It's rare for a company that is known for its engineering and design skills to turn down the opportunity to design and build a new automated facility, but sometimes it is the right decision.
Such is the case with Fortna's work with its client L.L.Bean. The Freeport, Maine-based outdoor products retailer was reaching the limits of its distribution capabilities a few years back. The company was operating two facilities at the time, both located in Freeport. One handled retail distribution, and the other filled e-commerce orders.
Being located in Maine means most products have to travel farther to reach customers nationwide. That requires efficient processes for picking and packing orders to make up for the additional transportation, time and cost. Concurrently, L.L.Bean was experiencing growth in both its e-commerce and store sales.
L.L.Bean felt the obvious solution would be to build an additional automated facility, possibly located somewhere other than Maine, to reach customers quickly and remain competitive in the online world. They asked Fortna to perform an assessment of their supply chain. The results were a bit shocking.
"Fortna proved to us that we had a lot more space and a lot more opportunity right here in our current building, without making a large investment in another facility," says Jack Samson, vice president of fulfillment, manufacturing, and logistics at L.L.Bean.
L.L.Bean simply needed to make some changes in systems and processes to fully utilize their internal capabilities. Transition planning began in 2016, and the project was completed in phases over the course of the next two and a half years, mostly during non-peak months.
Even so, good project management was essential, as fulfillment had to continue throughout the transition. "It was like running a marathon and having a heart transplant at the same time," quips Samson.
MAINE SQUEEZE The key part of the transition was consolidating the retail fulfillment into the 1.2 million-square-foot e-commerce facility and then changing about 90 percent of the building's processes with new or revised software and automation to support both channels.
Fortna partnered with a number of leading solution providers on the project. Manhattan Associates upgraded the warehouse management system. The facility had a large tilt-tray sorter with 389 trays. However, the sorter only diverted to one side. Retooling the system allowed trays to tilt to both sides, doubling capacity.
Fortna helped L.L.Bean integrate the various systems, including conveyors, merges, and diverters. New pack stations were also added with put-walls to accumulate orders and allow for more efficient batch picking. And a three-story pick module, originally built in 2014, was further utilized to replace manual order selection from high-bay racking. By consolidating operations into a single facility, the total inventory was reduced and more easily managed. "It impacted our minimums as well as our safety stocks," notes Michelle Stash, director of engineering, PMO, quality, inventory control, and safety.
Batch-picking orders and efficiently packing them also reduced the reliance on temporary seasonal labor, which continues to be very difficult to find in an area with low unemployment. In most cases, orders can be out the door the same day, which helps L.L.Bean meet customer commitments and delivery expectations.
A GOOD FIT Originally, L.L.Bean had projected that the transformation would allow the company to remain in the facility for five years. However, the process changes have been so effective that the building should support distribution for at least 10 years.
"I think one of the things that I liked most about working with Fortna was the ease of it. Culturally, they were a good fit for L.L.Bean," says Stash. "The results have been amazing. And we have lots of opportunity from here to continue to look at our systems, our equipment, and our processes to be even more productive and efficient to reduce our overall costs."
For information on Fortna, please visit fortna.com.
Situated at the crossroads of the Choctaw Nation in Durant, Oklahoma, Big Lots' 1.2 million square foot distribution center serves 235 stores within a network of more than 1,300 stores across 48 states. Big Lots is a large national discount retailer, providing everything from furniture to food, as well as household goods and seasonal décor.
The Durant facility serves stores in parts of 16 states, stretching from the Canadian to Mexican borders. Such a vast area makes it difficult to find reliable transportation. For years, Big Lots utilized multiple carriers, but the complexity as the chain grew resulted in products not being delivered to stores on time. This complicated retail operations, as products often were not available to sell in a timely manner.
"We have a long average distance to our stores, which made it very difficult to hit the appointment times consistently that our stores expect," explains Kory Shinlever, director of domestic transportation at Big Lots. "We also had issues with DC productivity we needed to solve because we had a lot of transportation partners supporting that store delivery. It made our trailer pool very complex."
Big Lots needed a partner who could replace that complex mix of transportation providers with one dedicated fleet. They found that partner in Ruan.
"The services we provide Big Lots out of the Durant facility are dedicated contract transportation, yard services, as well as brokerage services during times of surge or other nuances that they have within their network to support," says Jeremy Carmichael, vice president of operations at Ruan. "Our partnership with Big Lots is one of a similar culture. Being people-first and people-oriented, we believe in enduring partnerships. We believe that shared culture fosters a long-term relationship."
Big Lots has improved service dramatically since moving its store deliveries to Ruan. Trailers are always available at the Durant DC, something that was a problem before and slowed down distribution operations.
"It's a great partnership from senior management down to the local management here," says Edwin Boothe, Big Lots' director of distribution at the Durant DC. "Drivers are courteous, professional, and they do a good job with the store personnel. On-time percentage has been great. Service levels have improved since we've been with Ruan."
"The working relationship is amazing," adds Holly Valcik, Ruan's dedicated transportation manager who works onsite in Durant. "The team here at Big Lots has been amazing and very supportive. Anytime I have any questions or needs, they are there to support me."
"Our stores from the Durant distribution center now are serviced at the highest level they ever have been at this point," notes Shinlever. "That makes a huge difference to the stores because they're able to improve their productivity. The stores don't have associates waiting for the truck. And because of that, they're more efficient at the unload. They've improved not only their productivity, but they decreased their total detention costs."
He adds that productivity at the Durant DC has also improved since Ruan right sized the trailer pool with units now always available at the 40 outbound doors. Warehouse associates can finish their picking and not have products stacking up at the docks, as trailers can be loaded on time.
Shinlever says that with Ruan, they found a long-term partner. "We wanted a partner who would be able to solve solutions at scale, who could grow with us and also matched our own company culture - one of being able to succeed together and playing to win," he shares.
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