DSC to provide fast logistics for Wal-Mart

DSC to provide fast logistics for Wal-Mart    Wal-Mart Stores, considered by many to run the most efficient distribution system in the retail industry, has selected DSC Logistics to help run its new Remix program for keeping high-demand items in stock.
   Wal-Mart is segmenting its 117 distribution facilities into slow and high-velocity facilities that will more frequently supply stores with items such as diapers, paper towels, and toilet paper, rather than rely on single deliveries. Warehouse employees will pack pallets that can be moved right to the sales floor to refill shelves more quickly, thus eliminating time spent looking for and sorting out product in the backroom.
   The Bentonville, Ark.-based retail and grocery giant tested Remix in Florida last year, and is rolling out the initiative nationwide after it noticed a reduction in empty shelves, improved efficiency and increased sales.
   The initiative means suppliers for fast-moving products will receive smaller, more frequent orders, and may have to shift their delivery mode from truckload to less-than-truckload.
   Chicago-based DSC said its multi-vendor consolidation program allows suppliers to maintain product inventory at any of its consolidation centers in Dallas, Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles and Allentown, Pa. DSC consolidates the orders from multiple Wal-Mart vendors, and delivers full truckloads to each of Wal-Mart’s 39 regional Remix distribution centers, thus providing LTL service at lower truckload rates.
   The consolidation program “provides a way to economically and efficiently ship products with short lead times and smaller quantities to Wal-Mart,” Ann Drake, DSC’s chief executive officer, said in a statement.
   DSC Logistics is ranked as the 14th-largest warehouse-based logistics service provider in North America based on square footage, according to industry consultant Richard Armstrong. DSC has 27 warehouses with combined space of 13 million square feet. DSC had gross revenues of $285 million in 2004.