PickRight Reduces New Employee Training time at ADC

PickRight Reduces New Employee Training Time at ADC

Challenge

Picking errors, incorrect order quantities and picker productivity were hurting Andalusia Distributing Company’s (ADC) bottom line. The Andalusia, Alabama based distributor needed a picking program that would improve its order accuracy and the efficiency of its employees, but also provide a good return on investment. The company first looked at voice picking options, but found the costly programs were not a good fit for its business.

“We didn’t need many of the features we would be paying for with these programs,” says Michael Vidich, ADC’s Director of Operations. “We were looking for a reliable and effective program that we could implement department by department and that would be a good value for our business.”

“With PickRight, we can train our employees in 30 minutes. It’s one of the program’s greatest assets. The technology is very user-friendly.”

Solution

ADC was using ProCat’s Tax-Right order verification program for its cigarette stamping and the Check-Right scanning system with great success. When Vidich learned about the many benefits that ProCat’s PickRight system had to offer, he knew the program would be a perfect fit for the company.

“Once we were on board, the plan was to implement PickRight one department at a time to ensure a smooth setup,” says Ricky Jones, ADCs Vice President.

In October, 2008, ADC installed the program in its tobacco pick line. After this successful implementation, PickRight was expanded to the repack section, which included all single-pick groceries, candy, snacks and HBC products. It was next employed in ADCs case grocery picking section. After about four months, the program was instituted in the final warehouse department, freezer/cooler.

PickRight Benefits

After implementing PickRight, ADC’s accuracy and productivity rates were no longer an issue. Weekly picking errors were greatly reduced to an average of one error per 120,000 pieces picked.

“When we compare our preliminaries from one year to the next, all of our departments have experienced an 18 percent improvement in productivity with PickRight,” Vidich says. ‘This was better than we anticipated.” The full benefit of the program has yet to be realized, since :he comparison was made during ADC’s slowest period.

Employee training time, which had been an issue in the past, also was greatly reduced with the PickRight program. “Due to the amount of paperwork involved, the old system required at least two weeks of training. With Pick Right, we can train our employees in 30 minutes. It’s one of the program’s greatest assets. The technology is very user-friendly,” Jones says.

Vidich and Jones have been so impressed with the PickRight system and the many benefits ADC has experienced with the program that they have recommended it to several other wholesalers. “We have had several distributors from around the country visit our warehouse to see PickRight in action,” Vidich says. “Everyone has been impressed with the program, its equipment and how easy it is to implement and use.

Vidich and Jones also greatly appreciated the ProCat crew, who remained hands-on and on site to ensure that PickRight was operating seamlessly from the get go. “The folks at ProCat remained at our facility to make sure the program was operating properly and that our employees were appropriately trained. We really appreciated how quickly they responded to our needs,” Jones says. “The company’s customer service is top notch, and they have a great staff to assist us.”

Since instituting the PickRight program, ADC’s picking errors, productivity problems and training issues are no longer hindering its operation. “We have been very satisfied with the PickRight program,” Vidich says. “ProCat has been wonderful to work with, and we are tickled to death with the results.”

Read the full case study here.