Client

A leading music, movie, and video game entertainment distributor

Problem

With increasing demand for shared warehouse space by the distribution operations, increasing sales, and the impending acquisition of additional contract work, the client needed to quantify long-term storage and staging requirements and identify short-term operational improvements for a light manufacturing operations used to assemble in-store product display cases.

Approach

XCD approached the problem by establishing a baseline production (based on one year of operational data) and using the baseline to extrapolate space requirements across a five-year design window. Once the five-year space requirements were determined, XCD explored and recommended alternate material handling methods that would allow the client to maintain operations in the existing space. In addition to the alternate material handling methods, XCD also recommended changes to raw material procurement practices, which to that point were resulting in rapidly expanding raw material inventory levels.

Results

Based on XCD’s recommendations, the client was armed with the tools necessary to determine future operating strategy, including:

• Long-term vs. short-term and on-site vs. off-site operations
• Developing collaborative purchasing/procurement program with customers to minimize corrugate inventory