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Each month, our print newsletter Distribution Center Management provides in-depth information and ideas to help readers better manage the warehouse or distribution center.

But we often have valuable background material, additional information, or related resources that we just can’t fit in the newsletter. Listed below are a wide range of documents that add further insight and understanding to the articles in Distribution Center Management.

These documents may be viewed and printed with the Adobe Acrobat Reader. You may download a free copy by clicking on the yellow icon.

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August 2008

Bridge Assignment Matrix — This unique job analysis system from Norman Peterson and Associates documents and plots bridge assignments according to the level of physical demand to assist with the appropriate placement of injured employees.

Solar power installations — See solar power in action in this video from American Capital Energy.

July 2008

The Seven Deadly Wastes of Logistics whitepaper — Learn more about the evolution of lean principles, from the beginning of Henry Ford’s revolutionary assembly line process for his Model T automobile in the early 1900s, through Taiichi Ohno’s creation of the famous Toyota Production System in the mid-20th century, to adoption of these principles in addressing today’s logistics and transportation challenges. This paper presents real examples from executives who worked within the Toyota Production System and were effective in expanding these principles beyond the traditional manufacturing/assembly environment.

June 2008

Property loss prevention data sheets — Looking for information on installing and maintaining sprinkler systems, engineering guidelines, and other information to help prevent fires in the DC? FM Global offers a wide variety of loss protection data sheets on these topics and much more. All of the data sheets are free, although users must register before accessing the downloads.

Fire safety fact sheets — The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) offers a number of fire safety facts and tip sheets online.

May 2008

Robotic fulfillment systems — Watch Kiva Systems’ robotic mobile fulfillment system in action in this video.

SmartWay Technology Package Savings Calculator — Truck technologies that save fuel or use fuel more efficiently can pay for themselves through fuel savings. They also help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other air pollution. The EPA’s SmartWay calculator is designed to help truck owners compare the costs and estimate the fuel savings associated with various efficiency technologies. The calculator is designed for owners of single trucks as well as multiple-truck fleets.

April 2008

It Always Comes Down to People — Voice-directed work can boost productivity, accuracy, safety, and job satisfaction in the DC. Those results are most easily realized when organizations simultaneously plan for the people side of a voice deployment. This white paper from Vocollect offers advice on how to plan for the human factor.

Moving Toward the Talking Tag — Voice and RFID are complementary technologies that enhance the benefits offered by each, but with a lot of media hype surrounding RFID, it’s tough to figure out how the combination will really work. This white paper from Vocollect debunks some of the myths of RFID and voice.

March 2008

Watch carousel and vertical lift module (VLM) technology from Remstar to learn how it works:

• Shuttle XP Vertical Lift Module video
• Horizontal carousel order picking video
• Vertical carousel video
• Horizontal carousel consolidation video
• Flow rack consolidation video

February 2008

Training is the key to good forklift safety — Even if associates operate forklifts safely, a defect can cause or contribute to a serious accident. A forklift must be checked for defects daily — usually at the beginning of a shift. The State of Washington Department of Labor and Industries provides these checklists for gas or LPG, and electric lift trucks.

2007 Logistics Cost and Service Database — Establish has compiled a distribution cost and service database which they have updated annually since 1973. Specific data elements include costs for transportation and warehousing, order and line fill rates, cycle times, and information availability. This document outlines firm the 2007 cost/service data, shows the long- and short-term trends in the data, and looks at the implications these trends have for the logistics/distribution community.

Global supply chain blogs — Establish has launched multiple Supply Chain blog sites, updated daily to bring readers the latest news, commentary, and trends in global demand/supply chains. The blog draws material from a broad cross-section of sources to ensure daily readers are kept abreast on the most current supply chain topics.

January 2008

2007 Food Logistics Industry Report — This industry-wide report identifies common practices, challenges, and emerging trends within the U.S. food logistics industry and provides valuable insights for all readers.

December 2007

Industrial Lighting Solutions: The Right Light^SM in Diverse Industrial Applications — What do a tissue manufacturer’s warehouse, a truck repair/maintenance shop, and a distribution center all have in common? In this case study, find out how each of these facilities found a solution to save energy and improve their lighting.

November 2007

Creating the Demand-Driven Workforce — Not many analysts make the connection between customer demand and the supply of human resources needed to execute distribution functions. In this article by RedPrairie, find out how to use workforce planning and allocation to create a demand-driven workforce for improved efficiency, customer service, quality and safety.

October 2007

Policy and procedures handbook — The Pennsylvania Department of General Services’ Warehouse and Distribution Division maintains high performance and productivity with strict adherence to well-defined procedures. Here are three key sections of its handbook.

Supplier Shipping and Receiving Guidelines

Inventory Management

Metrics

September 2007

Is your lean warehouse getting fat? Find out with this checklist reproduced from Lean Warehousing, written by industry consultant, Kenneth B. Ackerman.

August 2007

Safety inspections — Safety inspections are no simple matter as this 12-page Warehouse Safety Analysis Report from Pinnacle Engineering Inc. shows.

Going green — Tomorrow’s distribution centers will be environmentally friendly, sustainable, and consume far less energy. Here’s a list of green techniques ranging from standard practices to bleeding-edge technologies.

July 2007

Retrofit relief — Warehouse design and consulting firm KOM International offers its clients this 16 step start-to-finish plan to a successful retrofit.

Crisis averted — When a tornado knocked out agricultural retailer Tractor Supply Company’s Waco, Texas DC, the company was ready with a business continuity plan. Lawrence Corrigan II, of Tractor Supply Company was at the recent WERC conference in Nashville to present his views on preparedness and recovery. The attached PowerPoint slides depict the damage the storm caused the warehouse, plus they outline the company’s business continuity plan.

June 2007

Attendance policy — To help solve its absenteeism problem, Weekenders USA revised its attendance and punctuality policy, as seen here.

Selecting piece picking methods — This white paper discusses various piece picking methods and explains how to determine which options will best fit your operations. From OPSdesign Consulting.

May 2007

Performance scorecard — Certified Grocers Midwest developed this scorecard to grade DC performance.

April 2007

Training document — This sample training document is a one-page job description that covers the key responsibilities and establishes a mutual relationship between an individual and his supervisors to ensure training is completed.

Perfect delivery index — This sample illustrates how to measure the perfect order index, and provides a list of the specific metrics that go into this index.

March 2007

Reducing waste for a lean DC — Case study on using Value Stream Mapping, work observation statistics, and Kaizen Circles to identify and implement waste reduction in a DC packing operation.

Perfect order — Presentation on perfecting the perfect order measurement by Kate Vitasek for the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals. (PowerPoint file)

Lean warehousing — Presentation on performing a Kaizen event to improve DC performance at Hubbell Canada. Presented by Cal West at the Durham (Canada) Chapter APICS Professional Development Meeting.

February 2007

Floor maintenance — Handout on maintaining and repairing DC floors from presentation by Steve Metzger at the Material Handling & Logistics Conference.

January 2007

Energy prices and logistics costs — an analysis of the true impact of rising energy prices on logistics.

December 2006

Horizontal carousel consolidation video — watch the horizontal carousel consolidation technology in action to learn how it works.

Flow rack consolidation video — this video demonstrates how a flow rack consolidation system works.

November 2006

Sample customer survey — modify and use this sample survey to find out how well you are meeting your customers’ needs.

DC job advertisements — an analysis of the pros and cons of three actual DC job ads.

October 2006

Adding radio frequency technology to the warehouse — provides a step-by-step process for adding radio frequency technology to your DC.