What makes a winner?
By Ray Kulwiec -- Modern Materials Handling, 2/1/1999
In my editorial last October, I discussed flexibility as an attribute exhibited by Blockbuster Entertainment in their new distribution center in McKinney, Texas. We featured this facility as the 'Warehouse of the month' in that issue. Armed with a flexible automation scheme, companies like Blockbuster, I noted, respond quickly to changing conditions, and have the ability to improve.
Fast forward to this month: Blockbuster is one of the three companies recognized in the Modern Materials Handling annual productivity achievement awards program for 1999. Their award is for distribution excellence. The other winners are: Ascend Communications for manufacturing excellence, and Lucent Technologies for warehousing excellence.
This is the ninth year Modern Materials Handling has sponsored this program. The winners are selected by our editorial advisory board, whose members are listed on this page. The judging criteria used are:
- Customer service as practiced both internally and externally,
- The capability to respond quickly to changing market conditions,
- The flexibility to alter operations in order to respond to unplanned events,
- The ability to deliver consistently the right item to its destination at the right time, and
- A clearly demonstrated ability to improve overall operations.
In my editorial featuring Blockbuster I had no idea at the time that they would be a winner, but obviously their attribute of flexibility contained one of the important criteria listed above.
At Ascend Communications, tight control over work-in-process and conveyor-based production lines help customize 600 network controllers a day.
Meanwhile, Lucent Technologies' WMS and ADC systems helped double pick rates and streamline receiving.
You can read these success stories in this issue. Or check them out on our website, www.mmh.com.
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