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On Wednesday, February 7,
EMAT 3450 Students went to McLane Company, which is a nationwide distribution
center for convenience stores, for a field trip.
On this page, you are going
to find notes about this trip (notes, reflections, photos, etc.)
Some Stats/Background:
- Philosophy: Keep the people
we hire (provide many opportunities, such as ESL training, etc.)
- Goal: To be the premier
logistic company in the world.
- 106 years old; owned now
by Wal-Mart.
- Number one distributor
to convenience stores (to almost every zip code, and to Brazil, Taiwan)--85
to 90% of goods in convenience stores is there via McLane.
- 10,000 employees
- $15 billion in sales
- Our employees have good
morale, strong work ethic, commitment to customer
- 260 employees at this
center (i.e., Athens, GA): 205 work in the center (most on floor;
some in sales or administration); 55 are truck drivers
- Central merchandising
center in Temple, TX (only a small group locally)
- Utopia = an empty dc (JIT=just-in-time
inventory)
- Trucking is different
than distribution-in trucking you never want to run an empty mile,
while in distribution sometimes you have to.
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Desired
characteristics of employees:
- Must show up on time (#1
reason for termination of employees is not showing up on time)
- High school diploma
- Truck drivers = ambassadors
(well paid! $100,000)
- Teach life skills and
basics-reading, writing, arithmetic (esp. counting)
- Comprehension of instructions
- Team work-communicating
both orally and in writing
- Problem solving skills
- Attention to detail
- "Self starters"
- Positive attitude
- Must be able to fill out
an application!
- Drug free
- Must be accountable for
actions
- Should be able to manage
money
- Must be versatile, able
to deal with change
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Employment
Practices Involve:
- Entry-level training (classroom
work, buddy trainer)
- Growth for advancement
from within
- Educational assistance
- Employee assistance program
(EAP)
- Must be shown larger picture/context,
how employee plays a role in the whole organization(part of training)
- Streches during the work
day to avoid carpel tunnel syndrome, etc.
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Mathematics
Ideas/Connections:
- Predicting trends, projections
for budgets
- Routing--the traveling
salesman problem (but with lots of variables!)
- Spatial problem of packing
the totes (there are a couple of different sizes) and then packing
the trucks (note: packing is evaluated by industrial engineers from
TX)
- Data set:
Year |
%
Turnover, McLane
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%
turnover, Dist. Center Only
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1996
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62.8
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90
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1997
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38
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42.44
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1998
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29.9
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35
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1999
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19.5
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22
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- Number and codes
- Rates (e.g., 350 pieces
per hour are moved in some areas; 550 pieces per hour in other areas;
1100 pieces per hour in still other areas)
- Ordering on shelves (organized
by how fast it moves out-stuff that moves the most quickly is at arm
level to avoiding unnecessary bending, stooping, etc.)
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