StateWays is the only magazine exclusively covering the control state system within the beverage alcohol industry, with annual updates from liquor control commissions and alcohol control boards and yearly fiscal reporting from control jurisdictions
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StateWays ■ www.stateways.com ■ January/February 2015 24 The Wyoming Liquor Distribution Division warehouse in Cheyenne has a 300-foot-long bottle line. PHOTO BY JOHN BLAKE "WE'RE MANAGING THE WAREHOUSE MUCH BETTER NOW. IT'S NO LONGER MANAGING US." — Greg Cook, Administrator of the Wyoming Liquor Distribution Division When deliveries arrive, trucks are unloaded and products are directed either to the picking area or straight to the AS/RS, where they are stored until needed. "The system really saved us because we were running out of room," Wasserstein recalls. "States keep offering more and more products, and we needed to stay on top of it. At the same time, we have some brands that we ship hundreds of times a day, and other brands we only ship only once a day. It was a constant process of trying to keep up with things and reallocate space as needed to maintain effi ciency." Idaho invested $7.5 million in the warehouse expan- sion and AS/RS system. Wasserstein says that is was money well spent, but acknowledges that the Division had anticipated the new system to save on labor as a re- sult (which didn't happen). "Labor stayed the same, but I think if we didn't ex- pand a few years ago, we ultimately would have ended up adding more people," Wasserstein says. Ultimately, Idaho's new warehouse system has en- abled the state to improve customer service by offering more products and maintaining distribution effi ciencies. Voice recognition improves productivity and customer service Like Idaho, other states have successfully integrated technological overhauls into their warehouse and distri- bution systems. Several years ago, the Wyoming Liquor Distribution Division committed to improving its over- all warehouse operations. In Febru- ary 2012, the state upgraded to a brand new, temperature-controlled, 145,000-square-foot warehouse in Cheyenne, which exceeds the size of the former facility by 45,000 square feet. In addition to giving Wyoming much-needed space to stock addi- tional products, the new 17-dock warehouse features enough room for separate shipping and receiving areas, along with a deluxe conveyer system with a 300-foot-long bottle line. It's also equipped with Datria Voice from Knighted, a revolutionary voice recognition system. Instead of headsets, the new program uses wireless phones to communicate with the warehouse management system. "The technology we gained as a result of the new facil- ity really changed the way we approach problems and in- crease effi ciencies," says Greg Cook, Administrator of the Wyoming Liquor Distribution Division. "It's very positive from a manpower perspective. We're managing the ware- house much better now. It's no longer managing us." In addition to a higher level of productivity, another major benefi t Wyoming has seen as a result of the new warehouse system is an increase in employee morale. With 18 state employees and seven express personnel working in the warehouse across three daily shifts, the entire team was crucial to the effective implementation and ongoing enhancement of the overall warehouse management. Scott Workman, Wyoming's Warehouse Manager, says that although the Division's administration was ulti- mately responsible for determining the technology that would be used to upgrade warehouse operations, buy-in from the entire staff was essential to the plan's success. He also credits his staff with com- ing up with additional ideas to im- prove processes. "When we fi rst moved to the new space, we were still learn- ing on the go," Workman says. "Based on staff recommendations, we ended up reorganizing our picking zones so the guys weren't walking as much, making their jobs a lot simpler. Everyone is happy to contribute ideas because good process improvements ulti- mately help everyone." The changes implemented in Wyoming's warehouse have positively impacted overall distribution initiatives. Wyoming has increased its average number of orders picked per hour from 60 to almost 80, and expects that number to climb even higher. The distribution team currently boasts an accuracy rating of 92.2 percent, the highest in its history. That statistic is even more impres- sive considering the fact that the Division split-cases ev- ery single item it lists, making quality control an even bigger challenge.