NEW CUMBERLAND, Pa. - Employees at Defense Logistics Agency Distribution Susquehanna, Pa., have been working to prove the concept that full containers lead to reduced costs to customers through improvements in how containers are filled at the Eastern Distribution Center Consolidation and Containerization Point.
“DLA Distribution’s overall goal is a container utilization rate of 85 percent,” said Perry Knight, DLA Distribution Current Operations deputy director. “Simply put, ideally no container would ship at less than 85 percent capacity.”
To reach this goal, leaders at DLA Distribution headquarters and DLA Distribution Susquehanna had to implement several material-consolidation initiatives and maintain an integrated materiel delivery system in Afghanistan, while ultimately reducing end-to-end distribution transportation costs with minimal impact to velocity.
With a container utilization rate of 62 percent in February, DLA Distribution Susquehanna realized the need to measure utilization for all containers shipped. By May, utilization rates for nearly 900 containers had been captured.
One of the more significant finds from the data was the fact that multiple warehouses owned by DLA Distribution Susquehanna were simultaneously shipping underutilized containers to the same customer. As a result, all containers were vetted through the EDC for “top-off,” ensuring best utilization.
Concurrently, within the first month of data tracking, leaders developed a baseline and formed the basis for revamping all standard operating procedures for loading containers. By applying these standards in the work areas, team and work leaders began sharing best practices among the workforce. One best practice was use of a container utilization database. The database captures all exception data and images for containers that do not meet the minimal 85 percent requirement. Exceptions can be due to the size, shape, fragility or classification of material that could prevent loaders from stacking freight on freight.
As a result of these practices, Knight said, rates have steadily increased.
“Over the past six weeks, DLA Distribution Susquehanna, Pa., raised its average container utilization from 60 percent to above 70 percent, with last week's performance hitting 75 percent overall utilization across the network.”
DLA Distribution Susquehanna Deputy Commander Edward Visker said he is proud the distribution center could facilitate such a large accomplishment in a small timeframe.
"Over the last six weeks, DLA Distribution Susquehanna, Pa., has improved its container utilization rates to 82.5 percent, a success driven by teamwork, lane consolidation and improved load planning,” he said. “The increased utilization saved the use of 69 containers that would have otherwise been shipped at the previous fill rates. Particularly noteworthy was the load teams enthusiasm toward meeting the challenge and to date they have reached 100 percent utilization on 35 containers."
The improvements were so significant that, as an offshoot to a larger visit to DLA Distribution headquarters April 27, Army Lt. Gen. Kathleen Gainey, deputy commander of U.S. Transportation Command and a former DLA Distribution commander, and Army Brig. Gen. Susan Davidson, deputy commander and director of operations for Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command and incoming DLA Distribution commander, visited CCP operations to view the outloading operations.
While on site, Gainey recognized several employees who contributed to the organization’s increasing container utilization. She presented coins to distribution process workers John Rhoads, Jane Moquin, Cathy Boyer and Sherry Baker and supply technician Paul Arnold. Most of these employees have achieved consistent container utilization of more than 85 percent.
Next up for the distribution center is a renewed focus on its lower rate shipment lanes and the development of solution sets to achieve similar improvements for those lanes challenged by low volume or odd-dimensional and non-stackable cargo, Knight said. Loaders are performing individual shipment weight/cube validation based on the minimal load requirement and tracking their progress on handheld devices during the load process.
“DLA Distribution exists to provide best value to our customer, the warfighter. And by ensuring we meet container utilization goals, we are able to pass the savings on to the customer,” Knight said.
| Date Taken: |
05.01.2012 |
| Date Posted: |
05.07.2012 09:36 |
| Story ID: |
88014 |
| Location: |
NEW CUMBERLAND, PENNSYLVANIA, US |
| Web Views: |
257 |
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0 |
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This work, DLA Distribution Susquehanna, Pa., reduces end-to-end distribution costs, by Emily Tsambiras, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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