• NEWPORT NEWS, Va.

The Army & Air Force Exchange Service’s (AAFES) commitment to innovation and efficiency is front and center here at the Dan Daniel Distribution Center (DDDC) with the launch of a “goods-to-person” automation system. With the Exchange’s largest DC shipping 11.3-million cases each year from $100 million in inventory, ensuring associates have the best tools at their disposal is “a top priority,” noted Alan French, AAFES executive vice president (EVP) and chief Logistics officer. THE BASICS With goods-to-person, French explained that shuttles and conveyor systems bring merchandise to associates, “saving the extra time needed to physically move throughout the warehouse to gather items for orders,” resulting in “less physical strain and a more optimized workflow.” He added, “Along with a ‘right-sized packaging’ machine that customizes box sizes and automatically packs certain online orders, this system allows more orders to be fulfilled in the same amount of time.” French said DDDC has launched five pick stations with this system “with the expectation that more than half of conveyable cases shipped from the DC will flow through one of them.”

INCREASED EFFICIENCY

With goods-to-person bringing items directly to pickers, the time needed to fulfill and pack orders is drastically reduced.

“Without needing to walk to each individual item in the DC for an order, associates can complete more orders in less time and with lessrisk for errors,” French explained. “Productivity goals can also be reached easier with the ability to fulfill more orders within the same period,” he stated.

IMPACT ON ASSOCIATES

French said, “As always with automation, there will always be questions: ‘How does this impact associates?’ … ‘How does this impact jobs within the warehouse?’ “We have been clear since Day One — goods-to-person will not replace positions at distribution centers. Associates’ daily tasks may change, but the system’s main goal is simply to minimize what we call ‘non-value-add time’ for associates.” Associates can be regularly rotated to different areas of the distribution center to keep their work engaging, and the AAFES executive said the goal “is for this system to help build a successful and engaging environment for DC associates. “By using goods-to-person, associates’ work in checking inventory, picking, packing and shipping is quicker, safer and more accurate.” With this new system, French said the Logistics Team’s work in delivering the best “tastes of home” to the “best customers in the world” is “now easier and more efficient than ever.

“We look forward to embracing these new innovations with all of Team Exchange.”

Source: AAFES

Edited by Larry Lapka

Graphic: AAFES Graphic