The Need:
A major earthmoving, forestry, demolition and material handling equipment company was exploring the option of building a new corporate headquarters and a brand-new spare parts distribution facility. A particular portion of the company was managing this phase of operations for the client. The client and their spare parts team were co-mingled inside the client’s warehouse. The client was faced with the task of identifying, moving and setting up a brand-new parts facility from scratch. They needed a fool proof implementation plan as well as a complete floor plan, consisting of capital equipment needs and facility process flow. Once the decision was made to go ahead with the construction of new campus, Pierce was there to provide the processes needed to accomplish the move. Some of the factors the client wanted to improve upon were:
- Improved turn-time of shipments
- Maximize cubic feet of storage
- Reduced warehousing costs
- Greater visibility for parts availability
- Continuous improvement measures
- Greater monitoring of Key Performance Indicators (KPI) and process metrics
- Improve customer satisfaction
The Solution:
Pierce was able to provide LBX the knowledge, experience and focus needed to successfully bring this new spare parts facility to reality, from the extraction of parts, through the receiving of parts and all the way to the design of the facility. Pierce was also able to use experienced distribution professionals from our existing facilities to help with the distribution set-up. The project can be outlined as follows:
Parts Extraction:
- Identifying all client parts within the client’s existing facility to be moved
- Constructing an exit strategy for removing parts from existing facility
- Constructing an enter strategy for incoming parts in the new facility
- Coordinating with all parties involved, including the client’s personnel, existing personnel, and Pierce Personnel
- Sequencing the parts extraction to avoid disruption to the client’s customers
Facility:
- Work with contractors to aid in facility construction design such as, dock placements, exits, overhead entrances, office layout, docking stations etc.
- Provide process flow layout for facility including the placement of equipment such as, racks, bins, carousel and woodshop equipment
- Rely on Pierce’s experience and existing partnerships with equipment suppliers for reducing capital expenses
Operation:
- A mutually agreed upon scope of services/performance goals/continuous improvement measures
- The selection of an implementation team and the establishment of an aggressive go live date
- The determination and dedication to accomplish the scope of operations at the lowest total per unit cost possible
- Systems selection, implementation, testing and training
- Lay-out testing and process flow analysis
- Inventory storage and slotting strategies
- Hiring, training and certifications
- Inventory receiving and shipping schedules
The Result:
A plan was developed to minimize disruption to dealer networks and customer base by moving product over a short period of time, while still picking and processing emergency orders during this transition. Over 100 truck loads of material were received in addition to 12 ocean containers, while processing a record amount of customer orders in our first full month of operation. Now, both the inbound and outbound flow of materials stabilized, and improvements have been made within the facility. A bin audit was performed to verify inventory, consolidation of inventory from multiple locations into a primary location remained ongoing and additional racks were constructed to locate similar large expensive parts into strategic places within the facility.