Optimize Warehouse Layout and Distribution Center Processes
Goodwill Distribution Center
Chandler Franklin, Alonso Garcia, Juan Garcia, and Kristen Kramer
Faculty Advisor: Dr. NovoaIndustry Advisor: Kelly Freeman
Team 1, IE 4390 Spring 2015
Project Goals
1. Improve Operations Efficiency
2. Live Inventory Tracking
3. Optimize Traffic Logistics
4. Optimize Dock Processes and Material Handling
Operations Efficiency
Truck Arrival Unloading Tilters Retail Outlet Store Sorting/RecyclingDecide if Trash
Trash
If yes
If not
Inventory Storage
Decide if recycle/trash/
inventoryTrash
LoadingTransport/Shipment
GOODWILL DISTRIBUTION CENTER PROCESS FLOW CHART
Logistics
• 16 Hour Working Days• Truck Arrival Every 2 Hours, Fully loaded• Boxes Tilted Into Table• 900 tables/day Average Outlet Store Throughput• Capacity 200 tables inside Outlet Store at once• Left over material is sorted in Categories and stored
in boxes in inventory until shipping• Workers split into teams, complete tasks randomly
Process Constraints(Obtained from live time studies and industry advisors)
Arena Full Model
Model Assumptions
• One Month Worth of Manifest Data Used To Determine Box Size used percentages and amount of each type of material percentages.
• No Worker Downtime, No Machine Downtime
Simulation Report
• Longest Queues Formed at Tilters and Unloading Processes
• Caused by Outlet Store capacity
Simulation Report
• Average 891 Tables/Day Outlet Store Throughput
• Resembles Distribution Center Characteristics
• With 95% confidence, the average time spent per box in the system before stored in inventory is between 8.9 and 10.7 hours.
Average Time In System
Improvement
• Tables spend from 30 minutes to 2 hours maximum inside outlet store depending on material quality & popularity.
• Decrease in Average Time Spent in System by 9%• C.I. 8.3 hours to 9.7 hours spent in system
Cost Analysis• Cost per Box decreased by $0.15• Cumulative savings up to $4049.40 after 30 days
Recommendations
1. Change the times tables spend inside retail store to 30 minutes for lower quality or less popular Materials.
2. Keep a maximum of 2 hours for higher quality or more popular material types.
3. Perform a study inside retail store to identify material popularity.
Outcomes:• Lower Average time spent in system per box• Decrease processing costs • Potential Increase in Sales inside retail store
Facility and Docking Layout
Docking Recommendations
• Implement cross-docking • Prioritize trash and recycling processes• Loading of trucks should be done with intent
to unload (by category of inventory and/or container).
• Divide docks into groups of four; alternate designation of loading/unloading trucks every four docking stations.
Facility Layout
• Plastic, Nestable, and metal pallets should be implemented if they are cost-effective.
• Loose items can be secured using recycled materials, and loose cases can be secured onto pallets to eliminate inventory damage.
• Items should be stored by ‘popularity’.• Storage depth should range from 2 to 3
depending on the items’ popularity.
Inventory Tracking System
• Wasp Inventory control• $800-$5600• Stock added, removed, transferred, checked
in or out, cost of inventory, inventory aging, transaction history, etc.
• Notification alerts when stock is low, ensuring that needed inventory is available on hand.
Truck Routing• VRP solver used to find
route trends– Sort Manifest data by end
location and find trends using Arena Input Analyzer. Use random number generator on Minitab to find random value in data fit.
– Use google maps to create from/to chart of each distance
– Use longitude and latitude in order to create a reference point for the GRC to the locations
Groupings found• Dripping Springs
• Kyle
• Buda
• San Marcos-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Georgetown
• Round Rock
• Wells Branch
• Pflugerville
Sometimes Hutto, Norwood, & Scofield with that group.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Bee Caves
• Marble Falls------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Fredericksburg
– always alone
• Lakeway
• Lake Austin--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Westbank only ever paired with South Lamar
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• South Lamar never alone, always changing groupings
• Riverplace
• Cypress Band
• Balcones--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Southpark Meadow
• Brodie
• Oak Hill
• Marbridge Hut--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Bastrop
• Elgin
• Shadow Glen------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Airport
• 10th Street
• Sometimes Lakeway
Routing Recommendations
• Goodwill should download VRP solver in order to plan routes based off demand ordered by the locations
• Drivers should fill out an excel sheet of items on manifest in order to find volume used.
• Goodwill can use this data to simulate different routes to prepare for the future.
Traffic Trends• The GPS information
we received allowed us to create boxplots to show trends in the times it takes to travel to the various locations.
• The plots are sorted by location from, location to, and time interval
Location from
Location to
Interval
GRC
Chimney CornersCedar ParkBrodieBee Caves
7654321765432176543217654321
60
50
40
30
20
Mov
ing
Tim
e(m
in)
Boxplot from GRC 2
Boxplot Time Interval KeyTimes Interval
5:00 am - 7:00 am 17:00 am - 9:00 am 29:00 am - 11:00 am 311:00 am - 1:00 pm 41:00 pm - 3:00 pm 53:00 pm - 5:00 pm 67:00 pm - 9:00 pm 75:00 pm - 7:00 pm 8
Traffic TrendsLocation from Location to
5:00-7:00 am
7:00-9:00 am
9:00-11:00 am
11:00-1:00 pm
1:00-3:00 pm
3:00-5:00 pm
5:00-7:00 pm
7:00-9:00 pm
10th Street GRC Airport GRC Balcones GRC Bastrop GRC Bee Caves North Lamar Bee Caves Riverside Brodie GRC Cedar Park GRC Chimney Corners GRC Cypress Bend Round Rock Dripping Springs GRC Fredericksburg GRC Georgetown GRC GRC 10th Street GRC Airport GRC Balcones GRC Bastrop GRC Bee Caves GRC Brodie GRC Cedar Park GRC Chimney Corners GRC Dripping Springs GRC Elgin GRC Georgetown GRC Hutto GRC Kyle GRC Lake Austin GRC Lakeway GRC Macfarlane GRC Marble Falls GRC New Hope GRC North Lamar GRC North Star GRC Norwood GRC Oak Hill GRC Parmer GRC Pflugerville
Location from Location to5:00-7:00 am
7:00-9:00 am
9:00-11:00 am
11:00-1:00 pm
1:00-3:00 pm
3:00-5:00 pm
5:00-7:00 pm
7:00-9:00 pm
GRC Riverplace
GRC Riverside
GRC Round Rock
GRC San Marcos
GRC Scofield
GRC Shadow Glen
GRC South Lamar
GRCSouthpark Meadow
GRC Wells Branch
GRC West Bank
Hutto GRC
Kyle Chimney Corners
Lake Austin GRC
Lakeway GRC
Lakeway Riverside
Macfarlane GRC
Marble Falls GRC
Marbridge Macfarlane
New Hope GRC
North Lamar GRC
North Star Airport
North Star GRC
Norwood GRC
Oak Hill GRC
Parmer GRC
Pflugerville GRC
Riverplace North Star
Riverside GRC
Round Rock 10th Street
Round Rock GRC
San Marcos GRC
Scofield GRC
Shadow Glen Round Rock
South Lamar GRC
Wells Branch GRC
West Bank Airport
West Bank Norwood
These charts show the different trends in traffic during the shown time intervals.
AcknowledgementsThis project is sponsored by Goodwill Industries with help from the following people:
•Leslie Bailey-Smith, LCSW Internship Program Coordinator•Joseph Hnatow, Logistics Manager•Ryan Schlickeisen, Inventory Analyst•Kelly Freeman, Sustainability Director•Allan Whitley, Sr. Director