Sorter rebuild keeps DC on track to meet peak season demand

Fred’s, a chain of discount retail stores in the Southeast, identified excessive wear and tear on mechanical components of the aging sortation system in its Memphis distribution center. To avoid a major breakdown and costly business disruption, the company rebuilt and upgraded its sliding shoe sortation system (Intelligrated, intelligrated.com).

“Without the sorter running, we would not be able to serve the customers in our stores,” says Reggie Jacobs, executive vice president of distribution, transportation and corporate service at Fred’s. “We needed a cost-effective preventative maintenance solution with minimal disruption to our DC operation.”

When evaluating the 13-year-old sorter, it became apparent that ongoing maintenance would be too expensive, but a total sorter replacement would be too costly and require two months of downtime. The supplier conducted an audit of the sortation system and recommended a complete mechanical rebuild from a tube-to-slat carrying surface as quickly as possible to bring the sorter up to capacity before peak season.

To minimize downtime, a four-day period was scheduled to tear down and rebuild the sorter, train the Fred’s DC team, ensure availability of spare parts, and fully test the system. The sorter was upgraded on schedule and on budget.

According to Jacobs, the rebuild offers a “night and day” improvement. The reconditioned sliding shoe sorter enables increased throughput and decreased downtime, resulting in a more efficient level of service to stores. The refurbishment results in reduced equipment maintenance and repair costs, handles a wider variety of conveyable SKUs and performs perfectly at peak throughput rates during the holiday season.