Rotary's state-of-the-art shipping and fulfillment operations
are located inside the company's 250,000-square-foot
distribution facility in Glennville, Ga.
With a vast inventory of more than 9,500
different parts, tools and accessories for
outdoor power equipment, Rotary Cor-
poration recently raised the bar for order
fulfillment at its world headquarters in
Glennville, Ga.
In July 2015, the company completed
a major expansion of its shipping opera-
tions to improve its supply chain and meet
expected sales projections for the next five
years. After a busy summer season, the re-
sults have been impressive: On average,
Rotary now ships a small parcel every 3.5
seconds with a same-day fulfillment rate of
99.9 percent.
"We began the journey with a detailed
assessment and financial analysis of mul-
tiple alternatives," explained Ed Nelson,
Rotary president and CEO. "This ultimately
resulted in a new and enhanced process flow
for our shipping operations, including ware-
house inventory management, automated
voice selection, advanced handling equip-
ment and a redesigned conveyor system."
Upon completion of the final design,
Rotary began the seven-month project,
which included selection, procurement,
delivery and installation of the equip-
ment, plus the detailed implementation,
transition and conversion plans.
"By integrating a new state-of-the-art
order fulfillment system with voice rec-
ognition and conveyor sensors to verify
product weight, Rotary is achieving
99.6-percent order accuracy while pro-
viding same-day shipping — even dur-
ing peak seasons and heavy sales volume,"
commented Donald Fountain, Rotary vice
president of operations.
The advanced system features a two-
level split-case order-picking area, recon-
figured SKU split-case and full-case picking
locations, and split-case pick-to-conveyors
FEATURE STORY | Business Growth
22 NOVEMBER 2015 OUTDOOR POWER EQUIPMENT www.outdoorpowerequipment.com
Rotary enhances
shipping operations
An order travels along the conveyor to the quality
control and packaging area on the mezzanine level.
A sortation system, featuring multiple
conveyors, cycles packages at the loading
area for various freight carriers.
On average, Rotary ships a small parcel every
3.5 seconds with a same-day fulfillment rate
of 99.9 percent.
As part of quality control, sensors linked to
an advanced inventory data system monitor
the packages to ensure the net weight of the
contents is consistent with the weight of parts
included in the order.
