There's no surer sign of spring than opening day of the baseball season. And when the bats swing for the first time in a new ballpark, there's even more excitement in the air. That was exactly the case when senior editor David Maloney was invited by the Pittsburgh Pirates to take a look at the materials handling operations at the ballclub's new home, PNC Park. To a lot of people, hot dogs, drinks, and souvenirs are as important to a successful day at a major league ballpark as a hometown win. That's why the Pittsburgh Pirates contracted with Aramark, a Philadelphia-based management company, to run the food and concessions operations at PNC Park, which opened just a month ago with an exhibition game against the Mets.

Aramark is responsible for retail and souvenir stores, ballpark vendors (double the number at the previous Three Rivers stadium), 70 portable food kiosks, and 35 permanent food outlets, including an Outback Steak-house that overlooks the playing field. In addition, the company manages an onsite pizza pub, a team store, and a coffee bar and newsstand that are accessible from the street. These are open year round.

It's a big job requiring a staff of 700. It also involves a large amount of product movement in an effort to place goods and services within convenient reach of the fans.

"During the baseball season we are in essence a 24-hour operation," explains Carl Mittleman, general manager for Aramark at PNC Park.

Aramark has 25 workers assigned to warehouse and handling duties. Most work the night shift after the event to replenish the stores and restaurant outlets. The morning shift handles receiving and completes any other chores related to event preparation. The third shift works the game and provides any replenishment needed mid-event.

"It was important for us to see on our first day just how the building would hold up to a capacity crowd of 38,000 people," says Mittleman. "Flow is really important to the success of a ballpark."

Mittleman wanted to see how the concourse areas handled the crowds and to test carts and other materials handling equipment used for mid-game replenishment.

"We were also looking at the loading dock to make sure we were maximizing the efficiency of that area," adds Mittleman.

PNC Park has eight receiving doors. Food items come from a local super supplier and are delivered by dedicated trucks at specified times. The food is then deposited into a 9,000 square-foot warehouse with cooler and dry good rack storage. Novelty items, such as shirts, hats, pennants, and other souvenirs arrive from a variety of vendors.

These novelty items are taken to the 1,700 square-foot retail warehouse, primarily by pallet jack or cart. Here they are also placed into pallet racks and shelves. Most storage locations are permanently assigned to specific SKUs, as the ballpark uses a set menu and sells basically the same souvenirs during the course of the season. This makes putaway and picking easier.

The WMS tracks about 4,000 SKUs in the food warehouse and about 1,000 retail SKUs.

"Our goal is to be reactive. We do not want to run out of anything during a game," says Mittleman. "Fortunately, our main team store is located close to the warehouse, so it is very convenient for restocking." Mittleman notes that even when there was a run on garlic fries on that first day, the system was able to restock concession stands as needed.

"Overall, I would say we had a very successful first day of operation," he says. "We are satisfied with the way things moved around the building. Our staff stepped up to the plate and performed outstandingly. The whole building just clicked."

Oh, and in case you were wondering, Met's catcher Mike Piazza sealed the fate of the home team with a seventh inning home run. New York won the exhibition opener 4-3.