60 seconds with... Lloyd Wallsten

Lloyd Wallsten on how to avoid ending your career with the start up of a new DC.

By Staff -- Modern Materials Handling, 5/1/2005

In the past five years, I've started up five DCs. Two of them were here at Converse. And no, they did not overlap each other. To do that is sheer madness.

About two startups ago, it occurred to me that they are actually pretty simple if you follow the four T's. Time. Team. Test. Train. If you don't follow them, you will have a disaster. One company I worked for didn't, and nothing shipped for 90 days.

Time is all about a realistic timetable for everything to happen. You can't shortcut this process. You need at least nine months for a substantial upgrade, and a year for a new DC.

Team is a matter of having the right people. You can use consultants, but you need people on staff to carry on after the consultants leave. I also prefer people who have already worked with the suppliers for the new DC.

Testing is done at many levels. User acceptance is the most important, and it should be done under a range of conditions. You also need field acceptance testing as well as volume testing to see what chokes the system.

Training is a make or break proposition even if you've done the other T's perfectly. Don't skimp. As a standard, people need 40 hours of training—16 hours in the classroom and 24 on the floor. Of course, you train them in the right way to do things. But you also have to train them in what to do when not everything goes as planned. You want them to know in advance how to handle those exceptions.