MMH: Your company consolidated three distribution facilities into the new Secaucus building. What were some of the events that brought you to the point where consolidation made sense?

TB: When this all started about two years ago, Corporate Express had just been acquired by Buhrmann. We were looking to merge the companies as well as the culture. Each had facilities. Buhrmann had a building in New York in the West Village. It had four floors and relied heavily on freight elevators. They also did full case fulfillment in North Bergen, N.J. Meanwhile, Corporate Express had a facility in Whippany, N.J. So, with the merger, we had two different management teams, catalogs, and processes. We knew we had to rationalize what we did with our people, our product and how we go to market.

MMH: What were the major distribution challenges you had to resolve during that time?

TB: First we had to determine how we wanted to run the company. Second, we had two old legacy systems that we somehow had to combine. Our third challenge was to erect a new building. Our office team was moved to Parsippany, which holds accounting and other office functions, and then we built this building for distribution.

MMH: How did you develop the plan for the new DC?

TB: We first got our corporate, regional and division teams together to come up with a distribution philosophy and to determine a materials handling methodology. Once that was decided then we designed the building around it. The design is very custom to our operations.

MMH: What were some of the considerations you wanted to incorporate into the design?

TB: I am a big believer in utilization of cube. Because of the design we were able to get 8-10% additional storage over what we would have had in a spec building. We can get the building to last longer if we properly utilize the cube. Also, our design lessens the walk time of our employees. We pay people to work smartly, not waste time walking. Our industry has three or four major players, so having a cost advantage is important to us.

MMH: Why did you choose Secaucus as the site for the consolidated DC?

TB: We care very much about the quality of our people. Basically, we bought where our people live. We mapped out by zip code where the warehouse staffs of the other buildings lived and tried to find a location where we could retain them. Only two people chose not to make the move to the new building. We also made sure this location would work for our customer base. We mapped that out too, including the routes we would take to reach our customers. It is a great location, right near the Lincoln Tunnel. We actually had leases coming up for renewal at two of the other facilities, and our landlord there also had this space available in Secaucus. It was the last space available in this industrial park.

MMH: You moved to a lot of automation with this design. How did you prepare the employees for that jump?

TB: Our staff recognizes they have good jobs, and like I said, they wanted to stay with the company. They also knew that the new facility would require new skill sets. Before, we had no real WMS. Now they are required to operate computer keyboards, headsets for voice-directed picking, scanners—all state of the art equipment. Eighteen months before the move, we began to acclimate them. We familiarized them with PCs in a training room. We also sat down with our partners who supplied the equipment and had our people work with them. They brought in the headsets and other equipment to the other DCs and demonstrated how they worked so that the employees could see what was going to be used in the new building.

MMH: How well were you able to meet your plan objectives?

TB: We hit every one of our project dates —either on time or early. That's due to the plan we developed and our project teams that implemented it. Our whole operation was on board. The secret of why it went so well was the combination of our corporate management with our local management.

MMH: What were some of the other steps in the plan?

TB: We moved to centralized procurement and then had to forecast what we would need here, then started to receive product. We tested our equipment then began ramping up our processing in waves. Our first wave was with just one customer, who knew what we were doing and was patiently willing to help us. It involved about 400-500 lines and took us four hours to complete the first time. We added a second wave two weeks later that brought us to 5,000 lines. Then a week after that we brought over the orders from Whippany, which increased us to 12,000 lines. We ran that way for two months before North Bergen's volume was added, and now we are up to 20,000 lines. The total ramp-up took about four months. During that time we had to receive product here as well as at the other facilities until they were shut off.

MMH: Many would say that this was not the best time to begin a major project. What do you think?

TB: Yes, it was a difficult time to do it, what with 9-11 happening, the economy and financial pressures. But I would advise anyone beginning such a project to have an inclusive plan, with everyone involved from front-line people to senior management. Convince the team that the transition pain will pass. Have a plan to navigate through change. Do what you can to reduce the tunnel of transition, that they will get through it. At the end of the day, you will be successful.