Volumes and productivity up at Ingram Micro

The Jonestown distribution center has proven to be the most productive among this 3PL's seven DCs.

By -- Modern Materials Handling, 2/1/2001

While many high tech firms have been stumbling lately, Ingram Micro Logistics has had the highest volume levels in the company's history. Never before had it shipped over 100,000 orders in one day. In September, IM set a record of 112,000 orders, only to break it 2 mo. later on November 30, when 120,000 orders were processed at the company's seven distribution centers. The star among them was the Jonestown, Pa. facility.

Opened only since July, Jonestown has already proven to be about 15% more productive than the company's other six DCs.

"We have gotten superb results in Jonestown," says Terry Tysseland, senior VP of operations. "We could not be more pleased with the center that we built."

Volume levels at Jonestown have increased from 30,000 cartons/day to nearly 40,000. Processed orders have also risen there from 14,000 to 20,000, with accuracy well over 99%. Such impressive volumes have allowed IM Logistics to shift additional orders to other centers in Memphis and Chicago to better balance distribution.

"Jonestown is just about full now with a very high inventory level," notes Tysseland, "At the current rate we look to expand the facility in the not too distant future."

The DC was a bit of a gamble when built. Besides its unique design, it opened at a time of transition within the high tech/dot com world. Tysseland believes much of the increases IM has experienced can be credited to the trust that the company has gained from clients. It has also protected it from feeling the ripples of many dot com crashes, even though the company continues to have a large number of Web clients.

The square building design at Jonestown is now being copied in a new facility that is under construction in Mira Loma, Calif. IM will also be upgrading its enterprise software and the warehouse management systems within all of its facilities to permit 24/7 processing.

Besides improving overall distribution, the Jonestown DC has additionally allowed IM to reconfigure the former Pennsylvania facility it replaced to handle reverse logistics. It is due to open shortly.

"We took the old Harrisburg facility and re-engineered it to reverse the flow of the automation," explains Tysseland. "So, instead of taking in full cases and shipping out units, we take in units and aggregate them to full cases. We can receive product that can either ship back to the vendor or ship back out."

He adds that Jonestown was a critical part in the evolution of IM Logistic's overall distribution strategy.