The distribution center is constantly facing new demands and challenges due to changes in customer service requirements, order profiles, product lines, mergers and acquisitions, facility consolidations, new value added services, growth or decline in shipping volumes, etc. Occasionally, the changes taking place may require a significant reset of the distribution center, which in turn may involve a new rack and aisle layout, material handling system or a rearrangement of how products are stored.
For many companies, there is a lack of internal resources to plan and execute a major facility changeover with success and without interruptions to service levels. Most distribution personnel are focused on the fulfillment of orders and they cannot spare the time to develop the new vision and then implement it. Many companies turn to KOM International to help simplify and assist in some or all aspects of a distribution reset.
KOM's distribution center reset services include:
Distribution Center Layout and Design
Changeover Planning
Detailed Product Moves
Project Management
Distribution Center Layout and Design
A major distribution center reset often includes tearing down materials handling equipment and installing new equipment. Before any of these physical activities take place, a facility layout needs to be developed for the installation crews to do their work. KOM International provides a wide range of distribution center design and layout services to help companies establish the vision of the optimal operation before they invest. For more information on KOM International's services in this area, click on this link Distribution Center Design.
Changeover Planning
The process of implementing extensive building or operational changes while continuing to ship orders without interrupting service levels requires a changeover plan. The purpose of the plan is to think through where the domino affect of changes can be executed so that events and people can be scheduled without oversight. A good changeover plan consists of many events that require assigned human and equipment resources to execute. KOM International has in-depth project management experience through hundreds of highly complex facility changeovers.
Detailed Product Moves
Resets of distribution centers almost always involve extensive moving of products within the distribution center while the reset changes take place. Care must be taken to minimize the effort required to execute the moves so that products are not excessively handled resulting in damages and additional labor costs.
KOM International provides daily product move plans to enable firms to changeover their operation, with each phased set of product moved planned out in advance. Many companies have significantly reduced their implementation changeover time because of this valuable service.
Project Management
KOM International has a long history of working with building contractors, equipment suppliers and distribution companies. Years of experience in resetting distribution centers enables KOM International to quickly develop project plans that take into consideration all events required to complete the facility changeover. Most importantly, all project plans are based on the premise of no interruptions to customer service.
KOM International's success in distribution center resets is based on strong project management skills. Including KOM International in a facility changeover will almost always result in the project being completed transparent to customers, in less time and at less cost.