Background
Nature's Best
The food distribution industry is already dealing with intense regulation and consumer expectations; and with increasing competition and exploding SKUs, how are you supposed to keep up?
Discover how one of our customers was able to add 33-45% more pick positions, increasing their number of SKUs and revenue per square foot – all without a costly facility expansion.
More Pick Positions, More SKUs, More Revenue
Nature’s Best is one of the largest privately owned wholesaler distributors of natural and organic products in the United States. Founded in 1969, the company delivers grocery, refrigerated, frozen, bulk, supplements, personal care, herbs, medicinal and pet products to retailers throughout the Western, Central and Southern regions of the United States, as well as Hawaii, Alaska and Asia.
To house their growing business Nature’s Best begin exploring ways to optimize supply chain and accommodate more SKUs without compromising throughput. The company was aware that their current materials handling equipment was limiting their ability to do this, so turned to Yale for warehouse expertise and product assistance. The results were substantial.
Challenge
Threatened with a costly warehouse expansion to house their growing business, Nature’s Best was exploring how to accommodate more SKUs without increasing its footprint or compromising throughput.
Solution
After consulting with Yale Materials Handling Corporation, Nature’s Best decided to re-think its slotting strategy and utilize a variable height picking process made possible by the Yale® MO25 multi-level order selector.
The company was able to increase their pick height from six to ten feet. This strategy placed slower-moving SKUs above faster-moving items, allowing more frequently picked items to be in the most accessible location. Slower-moving items could then be stored and picked within the same aisle for optimized integration of the pick process.
Impact
Leveraging Yale’s expertise and high-performing MO25 lift truck, Nature’s Best added 33-45 percent more pick positions. By doing so they increased the number of SKUs per square foot, enhanced revenue per square foot and significantly reduced product touches, motion and travel time—all without the burden of a costly warehouse expansion.
