Augusta engages FORTE to Expand their DC Storage & Picking Capacities

The Challenge:
Augusta Sportswear is a leading provider of athletic apparel, including sports apparel, spirit wear, athletic tops, athletic bottoms, athletic fleece, outerwear and accessories. Augusta combined both manufacturing and distribution operations in a single facility.

Growing demand and high annual SKU growth was projected to outgrow the facility, so Augusta engaged FORTE to develop a long-range strategic plan that as manufacturing within the facility was phased out, the storage and picking capacities in the distribution operation would expand in phases.

Because Augusta had recently completed a major facility expansion, which maximized available land use, the strategic plan had to work within the existing footprint.

The Solution:
The strategic plan laid out a road map for a flexible and scalable approach to the rearrangement of the space over several years.

The initial phase included the installation of a three-level pick module that incorporated FORTE’s Smart Warehouse software with conveyorized pick and pass, utilizing both traditional carton flow and walk-back pick shelves.

This phase provided for 18 pick zones, manifest and close-out work stations, as well as shipping sortation.

The second and third phases extended levels Two and Three of the three-level pick module above other operations to the perimeter wall, maxing out the space in the expanded area of the facility.

State-of-the-art voice pick and replenishment technology was added to offer hands-free picking and putaway. With continued growth, Augusta began relocating the manufacturing operation, freeing up a large portion of the existing building for additional storage.

Unfortunately, a portion of the vacated manufacturing area was encumbered by an 18-foot ceiling height, so a highly specialized firm was contracted to
raise the existing roof to 31 feet.

The Phase Four expansion added the initial section of an additional three-level pick module, with one pick zone per level. Recently a second section was added, and all of the original sortation equipment was replaced to achieve a quieter operation and eliminate the maintenance costs associated with the original lineshaft equipment.

The expansion now underway will complete the third section of the pick module with three levels each, totaling 18 pick areas. There will be 36 zones servicing more than 30,000 locations. Additional planned expansions will allow for two additional pick module sections in the former storage area.

This plan provides Augusta flexibility to continue to grow and expand within the existing footprint for several more years before all 48 pick areas are in use and another building expansion will need to be implemented.

“FORTE has been a strategic business partner with Augusta Sportswear for over nine years. During that time they have provided excellence in planning, designing, and implementing distribution center operational improvements that have made our operation one of the leaders in our industry. Over that time we have expanded our order picking operations infrastructure more than five times to enable us to keep up with the growth of our company. They have been a diligent partner and have treated us with integrity, respect, and an intelligent application of cutting-edge technologies. There is no one else I would do business with other than FORTE.” Director of Distribution, Augusta Sportswear.