Plant tour I had an opportunity to visit US Foods Services Distribution Center. One of the leading retail supply chain operation business in the United States. During my tour, directed by Mr. McCollum, the operation manager for the distribution center; I was able to see how products are received, stored, and built onto pallets that are shipped to grocery shops and restaurants. Since most of the questions could not be answered, I focused my information based on observation. The strength of this paper is based on the organization’s operation process and the quality.
The Process The first thing I noticed when arriving at the site was, a numerous amount of machinery moving from different directions each carrying well-wrapped pallets of products. Our first stop was the inbound dock, the area where the company receives all new products for the dry department before they are placed into storage sections. The company also has a freezer, produce, and perishable departments. The process in the dry department seems to move faster because, this section of the warehouse is equipped with a witron’s OrderPicking Machinery; a highly automated system for selecting and palletizing cartons. Once products arrive, the receiving clerks process each product by comparing the quantity received versus the amount requested, register the expiration date for each case, assign a storage location, then assign barcode numbers to help track products once in the storage area. There is a large variety of products such as soft drinks, napkins, detergent, and others. There is no customization performed here because it is not a manufacturing operation but rather a distribution operation. Everything you find in a grocery store comes from distribution centers such as US Foods, Supervalu, and others. During the visit, I was able to see the company receive truckloads of cereal and tissues. After receiving and verification by the dock supervisor, receivers proceed to place pallets on the conveyor belts that transport the products to the depalletizing area. In this area, a vacuum system (See Picture 3) picks up layers of products from pallets, place them on a conveyer belt that take each case to assigned storage locations (See Picture 1). When customers order products, the Clerk will input the invoice into the Witron’s system, that select cases; placing the products on pallets, wrap and make ready for shipping. Everything is computerized; there are thousands of sensors, and barcode readers that identify product and where they should go. For example, when a company order 300 cases of different products. The computer recognizes each case dimension, weight, size, and where to place each case on a pallet. In case there is debris, open or damaged box, the sensors would detect, stop the machine, and signal the person overseeing the operation through a computer screen (See Picture 2). The last place I visited was the loading dock; this is where everything goes after selection. Loaders in this area take palletized products from conveyor belts (See Picture 4) and load them into the trailers for grocery stores and restaurants delivery. Unlike the perishable and freezer department that do not have the Order Picking Machinery, the dry area has things moving at a very fast. According to the tour guide, the machine selects 15,000 cases per hour which are 150 times faster than the workforce of 200 order selectors that worked the department before automation of the warehouse. This helped the company eliminate delay time while increasing reliability. The process is efficient, with fewer damages that may arise from human errors. All the waste were handled by a sanitation crew, which carried all trash into this compactor machine, next a large plastic recycling machine. Further down is an area where all damaged products are kept for sorting. If only the boxes are damaged, the company selects usable items and prepare them for shipping to food shelves.
Quality Principle The one word I heard over, and over during my visit was quality. The company pays close attention to products before they are shipped to the stores. Particularly in departments where boxes are selected by human hand; like the perishable building, supervisors inspect each pallet to ensure proper stocking and, no products are damaged before they are loaded into the trailers. It is the responsibility of the dock supervisor and the employee receiving products to ensure that each product expiration date is entered in the system. During selection product, earliest times are selected first. Every two weeks, quality control crew goes around the warehouse conducting a visual inspection of every case in the storage. The tour guide informed me that US Foods is ISO certified. Mr. McCollum went on to say that the certification just shows that the company has all requirements for standardization and quality assurance. The company is always looking for ways to improve services and guaranty customer satisfaction. That is the reason the company invested over two hundred million dollars in investment to automize the warehouse; while guarantying high quality and efficient services. I saw quality control infographic and a warehouse flow chart at the entrance of the building. Everyone must do their jobs the right way to ensure customer satisfaction. It is not just getting products to customers on time; the products must also arrive in good condition. Loaders have to ensure that products are secured, so they do not tip over on the way to stores.

Picture 1 (Conveyer belt) Picture 2 (Monitor) Picture 3 (Layer Picker) Picture 4 (Palletized products)