As vice president, operations at Church Point Wholesale, Church Point, LA, Butch Bellah was responsible for managing the addition of 50,000 sq. ft. of new warehouse space while simultaneously folding in two acquisitions into the company’s overall operations.

Bellah recounted the experience and discussed some of the key steps that were taken to help make it successful. The facility was opened in August.

Those key steps included:

• Decide in advance what the finished product will look like, in terms of added efficiencies, work force and optimal results.
• Seek tax incentives from local governments for keeping/adding jobs.
• Set an acceptable completion date and stick to it. Do not accept late performance on deadlines.
• Establish the appropriate team, including both inside employees and outside contractors, suppliers and consultants.
• Delegate responsibilities but stay on top of all developments. Make sure everybody on the team knows their responsibilities, and then let them perform.
• Communicate every step of the way and make sure contractors and subcontractors are communicating with each other.
• Prepare for the unexpected; order equipment early.
• Create a professional RFP for bids; bid everything. Negotiate everything.
• Schedule regular team meetings and chart progress. Give every participant a list of “top 10” assignments and check constantly on progress.
• Inspect everything. “Remember, you get what you inspect, not what you expect.”

Taming the Whale: Distributor Model of SKU Rationalization

Zeno Corrigan, vice president, sales & marketing at Pine State Trading Co., Augusta, ME, outlined the benefits being achieved by his company through the AWMA InfoMetrics program.

“InfoMetrics isn’t about data for the sake of data,” said Corrigan. “It’s about adding dollars to your bottom line.”

Corrigan said InfoMetrics has made a big impact on Pine State’s efforts to get SKUs under control. “We’ve eliminated about 1,700 SKUs out of our warehouse since last November because we’ve had the right data on every SKU we carry,” he said. That translates to savings of $88,400 every month or $1,060,800 per year.

The information provided by InfoMetrics helps Pine State more quickly weed out poor performers. Now, when vendors come in, they are shown their product SKU data and actual performance for each product.

“We talk about the bottom performers and the exit strategy for those products, and we do that before we move on to any other discussion,” said Corrigan.

The company also uses InfoMetrics data to help the sales force demonstrate to retailers what products are missing in their stores that should be carried.

“They validate a sale,” he said. “We can say, ‘you need to bring in those top movers if you want to maximize your sales.’ We can show stores if they are missing that core SKU, and we can prove it with numbers.”