specialreport
BY PETER BRADLEY, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
smar ter
picks
An integrated order picking system has slashed
labor costs, boosted throughput, and virtually
eliminated errors at KeHe Distributors’ new DC.
And it used ordinary technologies to do it.
SPEED AND EFFICIENCY ARE CRUCIAL
to every DC operation, of course, but the pres-
sure to achieve ever-higher productivity levels
is greater in some industries than in others.
The grocery business, with its razor thin mar-
gins, is a good example. As Craig Turner, vice
president of operations for specialty food sup-
plier KeHe Distributors, puts it, “The ability to
reduce time and motion in a low-margin envi-
ronment is extremely important in order to
remain competitive in our market.”
So it’s no surprise that when the company began planning for a new DC in Allentown, Pa., it
made productivity a priority. The project was part of a larger DC consolidation effort aimed at
eliminating redundant operations. The distributor had already completed a similar project in
the Dallas area, combining several operations into a single DC in Dallas. The Allentown center,
in turn, would absorb operations from an Albany, N. Y., facility once construction was finished.
At the same time, KeHe began looking into systems that would boost efficiency and make
maximum use of capacity in the facilities it would retain. The mission took on particular
urgency late last year as the company prepared to acquire competitor Tree of Life—an acquisition it completed this past February.
Tall order
Founded in 1952, Romeoville, Ill.-based KeHe has grown into a $2 billion company today.
As one of the largest suppliers of natural and specialty foods, it distributes dry goods, frozen
foods, and perishables—about 60,000 SKUs in total—to some 33,000 retail outlets throughout North America and the Caribbean. Its customers include some of the largest food retailers as well as independently owned natural and organic food stores.
Like its counterpart in Dallas, the consolidated Allentown operation would serve both types
of customers—the big mass marketers and the independent retailers. As Gene Carter, KeHe’s
IMAGE COURTESY OF KEHE DISTRIBUTORS
