Aerospace Distribution Center Conveyor System Drives Shipping & Receiving Efficiency

The desired solution

The aerospace parts distributor wanted a larger facility with room for future expansion. The new operation needed to be scalable so receiving and shipping processes could grow naturally as product lines expanded and customer demand increased.

According to the project manager, "We distribute aircraft parts from hundreds of manufacturers. Our inventory includes everything from fasteners and chemicals to wheels, brakes, engines, accessories and thousands of other components. We maintain more than 75,000 SKUs on hand, with roughly 20% classified as fast-moving inventory."

The new distribution center needed to receive products from suppliers faster and more efficiently while significantly improving outbound shipping performance.

Most of the material handled by the facility is distributed from the Dallas operation to regional distribution centers and customer service facilities throughout the United States, as well as international locations. The central warehouse also ships directly to customers worldwide.

As the project manager explained, "The Dallas operation replenishes inventory throughout our distribution network while also shipping directly to customers."

Solution implemented

The company transitioned into its new facility with minimal disruption. Steel shelving units, complete with loaded inventory, were relocated over a single weekend.

Incoming products are now directed either to bulk pallet rack storage or to receiving stations where small items are placed into totes and assigned barcode labels. The totes travel by conveyor to designated putaway zones, where sortation equipment automatically diverts them to the correct inventory locations. With more than 75,000 SKUs in the facility, this significantly reduces the time required to place received inventory into storage.

The conveyor system became an integral part of the facility improvement by allowing the operation to create much more efficient receiving and putaway zones.

According to the project manager, "We have much more conveyor capacity for processing small package receipts. We also added four drop-off points serving different putaway zones in the bin area. We didn't have that capability before."

Shipping operations also improved dramatically. Previously, the shipping department relied on a single conveyor lane feeding all shipping areas, requiring personnel to manually sort virtually every order.

The new system introduced automated sortation into the shipping process. "Now orders are automatically routed into four different shipping lanes, so they're already sorted when our shipping personnel receive them."

For example, many aerospace components require accompanying certifications. The material handling system automatically routes those orders directly to the certification processing area instead of requiring manual sorting.

"In the old system, everything traveled on one conveyor line and had to be hand-sorted before reaching the certifications area," the project manager explained. "Now it's automatically sorted in the picking area and sent directly where it needs to go. That's a significant time-saver."

The results

The aerospace parts distributor is better positioned to serve customers while supporting continued growth and the addition of new product lines. The upgraded distribution center provides faster order fulfillment, greater operating efficiency and additional capacity for future expansion.

According to the project manager, "At the old facility, we shipped about 900 orders each day. Today, we're processing approximately 1,500 shipments daily."

Since moving into the new central warehouse, the company has accelerated the process of receiving products, placing them into totes, applying identification labels and routing them to the appropriate packing and manifesting areas. "The faster we move product from picking to manifesting, the more efficiently the entire operation performs," the project manager said.

"The additional space and improved layout have made a tremendous difference. Our previous operation occupied two separate buildings with a mezzanine level, and we had essentially reached capacity. The new facility gives us room to expand product lines today and provides capacity for future growth."

With a modern, scalable distribution center and an efficient conveyor-based material handling system, this aerospace parts distributor is well positioned to support continued business growth while providing faster, more reliable service to its customers.

Solution in a snapshot