Hibbett Sports: Crossdocking perfection

Indeed, this succession of stories goes a long way in proving just how diverse the needs are for today’s retailers and distributors facing evolving fulfillment and distribution pressures—from shipping direct to customers to feeding a large network of storefronts.

It also reminds us that no matter how advanced technology and automation may become, products alone aren’t worth the box they’re shipped in unless they’re applied appropriately to solve specific issues inside a greater, holistic solution.

This month in Modern, executive editor Bob Trebilcock takes us inside Hibbett Sports’ 420,000-square-foot DC in Alabaster, Ala., a facility that optimizes an impressive high speed conveyor and sortation system that ties together all of the areas in this massive facility— and can crossdock a carton from receiving to shipping in a mere 12 minutes.

For years, Modern and sister publication Logistics Management have only had a few opportunities to highlight an operations team that’s been able to squeeze numerous benefits from crossdocking. A foundational practice in the less-than-truckload sector to speed freight through a network, crossdocking allows retailers to dispatch inbound merchandise directly to outbound shipping to minimize the amount of time goods spend in non-value-added DCs—and thus maximize speed to market and expand the area that a DC can service.

“We don’t hear as much about crossdocking today, as many retailers tend to focus their efforts on shuttles and waveless picking in omni-channel facilities,” says Trebilcock. “However, Hibbett’s story is a reminder that there are plenty of fast-growing, brick-and mortar retailers that are realizing tremendous value by crossdocking from one, centrally located DC to fill store shelves.” 

Integrating some technological advances to this proven practice, Hibbett’s crossdocking strategy in its new facility combines a pick-to-light system, allowing the team to replenish at the item level and better target which merchandise should be sent to which store—significantly cutting down on wasted moves. The result is a more flexible DC that has pushed efficiency numbers through the roof.

Case in point: Its old facility processed 12,000 cases per shift and operated two shifts a day to get everything out the door. The new facility is handling 30,000 cases on just one shift. At the same time, Hibbett increased headcount by 15%, but more than doubled throughput with reduced overtime.

This impressive system is now servicing more than 1,000 stores in 31 states, with 80% of incoming freight flowing through the facility without ever going into reserve storage.

“We are becoming an omni-channel world without question, but there are still plenty of facilities that have other issues to solve, such as improving distribution to storefronts,” says Trebilcock. “The way Hibbett attacked its distribution challenges and improved service to its stores is nothing short of inspired.”