AUGUST 2009
VOLUME 7 NO. 8 inside
22
doing what’s right:
interview with Vice Admiral
Al Thompson
BY STEVE GEARY
He has P&L responsibility for an operation roughly the size of a
Sunoco or Lockheed Martin. But Vice Admiral Alan Thompson
says his top priority is making sure the Defense Logistics Agency
does what’s right for America’s armed forces.
28
Home Depot’s supply chain remodel
BY DAVID MALONEY
; For three decades, the world’s largest home improvement
chain operated without anything resembling a conventional
distribution network. Now it’s scrambling to turn that
fixer-upper system into a showplace.
33
movin’ on … and on … and on
BY MARK SOLOMON
“Continuous moves” distribution strategies aren’t for everyone.
But under the right conditions, they can produce double-digit
transportation savings.
37
productivity gains without (labor) pain
BY TOBY GOOLEY
It’s widely assumed that a union work force won’t accept
engineered labor standards. But if you work within the contract
and bring the union in from the start, you might be surprised.
44
more green, less green?
BY MARK SOLOMON
Transportation interests worry that cap-and-trade environmental
legislation will do little more than lighten their wallets.
47
keeping track of frozen assets
BY JAMES COOKE
Several years of double-digit growth left Frozen Gourmet,
a small California frozen food distributor, scrambling to keep
tabs on inventory. Then it learned about a promising—but
untried—new solution.
51
juice them for all they’re worth
BY SUSAN LACEFIELD
Looking to keep your lift-truck batteries going and going and
going? The secret’s in the maintenance and charging.
