Challenge
Walmart and Target are high-impacted customers for a large consumer goods manufacturer, and service to these retailers is paramount. Loads going to these customers are majority case-pick with ten or more orders on a single trailer. System issues and rules mandate that Kenco’s associates separate each order into individual staging bays, requiring ten or more bays per load. This reduced capacity as staging bays was excessively utilized.
Solution
A cross-functional team of site associates, engineers, and IT experts was formed to address the suboptimal process. Leveraging our operational and systems expertise, Kenco configured a systemic process by which all work orders could be consolidated into two staging bays (truck nose and tail). All case picking for the same order was also systemically directed for single-pallet consolidation.
Results
Walmart loading time improved by 44% and pick time by 58%. Target loading time improved by 58% and pick time by 37%. The changes resulted in an annualized cost avoidance of $415,457 and improved our ability to achieve best-in-class service levels for our customer’s most valued customers.