SPRING 2022

More documents

Info

36 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK Robert Footlik Robert B. Footlik, PE is a retired Professional Industrial Engineer. With over 50 years’ experience as a Warehouse and Logistics Consultant to a wide variety of clients including Fastener Distributors, Bob has a wealth of valuable information for our industry and he is willing to share it. While Footlik & Associates is now closed, his expertise is still available to his friends and our readers. For friendly advice, a second opinion or just to start a conversation, he can be reached at robert@footlik.net. TRUST BUT VERIFY Since ancient times, long before the pyramids of Egypt were built, and in every culture storage and distribution has relied on a system of control with one individual taking a tally and another verifying the count. We are still doing this today, but should we? Everyday customers, staff and you trust the warehouse workers to be efficient, accurate and reliable. If this trust is real then every order is on time, filled properly and 100% perfect in every respect. Everything in a service business is built on this trust and generally it is not misplaced. But have you ever considered how this can be turned into a more efficient way to operate? Follow the path of a typical “line” on an order. The picker travels to the stock location, removes the item from a shelf, places it on a cart, travels eventually to a checking station where the goods are examined for accuracy then the cart or product goes to a packing table where it is placed into a carton, paperwork is provided, the carton is sealed, labeled and common carrier shipping labels are affixed. All this is just for a full case or box count item. For many Fastener Distributors it gets even worse if the materials have to be weigh counted. Under typical warehouse operating scenarios a bin is removed from the shelf, taken to a scale, counted and then returned (eventually/hopefully) to the right location in the warehouse. The end result is that 90% to 95% of the time the picker is walking and then the goods are being handled multiple times. While materials handling equipment to CONTRIBUTOR ARTICLE move the product to the picker exists, it is expensive initially, complex to maintain and often inflexible in terms of throughput and cube utilization. Before investing in fancy solutions why not build on what you already have? Instead of all these steps, a simple solution is instituting “Pick-Pack” where the goods are removed from a shelf (preferably using a batched order scheme), placed in a box, sealed and shipped. The savings in time and effort can be enormous with a Return On Investment (ROI) measured in days not years. The concept seems simple, so why have so few Fastener Distributors embraced it? The most common reason is that management just “doesn’t trust the warehouse staff to get things right.” The only way to eliminate this fear is to start with your beliefs and then develop a trustworthy program a piece at a time. “Trust But Verify” One excellent approach is to use well proven statistical sampling techniques to “know” what is going on. For an academic understanding of how this works search the Internet using the term “Acceptance Sampling.”. A more pragmatic approach is to accept that for most distribution operations a 4% sample of the finished, packed outbound orders will provide about a 97% level pf confidence that what is observed is “truth.” This is done by cutting open random boxes at random times and verifying all possible problems and perfection using criteria the same way your customer would view the order. CONTINUED ON PAGE 116
THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK 37 The NEFCO Corporation, a leading partner to the professional construction trades, has completed the acquisition of Russell Supply. Russell Supply, founded in 1974 and located in South Burlington, Vermont is a contractor supply company serving Vermont, New York, and New Hampshire. The addition of Russell Supply further expands NEFCO’s New England presence and provides local supply capabilities for current and future Vermont customers. “With our combined business experience and knowledge of over 80 years, we look forward to the continued success Russell Supply will build with NEFCO and our customers throughout Vermont” states NEFCO CEO, David Gelles. “We are thrilled to welcome the dedicated professionals from Russell Supply to our growing NEFCO team. Each member brings a level of commitment and passion for continued growth and success in Vermont.” NEFCO is a family owned and operated construction supply company providing a broad range of products and services to a large variety of professional contractors. For more information, contact NEFCO Corporation at 411 Burnham Road, East Hartford, CT 06108. Telephone: 1-800-969-0285, Email: Inquiries@nefcocorp. com or visit them online at www.gonefco.com.
Page 6 and 7: in the Spring 2022 issue of 6 DISTR
Page 8: 6 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK ND Indus
Page 12: 10 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK Rob LaP
Page 16: 14 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK Joe Dys
Page 28: 26 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK SEE YOU
Page 32: 30 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK Bruno M
Page 35 and 36: THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK 33 AFC Ind
Page 40: 38 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK 2152 Ma
Page 46 and 47: 44 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK COMPUTE
Page 48: 46 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK TEL 323
Page 52: 50 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK CRESCEN
Page 55 and 56: THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK 53
Page 58: 56 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK MID-WES
Page 64: 62 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK FASTENE
Page 67 and 68: THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK 65 AFC Ind
Page 69 and 70: THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK 67 AUTO BO
Page 74: 72 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK FASTENE
Page 77 and 78: INTERNATIONAL FASTENERS, INC. PUTTI
Page 80 and 81: 78 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK SPECIAL
Page 82: 80 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK BUSINES
Page 85 and 86: THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK 83 DTE Ene
Page 88 and 89:
86 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK The NEF
Page 90 and 91:
88 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK NATIONA
Page 92:
90 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK U.S. AN
Page 97 and 98:
MID-WEST FASTENER ASSOCIATION HOLID
Page 99 and 100:
THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK 97
Page 102 and 103:
100 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK CHRIS
Page 104 and 105:
102 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK JOE DY
Page 106:
104 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK FCH OP
Page 109 and 110:
Page 111 and 112:
THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK 109 Suncor
Page 114 and 115:
112 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK SOUTHE
Page 116 and 117:
114 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK JO MOR
Page 118:
116 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK ROBERT
Page 121 and 122:
THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK 119 The HO
Page 123 and 124:
Page 125 and 126:
THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK 123 IFE TH
Page 127 and 128:
Powell Systems (PSI) is pleased to
Page 129 and 130:
Page 132 and 133:
130 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK MWFA A
Page 136 and 137:
fastenerlinks THE DEFINITIVE WEB DI
Page 138 and 139:
fastenerlinks BRINGING YOU THE FAST
Page 140 and 141:
fastenerlinks BRINGING YOU THE FAST
Page 142 and 143:
140 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK JOE SA
Page 144 and 145:
142 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK NELSON
Page 146 and 147:
144 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK ROMAN
Page 148 and 149:
146 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK IFI SO
Page 150 and 151:
148 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK STAFDA
Page 152 and 153:
150 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK QUALIT
Page 154 and 155:
152 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK U.S. A
Page 156 and 157:
154 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK LAUREN
Page 158 and 159:
156 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK MID-AT
Page 160 and 161:
158 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK ROB La
Page 162:
160 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK CHRIS
Page 165 and 166:
THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK 163 MID-AT
Page 168 and 169:
166 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK ROBERT
Page 170:
168 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK COMPUT
Page 173 and 174:
NORTH COAST FASTENER ASSOCIATION 40
Page 175:
172 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK GUY AV
Page 178 and 179:
Page 180 and 181:
THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK 177 JOE SA
Page 182 and 183:
THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK 179 NATION
Page 185 and 186:
182 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK BRUNO
Page 187 and 188:
184 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK LAUREN
Page 189:
advertisers index # 3Q, INC. 79 Was
Page 193:
advertisers index I ICS FLANGE 41 S
show all

SPRING 2022

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?