Lessons From a Warehouse Modernization Project With John Naylor From Trew and Scott Davis From JD Finish Line - Unboxing Logistics Ep. 82

John Naylor from Trew and Scott Davis from JD Finish Line teamed up to transform a distribution center from mostly manual to automated and efficient—while the center was still operational!

In a recent session at RILA, they shared the details of the project with Lori Boyer, discussing everything from the initial planning stages to the final results and ROI.

If you weren’t able to make it to the session, no worries. We’ve turned the recording into a special episode of Unboxing Logistics. Listen to learn how John and Scott got leadership buy-in, helped employees adopt the new technology, and dealt with unexpected roadblocks.

Choosing technology with the future in mind

Throughout the session, a common thread was the need for careful planning. When choosing technology, John and Scott considered two things: whether it would be worth the investment, and how it would hold up to future business growth.

John says, “It really becomes a fairly simple black-and-white math exercise. It's an ROI. Do we invest the money? What is the payback on that?”

He continues, “Are we future proof? Have we painted ourselves into a corner? If our business needs change, or … acquisitions happen, will this be able to accommodate that change?”

Planning for the unexpected

An important part of planning is the assumption that things will go wrong at some point. Scott stresses that budgets need to leave room for these unexpected setbacks: “Contingencies are huge. Do you want to go back in a year and ask for more, or would you rather fight the battle upfront so that you can stay within your budgets?”

John chimes in, “Anybody who tells you these projects go flawlessly and on plan is lying to you. … No battle plan survives the first volley.”

Taking a people-focused approach

Automation projects often come under fire for eliminating human jobs. But for John and Scott, laying off employees was never the goal.

John explains that they forecasted employment needs and made sure not to overhire. The result? “We didn't [need] to lay off people later when [a] job function was eliminated. …

So it was a very … people-focused approach.”

As Scott puts it, the automation project was all about “[doing] more with the same people, not reduc[ing] the people.”

Links

1. Connect with Scott on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-davis-03315652/
2. Follow JD Finish Line on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/jd-finish-line/
3. Visit Trew’s website: https://www.trewautomation.com/