The Container Store
does more with less in its e-commerce
distribution facility
"We're
handling volumes 60% higher than we did last year without an increase in personnel"
Customer
The Container Store: www.containerstore.com
Application
This report details a fulfillment center for
on-line store and catalog customers. The facility is designed
for each-pick rather than the case picking done at the
company's retail distribution center.
The situation
The Container Store
is the national leader in home storage and organizational
products. This growing retailer helps customers organize their
homes and lives. It sells products designed to organize
virtually every room and every space, including closets,
kitchens, gift packaging, shelving, hooks, boxes, travel,
offices, closets, trash, collections, bath, storage, laundry and
more. Its business is expanding with 23 retail stores and its
on-line store, where customers can configure home storage areas
with innovative storage products. The company continues to
expand strategically: retail sales have increased at a rate of
25% a year.
When the Container Store's on-line store
opened for business, it drove home the need to split operations
from its Dallas retail distribution center.
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Pack
station configuration was critical to The Container
Store's success. Necessary materials surround the
packer, making the process faster and more effective. |
"Our business was just starting on the
Internet," said Bill
Baron, Container Store Distribution Director. "We had a
small each-pick fulfillment area in our centralized retail
warehouse operation that supported the catalog business. We
decided to re-tool our fulfillment process once we looked at the
projected demands of our Internet business."
The impact and the desired solution
"We knew we had to improve the packing area
and the picking processes," said Baron.
The Container Store team realized that its
retail distribution center did not meet the demands of catalog
and Internet fulfillment. Pickers were walking up to 800 feet
from pack stations to get some products. "We found that we
were also spending a lot of time walking to get packing
supplies," Baron Said.
Fulfillment for retail stores and on-line
customers was so different that the logical choice became a
separate facility. "We didn't feel we had the room to grow
at our retail distribution center. And we'd already secured
this building for reserve storage, so it was a logical
choice."
Kevin
Marlow, The Container Store
Systems Operation Analyst added:
"The retail facility was set up to pick for stores in case
quantities by the truckload. Each picking in that center
interfered with the case picking operations. We needed to change
our processes because it was originally designed for store
replenishment."
The Container Store built the system to
accommodate 1,500 orders a day. The company's elfaĆ Sale
occurs after Christmas through January. The elfaĆ product is a
closet storage solution of wire shelving, tracks, standards and
drawers. During this sale, customer order volumes are three
times greater than average and the fulfillment systems needed to
be able to handle these peaks.
Solution implemented
Many companies would design what management
feels is the best solution and implement it, but the Container
Store is unique in its approach to nearly every decision the
company makes. The company has topped Fortune
Magazine's list of "100 Best Companies to Work For"
for two consecutive years.
"We spent months seeking feedback from and
working with the employees asking ëwhat do you like, what do
you dislike, what do you use 100% or the time, 90% of the time,
what do you need to do your job?'" said Baron.
"Our employees designed the packstations. They perform
the job every day. They are the experts, so who better to tell
us what would work?"
"Communication is leadership," added
Marlow. "A person on the shipping floor should understand the
company as well as a vice-president."
The Fulfillment Center features 8,500 pick
locations and 7,000 active SKU's. At peak times, an additional
1,200 SKU's can be added with gift-wrap and other items. The
center can handle up to 1,500 orders a day.
 Flow
rack was used for the facility's fastest-moving items,
making for easy access and replenishment. The top 200 SKU's
were assigned to flow racks. Other items were assigned to static
shelving. A 6-SKU per section format was used for 180
SKU's that were deemed fast-moving basics. A 7-SKU per section
format was used for 4,000 less active SKU's.
Larger, bulkier items were stored on pallet
racks. One configuration stores 500 SKU's of items too
large for shelving or flow racks. Another was designated
oversized storage for 550 SKU's. Finally, a pallet
configuration was developed for the slowest 1,200 SKU's.
"Working with Cisco-Eagle we were able to
find a lot of creative space using either pallet racking using
ëtunnels' and racking over the dock doors to find places to
store things," noted Marlow.
 All
picking is performed using RF devices. Once orders are picked,
they are staged at modular
packing stations. Each station is equipped with a document
shelf, carton rack dividers, bubble wrap dispenser and cutter, computer
screen platform, mouse tray, and tape dispenser platform.
The packing personnel utilize these stations to
quality-check and pack each order.
Once packed, cartons are conveyed
to manifest stations. After being manifested, orders are
palletized and staged for shipping.
"We spent a lot of time looking at packing
stations to make them more ergonomic," said Baron. "We
worked with Cisco-Eagle looking at different options for the
pack stations, looking at our supply, utilization, and space
requirements."
After the product reaches the pack station,
The Container Store's warehouse management system (WMS) helps
ensure it is packed and shipped correctly. "The packer
generates a container content summary. It shows the line item
notes, order notes, or instructions to add catalogs. We can
print that off, pack the order, and ship-stage the container. If
the order is more than one box, the packer prints a content
summary for each box," said Marlow.
Most shipments tend to be multiple boxes, and the
customer wants to know what is in each box. These summaries help
ensure that everything is picked properly.
When the last carton of a customer's order
crosses the manifesting station, the system prints an order
summary that is attached to the outside of the carton and sent
to the customer. Upon confirmation of manifesting the last
carton, The WMS closes out the order.
The company makes sure that on-line customers
know when their order is shipped by providing them complete
information from start to finish. "Our host will send an
e-mail to the customer letting them know the tracking numbers
and carton contents," said Baron.
The Results
With the new fulfillment center, The Container
Store has created a facility that strongly supports the
each-pick requirements of Internet and catalog fulfillment.
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The fastest-moving items in the
facility were put in flow racks. Items were then
classified and stored in either shelving or pallet
racks, depending on frequency, size and other factors. |
"Everything is much closer to the
operation," Baron commented. "Before, we had product as far
as 800 feet away from the packing area. The first few days of
picking in the new fulfillment center amazed us. All picking
zones are within 100 feet of the pack stations. The flow around
the pack stations and the operation are much better. We've
eliminated a lot of travel time in the process."
The Container Store constantly looks for ways
to improve its operations, and operational flexibility of the
new center is a major factor in its success. "We've changed
some of our initial assumptions about the packing process and
the needs of the packer," said Marlow. "Having the modular
pack stations made it easy to make changes to our process. We
could change the arrangement of supplies at the station as
needed."
The improvement at the pack stations was
especially noticeable. All of the supplies a packer needs are in
a 180-degree arc around them. "The biggest time saver at the
pack stations was having the boxes overhead and over the
conveyor," Baron said. Previously the company had a central
location for all of its packing boxes, so packers had to walk to
get what they needed.
"Now it's all within their reach. Our
packers tell us it's more organized and we get product out
faster."
"Everything was in the top range we
expected," Marlow added. "The Cisco-Eagle team was attentive
to our requirements. You have fits and starts that no one can
control on a project like this, and Cisco-Eagle adapted to the
situation. We didn't have any snags in the installation."
"We're
handling volumes 60% higher than we did last year without a
significant increase in personnel," Baron said. "Even though
we're doing more, it feels less intense than it used to
because of the way the new system flows."
For more information
E-Mail
Cisco-Eagle or call Customer Service. |
