Project
Your consulting firm has been selected to make a proposal to a
company setting up a new distribution center in Louisville, KY. The company
distributes outdoor equipment. The product line includes clothing and camping
gear. The clothing is made in the Far East and repacked for individual stores
in San Francisco, and then sent to Louisville for shipment to the stores.
The items and receiving and shipping specifics are as follows:
1.
Clothing is shipped in cartons and is not loaded on pallets. The
cartons are floor loaded (meaning no pallets) and they are stacked from the
floor to the ceiling. Cartons of clothing are immediately cross-docked and
shipped to individual retail outlets. Trucks with clothing arrive three times
per week.
2.
The warehouse has to store smaller camping gear such as camping
stoves, hiking and fishing gear. These smaller items have to be stored in the
warehouse and picked for individual store orders. Most of the smaller items are
shipped to the warehouse on pallets. However, some cartons are floor loaded and
may be damaged during shipment.
3.
The camping gear includes backpacks. These backpacks can be
personalized with the customer’s initials. The customizing has to be performed
in the Louisville warehouse before shipping out.
4.
The retail outlets have displays of bass fishing boats. The
customer can order a boat at the store, but the boat is sent to the customer
directly from the Louisville warehouse. The bass boats are made by a third
party vendor.
Your assignment is to design and equip a warehouse to handle the
customer’s needs. Your recommendations must be presented in a written report
format suitable for presentation to your client. Address each of the following
items:
1.
Customer Base – In addition to company owned stores, the company
also supplies outdoor equipment to Walmart. No customized backpacks are sold to
Wal-Mart. How will this affect the way you design your warehouse?
2.
Shape – What warehouse shape is the best fit for your client’s
business model? Be very specific as to why you have selected the design you
chose. How will the design make the warehouse operation efficient? Draw a
sketch and label the departments by function.
3.
Cross Docking – It takes approximately 4 hours to unload a floor
loaded trailer full of cartons. In addition to time, the unloading process ties
up three warehouse workers. This process also ties up a receiving dock.
Shipments arrive at random times/intervals. What would you recommend to make
the cross docking process less stressful on the assets of the warehouse?
4.
Pallet Storage and Retrieval – What pallet storage method would
you recommend and why?
5.
Order Picking – This operation must be fast and accurate. What
picking method would you recommend to ensure speed and accuracy. Why?
6.
Customizing – The process of customizing backpacks will
inevitably delay delivery of the product to the customer. What can be done to
ensure that individual customers will receive their backpacks in a timely
manner?
7.
Large Equipment – Bass boats are sent to the store where the
customer placed the order from. Orders placed by Wal-Mart customers are sent to
the nearest Wal-Mart distribution center. What do you recommend as the best way
to get the bass boats to the customer? Why do you feel this is the best viable
option? Be specific.
In addition to addressing the above questions,
you need submit the following item as well:
8.
Warehouse Equipment – List the equipment you would recommend
having for your warehouse. The recommendation must include specifications on
the type of equipment, model number, supplier, and the purchase price/cost.
You do have access to the midterm project
rubric if you wish to view it. The main grading
components are as follows:
- Minimum
of 5 written pages, not including the cover sheet - Each of
the first seven areas are worth 10% of the final grade - The
warehouse equipment list and the presentation itself are worth 10% each of
the final grade - Each
topic must be addressed in as much detail as possible. Every question must
be answered and justification for your answer must be included - Sketches
and pictures are allowed and recommended to help demonstrate your answers - The
report must be written in a professional format that can be presented to a
client - Each
topic should be highlighted - Proper
grammar and neatness are imperative
Contact your instructor if you have any questions or concerns.
Submit your work by the specified due date. Make certain you correctly upload
any scans of your sketches, as well as your written report.
