Most consumers are familiar with the Conair brand of hair-care products, which include hair dryers, curling irons, and Scünci hair ties. But the company also manufactures and distributes a range of household and personal care products. Among them are the Cuisinart and Waring brand kitchen appliances and Interplak dental-care products.
With its broad product lines, the company has diversified supply chains, including distribution to retailers and wholesalers, and direct-to-consumer fulfillment. In the past, some of this distribution was handled internally, while third parties took care of the rest, including distribution for Conair's repair-parts business.
In 2017, Conair decided to bring all of these diverse channels in-house and to consolidate products from some other buildings to reduce overall inventory and turn orders faster. It also wanted to add capacity for its fast-growing e-commerce business.
Conair contacted DMW&H to help it design and build a new 850,000-square-foot facility in Glendale, Ariz. The multichannel operation now fills most of the company's direct-to-consumer orders nationwide and also handles West Coast distribution for retail customers. The company additionally brought its replacement-parts inventory back in-house for national distribution.
A TRUSTED PARTNER
Key to the new facility is an automation design that replaces manual processes found in the previous buildings. "It's not possible to use a manual process when you are handling the volumes that we have to turn around within 24 hours," explains Stephen Alley, director of Western operations for Conair. "DMW&H heard our needs clearly and provided the solution that offered capability and flexibility. It was the proposal that we felt the most comfortable with."
The automation includes some 10,000 feet of conveyor that winds through three large pick modules and other processes. Within the modules, workers equipped with voice-directed technology perform piece picking for retail customers and the booming e-commerce business. Voice allows flexibility and speed for most of the 250,000 picks performed each day in the 24/5 operation. In all, the facility ships an average of 30,000 cartons daily.
CONAIR IN CONTROL
Inside the facility, the Manhattan warehouse management system teams with the DMW&H-supplied Shiraz warehouse control system to manage the fulfillment processes and to provide the data necessary for managers to direct labor where it's needed most.
"We know right away when we activate a wave what zones have the most picks. That's where we put our resources,"explains Thomas Phillips, shipping manager. "So, we are always being proactive as far as where we're moving resources, all the way to the dock."
Elsewhere in the building, full cases are picked directly to conveyor belts. Another area handles the fastest-moving items, with voice directing selection of items to carts. Items eventually travel by conveyor to pack stations and special labeling machines. The labelers allow the facility to drop-ship e-commerce orders received from Conair's retail partners. The label machines print logos and other markings specific to each retailer, making fulfillment seamless to the end customer.
"This building was built with growth in mind," adds Alley. "The conveyor system and the automation were built to be done in several phases, and the building as well was built not with the current demands in terms of space and business in mind, but to be larger than the immediate need."
Since the facility opened, DMW&H has already expanded the material handling systems. Two years ago, an "Early Out" conveyor and the third "Pick-n-Pass" pick module were added. And last year, the shipping sorter was extended to provide another 10 diverts, including an additional "Value Added" conveyor line.
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.
Bruce Muir, director of industry management at SICK, joins DC Velocity’s David Maloney to discuss track and trace technology for inbound and outbound pallets. Specifically, Muir shares about SICK’s unique Ident Gate System that automatically identifies delivered goods directly at the loading gate. The track and trace system detects the shipping labels as soon as the worker drives a loaded pallet through the gate without stopping. A visual loading and condition report then indicates to the personnel whether the details match.
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