Tenn.-based manufacturer of ceiling fans. As Michael
Ritter, the company’s senior vice president of operations,
explains, the manufacturer decided to seek certification last
year in order to demonstrate to senior management and
investors that its Byhalia, Miss., DC was among the best in
the business.
Ritter credits David Phillips, general manager of warehousing and distribution, for leading the 936,000-square-
foot DC through the certification process, a distinction it
earned in November. Ritter says that when Phillips took
over management of the DC last year, he began to roll out
lean management tools to the facility’s 85 employees,
including the management group, supervisors, and the
shop floor, with the aim of developing best-in-class
processes as outlined in the WERC program. Other members of the DC’s leadership team included Leone
DeGaetano, director of transportation; Mike Bradford,
operations manager; and Jim Bond, rework/returns and
receiving manager.
Earning the certification, Ritter says, validated for him and
other senior managers that the DC was operating as well as
if not better than others. “It told me the facility is managed
better than average and that we had a professional environment focusing on the right things and performing very well.”
For employees, he adds, it provided reinforcement that the
work asked of them has been worthwhile.
QUEST FOR VALIDATION
For OHL, a major third-party service provider, the decision
to go through the certification process was part of a broad-
er effort to standardize operations across its facilities as
well as ensure it was staying abreast of industry trends. As
Randall Coleman, OHL’s senior vice president for the
South region, explains, “We had embarked on a program
about a year ago trying to drive consistency across all our
operations, so what the customer is seeing is the same in
each DC. At the same time, we wanted to challenge our-
selves to show we were moving in the right direction in
regard to best practices.”
Coleman says OHL used the WERC best practices guide as
a roadmap to improve service levels. To date, the Brentwood,
Tenn.-based company has completed certification of three
facilities.
Looking at best practices, he says, helps alert companies to
how those practices evolve. “There’s always a tendency to
allow yourself to be constrained by what’s going on within
the four walls,” he says. “You don’t look outside. But what
was acceptable performance two to five years ago is now run
of the mill or subpar. So participating in the certification
program was a good way to benchmark against the best in
class.” ;
Editor’s note: For more information on the WERC certification program, visit http://www.werc.org/facility_cert/.
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