Flexibility and coping with change
By Ray Kulwiec -- Modern Materials Handling, 10/1/1998
Flexibility is one of the attributes of Blockbuster Entertainment's new distribution center in McKinney, Texas, our Warehouse of the Month. As managing editor Tom Feare's article points out, the DC handles individual movie videos as well as large boxes, entertainment games, and store supplies such as popcorn. And, it had a special challenge in meeting the demands for the recently released "Titanic" video.Shortly before press time for this issue came the report that Blockbuster soon will be renting out movies in the new digital videodisk (DVD) format. In the future, DVDs may (or may not) be to VCR cassettes what music cassettes and CDs were to eight-track tapes. It remains to be seen. But Blockbuster's DC is ready now; its crossbelt sorter featured in our story is already capable of handling DVD movies.
The key to the viability of this distribution center and facilities like it is its use of flexible automation concepts. Unlike the rigid automation systems that some companies were trying in the late seventies and early eighties, flexible automation accommodates to rapid changes in product lines and business requirements.
Certainly, some rigid automation systems (typified by high-rise storage in rack-supported buildings) continue to be viable. But these are usually the systems that have been regularly retrofitted and upgraded with state-of-the-art equipment and controls. And, in many cases they also provide some type of staging or buffering function, as opposed to merely holding huge amounts of inventory. (The big inventory approach, of course, is taboo in today's JIT environments.)
Bar code labeling and scanning, RF communication, lift trucks equipped with terminals, versatile sortation conveyors, and powerful warehouse management software all typify the flexible automation concepts used by efficient industry leaders like Blockbuster. Armed with this type of automation, these companies are able to meet planned and unplanned events. They can respond quickly to changing conditions, and above all they have the ability to improve.
Read our Warehouse of the Month and you'll see what I mean.
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