Situation

Hubert’s distribution center was located in an old warehouse just west of downtown Cincinnati.

While the facility was 110,000 square feet, the ceiling height limited them to storing products no higher than 16 feet.

With current business levels being at an all-time high and an optimistic sales forecast, it became obvious that a larger, state-of-the-art facility was a must.

Solution

Hubert turned to Advanced Handling Systems, Inc and after a few meetings, the two companies agreed that AHS’s Design/Build approach would benefit both companies.

The two teams began the process of defining and assigning a task.

AHS assigned a team of industrial designers and began analyzing Hubert’s 10,000 SKUs, working with Hubert’s IT department on the interface between the Warehouse Management System (WMS) and AHS’s Conveyor Control Systems (CCS).

With the above steps finalized, AHS presented multiple concepts for the 112,000 square foot facility (now, 500,000 square feet), taking into consideration forecasted growth along with other key points taken from Hubert’s five-year business plan.

After finalizing the design, AHS implemented the solution within 23 weeks.

Result
The system as designed has supported Hubert’s growth of more than 112% since system commissioning while reducing operating costs by several percentage points.

With Hubert’s proactive approach of designing for the future and a few system enhancements, the system, designed to process 1,100 orders per day, can accommodate up to 3,000 orders per day. The facility can expand to 500,000 square feet, positioning Hubert to accommodate future client demands as well as enhancing its position for new business development.