DC Velocity - October 2018

Peckham operates five social enterprises—supply chain solutions, business services, environmental services, apparel manufacturing, and Peckham Farms. We choose to work with customers that embrace diversity and community, and believe in the potential of all individuals.

Q Why did you choose supply chain as one of your com- pany’s focused industries? AWe conduct town hall meetings periodically to ask our work force what they would like to see in the future. Warehousing was one of the lines of business where we could effectively employ people with significant disabilities using technology.

Peckham has six warehouses totaling 1. 4 million square feet of space, all in Lansing, Mich. From storage, to contact center, to “pick, pack, and ship,” we are a one-stop logistics and fulfillment center.

Q Who are your customers?

AWe are doing logistics support for the Defense Department, specifically the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) and the Army.

One of the operations is a repair facility for the Army’s Organizational Clothing and Individual Equipment division.

Peckham receives, launders, repairs, and stores thousands of items. We also stock more than 8,000 items, primarily clothing, for Navy and Coast Guard service members worldwide. Peckham ships an average of 1,500 orders each day to over 40,000 customers.

QCan you talk a little about the diversity found in your work force? A Peckham is a very diverse organization. Nearly 80 per- cent of our 2,500 employees have one or more physical, mental, or emotional disabilities. We are very culturally diverse, with nearly 30 languages being spoken and individuals representing more than 50 different cultures. Our supply chain solutions social enterprise employs more than 250 employees at the six different locations, and more than 97 percent of those workers have one or more disabilities. For example, among the supply chain associates, we have people with psychiatric disorders and emotional impairments, physical disabilities, developmental and learning disabilities, autism spectrum disorders, visual and hearing disabilities, and traumatic brain injuries.

Q Can you provide some examples of the work that people with disabilities perform in your distribution centers?

ACurrently, 97.5 percent of all direct labor is done by persons with disabilities. These functions include receiving, storing, picking, shipping, repackaging, inspection, washing, drying, repairing, and classifying/reclassify-ing product. There have also been individuals with disabilities who operate in supervisory roles.

We have experienced amazing results with this work force. There are studies that show that people with disabilities are more reliable, more loyal, and more engaged than other workers, yet this is one of the most untapped resources for talent by employers because of stigma, fear, myths, and misconceptions about cost and training, or plain ignorance.

Peckham has a very high retention rate with this work force, currently 96.5 percent. Our unplanned absence rate is also very low and generally runs between

0.8 and 1. 8 percent.

Q Did you have to adapt your processes to accommodate their disabilities? ANo. We believe in fitting the job to the employee and individualizing the work experience for every employee whether that person has a disability or not.

There are a few jobs that were carved out, but the cost from the carved-out position was neutral when compared with the savings elsewhere. An example would be wrapping pallets. Peckham has automated stretch wrappers, but a person is still needed to attach the stretch film to the pallet and start the machine. Our forklift drivers were doing this and were having to get off and on their vehicles multiple times an hour, which reduced their productivity.

We hired a visually impaired worker who now operates several stretch wrap machines simultaneously, which added a cost. But once we added that worker, the productivity of the forklift operators almost doubled, making this a cost-neutral or cost-saving initiative overall. Most accommodations can be done in this way, where there is little to no cost but the return on investment is high for all parties.

QDo you think that concerns about the cost of accom- modations keep employers from hiring workers with disabilities?

AI do, but our experience is just the opposite. There is a myth that all people with disabilities require job accommodations, yet studies show less than a quarter of employees with disabilities need accommodations.