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1

FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED IN DETERMINING
WAREHOUSE CAPACITY FOR A
RETAIL FOOD BUSINESS

BY

LO REN D. GALBRAITH

A THESIS
Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies of Michigan
State College of Agriculture and Applied Science

in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

MAS TER OF AR TS

Department of General Business

Curriculum in Food Distribution

1952

S

Q.
E

 

{0”y'5-1’1‘r

~.'_‘. ‘0

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The writer wishes to take this opportunity to express
his sincere appreciation to Dr. Kenneth Wilson for his interest
and supervision which aided in the preparation and completion
of this study.

Grateful acknowledgment is also due to the companies
that have provided the writer with information concerning their
warehouses.

Acknowledgment is also due to the retail food chain com-
panies, and in particular to the Jewel Tea Company, Incorporated,
whose participation in the formulation and support of the Curric-
ulum in Food Distribution through the National Association of

Food Chains, have made this study possible.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER Page
I. INTRODUCTION ............ ......... 1
Purpose of Study ....... . ........ . . 1
ScopeofStudy......... ........ Z
SourcesofData................... 7

II. OPERATION OF A WAREHOUSE . .. 8
Receiving . 8
Storing.............. ...... 12
Selecting........................ 13

Shipping .......... .. 15

III. PLANNING THE WAREHOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . 23

TieringHeight.................... 23
Aisles.......................... Z4
PalletRacks ..... ................ 28
Doors and Overhead Obstructions . . . . . . . 30
ColumnSpacing................... 31
Receiving and Shipping Area ...... . . . . 32

Type of Merchandise Handled and

Functions Performed . . . . . . ....... 33

I‘lllgftt [/Illh {erflLJ [1 \l |\I.[1rll.l LJL/llLrlllL [i[[ rl\. .lrnlx [lain r: - , I. (lliirll r: .l

iv

CHAPTER Page
IV. WAREHOUSING IN THE RETAIL OUTLET . . 44
Storage Area Defined ....... . . . . . . . . 44

Availability of Storage Area and

Number of Deliveries . ........ . . . . 45
Servicing a Store Daily ........ . . . . . . 48
Company Policies ....... . ..... . . . . . 51
Shipping From Two Warehouses ...... . . 55

Distance From Warehouse to Retail

Outlets ....... O O O O O O O O I O O O O O O O 56
Produce Storage . ...... ............ 57
Meat Storage ............... . . . . . . 58

V. METHODS USED TO ESTINIATE

WAREHOUSE SPACE . . . ..... . . . . . . . 59
Points to be Checked ....... . . ..... . 59
Estimating Space Requirements . . . . . . . . 62
PlanningaPalletLayout............. 67
PublicWarehouses................. 79

VI. PURCHASING POLICIES AND WAREHOUSE
CAPACITY ...................... 83

Inventory................ ........ 83

CHAPTER

Location of Vendors
Quantity Discounts . . . .
Periodic Delivery . . . . . . .
Weekly Specials

Premium and Coupon Merchandise

Speculation

Private Brands . . ......

Seasonal Merchandise

Direct Deliveries . . ........... . . . .

Cooperation Between Buyers and
Warehouse Manager

VII. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Page
84
84
86
86
86
87
88
88

88

89
91

102

LIS T OF TABLES

TABLE Page
I. Comparison Between Multistory and
Single-story Structures With The
Same Gross Floor Area .............. 5
11. Recommended Aisle Widths For Fork

Lift Trucks ............ . ..... . . . . . 26

LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURE

1.

Z.

3.

4.

Warehouse Layout of The Jewel Tea

Company, Incorporated

Present Building and Proposed Expansion of
The Jewel Tea Company, Incorporated
Form I - Table For Computing Warehouse
Size Using Fork Truck—Pallet System .....
Form II - Estimating Data on Palletized

Materials For Use in Determining

Warehouse Size (Area)

Page

39

41

69

73

CHAPTER I
IN TRODUC TION
Purpose of Study

The typical study of space requirements in a grocery
warehouse usually covers the engineering aspects of construct-
ing the building. The purpose of this study is to examine the
methods that could be used in operating a new grocery ware-
house and the retail outlets, in so far as they affect space re-
quirements in the warehouse. This includes some of the de—
cisions that are made when buying merchandise, as the purchas-
ing policy of a food company is one of the many factors that
determine the size of a warehouse. Some methods of comput-
ing the space requirements are also presented to show how some
of the operating problems are taken into consideration when
arriving at the size of the structure. No attempt is made to
present specific or even a general formula to be used in de—
termining the space requirements. This is an impossibility,

even though basically a warehouse does four things regardless

of what type of merchandise is handled. The four things are
receiving, storing, assembling, and shipping merchandise. These
are the essential operations performed in all warehouses, but
there are also other operations that can be performed by one
company and not by another. Some of these other operations
may be commented upon, although they are only mentioned to
show that if they are performed, there will be a different amount

of space required in that particular situation.
Scope of Study

This study is limited to dry grocery items, both in the
warehouse and in the retail outlets. Some mention is made of
produce, meat, and some items that are of a nonfood nature,
such as drug items and housewares, only to show that if they
are handled through the warehouse instead of direct to the store
from an outside supplier, thought and consideration will have to
be given to them in planning the necessary amount of space
needed for a warehouse.

The use of materials-handling equipment is mentioned
wherever it affects the area required for storing merchandise.

The relative merits of various types of materials-handling

equipment as well as whether or not it should be used is not
considered in this study. The operating methods presently be-
ing used by the grocery industry will of necessity have to be
taken as the ones that will be used basically in the near future.
This does not mean that a particular company will continue to
use the same methods in a new warehouse that it used in its
old building, but that it will look at the newest methods of han-
dling merchandise and adapt these to its own particular situa-
tion. There will continue to be improvements in handling and
storing merchandise, and where these occur and prove to be
worthwhile they will be incorporated by the industry. .

Even though there is a trend toward one-story warehouses,
the multistory warehouse is still in use; and it is here where
several problems in utilizing space more effectively occur and
are solved. Many of the methods of handling merchandise in
the one-story warehouse have come about because of the prob-
lems involved in storing merchandise on several floors.

The multistory warehouse has certain inherent features
that prevent the maximum utilization of the space in the building
for storing merchandise. These features are not found in one-

story warehouses. Space devoted to such items as elevators,

stair wells, thick supporting columns and walls, low ceilings,
and still lower steam pipes and sprinkler systems cannot be
used for storage purposes. An example of the amount of space
lost in a multistory warehouse over that in a one-story ware-
house can be seen in Table I. The multistory warehouse, as
presented in Table I, has six floors and is 60 feet in width
and 2.00 feet in length. The one-story warehouse is 150 feet
in width and 480 feet in length.

The operation of a multistory warehouse is similar to
that of a one-story building. The differences that may occur
are due to the age of the building and certain other features
of its construction. Conveyors may be used, but are usually
only employed in selecting merchandise to be shipped. Fork
lift trucks may not be used because of low door sills, low-
capacity elevators, low ceilings, weak floors, and many other
causes. In some cases they may be utilized completely through-
out the multistory warehouse, and in some cases they are lim-
ited to the first floor.

Since the current trend is toward one-story warehouses,
the problems involved in operating the multistory buildings are

omitted from this study.

TABLE I

COMPARISON BETWEEN MULTISTORY AND SINGLE-STORY
STRUCTURES WITH THE SAME GROSS FLOOR AREA*

 

 

 

Multistory One - story
Warehouse Warehouse
Gross area in square feet 12,299 12,290
Area lost by:
Columns 2,976 1,168
Elevators 1,512 -
Stairs 2,160 -
Approaches 3,600 -
Outside walls __?_:,_1_2_0_ __l_,_2_€i(_)_
Total 13,368 M
Total usable area 28,612 62,212

 

 

 

 

5p;

* Source: United States Department of Commerce.
Streamlined Wholesale Grocery Warehouses. Bureau of Foreign
and Domestic Commerce. U. 8. Government Printing Office,
Washington, D. C. 1946. p. 14.

There has been no attempt to limit this study to a busi-
ness of any particular volume. Methods that are used by the
large companies are often adopted by the small companies and
vice versa. Volume is only one of the factors that is involved
in how large the warehouse should be. A one-store business
may not have a warehouse or, because it has a large volume,
it may have a warehouse separate from the store. A business
having sixty outlets might not operate a grocery warehouse,
while another business having the same number of outlets
might operate one or two warehouses. It is not the volume of
the business that is involved, but whether or not it operates a
separate warehouse.

The costs involved in constructing and equipping a new
warehouse and the method of financing are also omitted from
this study. It is evident that the desire for a new warehouse
may be outweighed by the cost of constructing the building.

Certain policies which affect the operation of the retail
outlets are not considered, as they do not affect the storage
area in the warehouse. Some of these would be personnel,

managerial, supervisory, merchandise, and merchandising

7
policies. It is felt that these are not sufficiently important to

warrant consideration.
Sources of Data

Several books as listed in the bibliography of this study
have provided the necessary background information on grocery
chain stores. These books do not give a detailed description
of the warehousing function, but instead, present it in rather
broad and general terms. They do point out the increasing im—
portance of the grocery warehouse as a distribution center, in-
stead of stressing its storing function. The data describing
the operation of the various warehouses come from two main
sources: government, trade, and individual company publica-
tions; and personal visits to several chain warehouses and with
the people in charge of these operations.

A considerable amount of valuable information was con-
tributed by the Jewel Tea Company, Incorporated, of Chicago,
Illinois, and in particular by Mr. Lee Smith, Warehouse Oper-

ating Manage r.

CHAPTER II
OPERATION OF A WAREHOUSE

. There are four functions that all warehouses perform,
regardless of the type of merchandise handled or location.
These functions are receiving, storing, selecting or assembling,
and shipping. To perform these functions requires space, but
the manner in which they are performed determines the amount
of space required. In an old building, the construction itself
sometimes determines the method that is used; for instance,
the ceiling might be too low to use fork lift trucks. When plan-
ning a new warehouse the method can determine the size of the
structure, and the ceiling can be placed high enough to allow

fork lift trucks to be erriployed.
Receiving

Receiving begins with the unloading of the merchandise
from the truck or the railroad car and ends when it is placed

in storage.

9

There are three methods of receiving: by hand trucks,
conveyors, and pallets. In receiving merchandise by hand truck,
the hand trucks, or four-wheelers, are loaded by hand from
either the trucks that are backed up at the receiving dock, or
from railroad cars which are spotted on sidings at the ware-
house. After they are loaded, as many men as are needed to
keep the receiving platform clear are used to roll the hand
trucks back to the storage area. This method is a laborious
and costly way of handling merchandise and requires more
space on the receiving dock than when pallets are used. Since
the hand trucks cannot be stacked on top of one another, neither
when they are empty nor when they are loaded, the space above
the hand trucks is wasted and they require a storage area near
the receiving platform. After they are loaded, they may be
permitted to accumulate in large quantities during the receiv-
ing process. To reduce this problem, either more men are
needed to remove the loaded four-wheelers from the receiving
dock, or more space is required for the platform.

When merchandise is received by a conveyor system,
the conveyor is extended into the truck or the railroad car by

means of portable conveyor sections. The merchandise is then

10
placed on the conveyor and carried to the storage area. In
receiving with a conveyor system, only one truck or one rail-
road car can be unloaded at a time. This reduces the amount
of space needed for a truck receiving dock, except where mer-
chandise from another truck is unloaded onto the dock and then
placed on the conveyor during a slack period. This procedure
would require more dock space than the one that unloads di-
rectly onto the conveyor.

Where pallets are used in the receiving operation, there
are several ways of handling the merchandise. Two pallets
can be placed on a hand truck and pushed into the truck or
railroad car. The incoming merchandise is then placed on the
pallets in a predetermined pattern. Each pallet contains the
same number of cases of identical merchandise. When the
pallets are loaded, the hand truck can be pushed to a convenient
spot on the receiving platform to which a fork lift truck has
ready access. The fork lift truck then carries the merchandise
to the storage area.

Another’method of handling the merchandise is to load
the pallets in the truck or railroad car and have a transporter

pull the loaded pallets either to the receiving dock, where a

11
fork lift truck can take them to storage, or directly to the
storage area, where a fork lift truck operator places them in
their proper position.

Still another method is to place the pallets on four--
wheelers that can be hooked together to form a trackless train.
The pallets can be placed on the four-wheelers and loaded in
the truck or railroad car, or the pallets can be loaded first
and then put on the four-wheelers with a fork lift truck. When
there are three or four hand trucks completely loaded, a tow-
motor truck can pull them to the storage area and leave them.
A fork lift truck then places the loaded pallets in their proper
place in the storage area.

Using pallets requires more dock space than either of
the other two methods. This is caused partially by the need
for space to maneuver the fork lift trucks, but more so because
several trucks and railroad cars can be unloaded at the same
time. Where just one truck is being unloaded at a time, there
is no need for additional space, and even less may be needed
if the fork lift truck can move directly from the truck into the

aisle leading to the storage area.

12

Storing

After the hand trucks have been loaded and pushed to
the storage area, they are unloaded and piled in tiers, by hand,
in an assigned spot. The height of the pile depends upon how
much labor and time the company wishes to invest. The higher
the tier, the more labor and time is consumed in storing the
merchandise. If the merchandise is fragile, it cannot be hand
stacked to any great height without using shelving.

The merchandise may be tiered to the ceiling at the
back of the pile and may be stacked about 6 or 7 feet high
at the front. This will utilize more cubic feet than if the en-
tire pile is kept within reach of a man standing on the floor.
It, of course, costs more in labor to pile to the ceiling as the
ceiling height increases.

As the merchandise comes to its assigned spot on the
conveyor, it is hand stacked in piles in the same manner as
if it were brought back by hand truck. There is available a
portable stacker which can be adjusted to various heights. If
this is used, one man takes the cases off the conveyor and
places them on the stacker, while another man takes the cases

from the stacker and places them on the top of the pile. The

13
stair-shaped pile may reach to the ceiling at the back and yet
be within reach of an order picker at the front.

Where pallets are employed, a fork lift truck is used
in the storage area. The fork lift truck handles the entire
pallet load and places it in an assigned spot. It can stack pal-
lets of merchandise to the ceiling, taking considerably less time
to do it than when it is done by hand. Depending upon the lay-
out, the pallet loads can be tiered to the ceiling, and there may
be a stack only one or two pallets high in front of the pile for

selection.

Selecting

When merchandise is selected from the stock to fill or-
ders and it has been placed in storage using hand trucks or a
conveyor system, the items can be selected directly from the
storage area. This may also be the case when the pallet sys-
tem is employed, but more likely there will be a separate se-
lection area.

In selecting merchandise with hand trucks, the order
picker or selector will take an order form and start out at one

end of the warehouse and work through until he fills the hand .

14
truck. He will then push this four—wheeler to the shipping
platform, pick up another empty hand truck and continue filling
the order. This continues until he has filled the complete or-
der; it is known as a "crew" type of order picking.

Using-what is known as ”area" order picking, the men
selecting the order will be assigned a certain portion of the
warehouse. They will select the merchandise on the order form
in that area and will not pick the entire order. As they fill a I
hand truck, they will bring it to the shipping platform.

Both "crew" and “area" picking can be employed in
selecting merchandise when conveyors are used in the ware-
house. If "crew” picking is used, the entire load will be on
the conveyor at one time. It can be fed directly into the truck,
and causes no confusion in checking the order. Loading is
limited to one truck at a time under this method. Using "area"
picking, several orders will be on the conveyor at the same time.
As this merchandise reaches the shipping platform, the cases
must be separated and assembled into orders on hand trucks.

When using pallets, two different methods are employed
in storing merchandise. Either there is a separate selection

line, or selection is done directly from the storage area as

15
when using hand trucks and conveyors. Regardless of which
method is employed in storing the merchandise, either ”crew"
or ”area" picking can be used in the selection process. The
men selecting the order can place the merchandise on hand
trucks or on conveyors as above. However, when a pallet
system is used, there is generally some mechanical means
utilized to bring the loaded hand trucks to the shipping dock and
bring back empty four-wheelers so that the selectors do not
have to go back and forth between the storage area and the
shipping dock. This will be some form of a towline, either

overhead or in the floor, or a towmotor truck.

Shipping

When merchandise on hand trucks arrives at the shipping
platform, it is checked against the order form and then placed
into a truck by hand. This also applies when several orders
are selected at the same time when using a conveyor system.

If a complete order is selected and loaded, then the conveyor
leads right into the truck and the merchandise is checked as

it is loaded.

16

Sometimes merchandise is selected and put directly on
hand trucks when a pallet system is used, and in other cases
it is selected and placed on pallets which are on hand trucks.
If pallets are not employed in selecting, then the shipping pro-
cedure is the same as when hand trucks or conveyors are
used but if pallets are utilized, the merchandise is checked
when it arrives at the shipping platform and then the entire
pallet load is placed into the truck by a fork lift operator.
Occasionally merchandise will be hand stacked on top of the
pallet loads in the truck.

‘ The West Coast Grocery Company, of Tacoma, Washing-
ton, installed conveyors in two branch warehouses. Both build-
ings have approximately 18,000 square feet of floor space and
both are one-story structures. In addition to the conveyors,
both warehouses use four—wheelers and fork lift trucks with
pallets. The conveyors cover the entire building, and mer-
chandise flows from the receiving dock to the storage area
and then to the shipping platform.

The company claims the following advantages for its

conveyor system over its former method of handling stock,

17

which was with four-wheelers, and with fork lift trucks and

1
pallets for some items.

1. A very fast selecting rate allows the regular
crew to handle an increased number of orders, Which are
created when a holiday occurs during the week.

2. It is possible to load out trucks much sooner
after the arrival of an order in the warehouse.

3. It saves space because of the very narrow aisles
required. Also, by hand-stacking, we obtain maximum use
of the total warehouse in cubage and eliminate the order
platform.

4. Inbound merchandise is either put in its proper
place or it will flow into an outbound truck. This keeps
the warehouse much neater because it is impossible to just
dump merchandise any place in order to get rid of it, as
some of our fork lift truck drivers do.

5. It has increased our use of both trucks and driv-
ers and has simultaneously cut drivers' overtime.

6. Each of the two selectors works half of the ware-
house only and is therefore more familiar with his stock
andfills orders more accurately and faster.

7. The absolute necessity of complete coordination
of every man forces cooperation where we sometimes never

had it before .

The disadvantage s are:

 

1
Charles H. Hyde, ”Our Conveyor System and How it
Works," The Voluntary and Cooperative Groups Magazine (Vol.
XXI, No. 7, July, 1951), pp. 17-19, 45, 58.

18

1. Large scrambled orders present a definite check-
ing bottleneck.

Z. In case of a complete power failure, we are tem-
porarily out of business. It would take four to eight hours
to tear out the track so four-wheelers could be used.

3. Neither can two inbound trucks nor two outbound
trucks be handled at the same time efficiently in our small
warehouses, which have no space for the so-called surge
line.

The Seven Day Wholesale Grocery, Incorporated, of Wood-
ville, Mississippi, remodeled its old warehouse and increased
the area from 20,000 square feet of floor space to 32,000 square
feet. At the same time the company remodeled, it installed a
conveyor system. The warehouse consists of a basement and a
first floor. Due to the different floor levels in the basement,
only about 50 percent of this 'area was used for storing mer-
chandise, as it was impractical to use a hand truck on this
floor. Since the installation of the conveyor system, the com—

pany has cited the following benefits:2

1. Shipping and receiving time has been cut an
average of 40 percent.

 

2 C. M. Treppendahl, Jr., ”A Conveyorized Warehouse
System," Wholesale Grocer News (Vol. 26, No. 12, March, 1952),
pp. 14—16.

19
2. Basement storage space is increased 50 percent.

3. Non-conveyorables can be stored near receiving
and shipping doors, reducing the time and effort involved in

handling these items.

4. Fast moving case goods can be stored on either
floor of the warehouse.

The Standard Grocer's, of Holland, Michigan, moved into
a new one-story warehouse designed around a conveyor system.
This warehouse serves 130 independent stores and 3 cash and
carry stores. The company has approximately $450,000 in in-
ventory at one time, or about a three weeks' supply of each
item. Thirty-one thousand tons of merchandise a year are
shipped out of its warehouse.

As the merchandise comes into the rear of the building
it is placed on the conveyor and passes through four aisles. One
man in each aisle removes the merchandise from the conveyor
and stacks it in the proper bay within easy reach for order
selection, which is about 6 or 7 feet high.

The ”crew" method of order picking is employed, and
one order is completely filled before another one is started.
This method permits the company to make efficient use of
available space, handle incoming merchandise and outgoing stock

without confusion, and reduce man-hours and handling costs

20
considerably. The space requirements for this system are
small, and permit the handling of a continuous flow of goods
in and out of the warehouse.

The Alpha Beta Food Markets, Incorporated, of Los
Angeles, California, uses a double belt conveyor to fill orders.
Only one truck at a time is loaded from the conveyor. Twenty-
two stores are served from the warehouse, which has 54,000
square feet of floor space out of a total of 82,000 square feet
devoted to grocery items.

The company utilizes fork lift trucks and a pallet sys-
tem in receiving and storing merchandise. The merchandise is
stored on pallets in pallet racks adjacent to the conveyor belt
in order form sequence.

Hillman's Pure Foods, Incorporated, of Chicago, Illinois,
is operating out of an old multistory warehouse, which serves
nine stores. When slow- and medium-moving merchandise is
received, it is placed on hand trucks and pushed to an elevator,
which takes it to one of the upper floors. Here it is hand
stacked in the storage area, as there is no separate selection
area. Fast-moving items are placed on pallets as they are re-

ceived and are stored on the first floor, using fork lift trucks.

21

The upper floors have low ceilings and the floors will
not support heavy loads. There are no fork lift trucks used
on these floors for that reason.

In selecting merchandise, two pallets are placed on a
hand truck and the selector places the merchandise that he
has selected on the pallets. When the pallets are loaded, the
hand truck is pulled to the elevator and sent to the first floor.
Here a fork lift truck picks up the pallet loads and places them
in a truck for shipment to their retail outlets.

This will be changed when they move into their new
warehouse, which will be a one-story building having about
87,000 square feet of grocery warehouse space. The new build-
ing will have a reserve storage area and a selection line. The
selector will use a low lift fork truck and place the order on a
pallet as it is picked. When the pallet is loaded, he will take
it to the shipping dock, where it will be checked and put into
a truck for shipment. Whether or not "crew" or "area" order
picking will be used has not yet been decided.

The Jewel Tea Company, Incorporated, of Chicago, Illi—
nois, has a selection line separate from the storage area.

Using "area" order picking, the selectors put the merchandise

22
on hand trucks which are placed on a moving conveyor, which
is at floor level. The conveyor then takes the merchandise to
the shipping platform. The American Stores Company, of
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, employs an overhead towline to
carry the hand trucks from the selection area to the ’shipping
dock. This company uses a modified form of ”crew" order
picking. The selector makes a complete tour of the warehouse,
but he does not work on the same order on the complete trip.
Both of these companies load their trucks by hand and as a
rule do not ship loaded pallets to the stores.

The various methods of operating warehouses are exem-
plified by the above companies. However, there is some dif-
ference between companies using the same basic methods.
There may be a difference in the ceiling heights of their ware-
houses, the width of the aisles, the height of the door sills, the
number of railroad car spots, the number of truck spots, the
type of merchandise handled, and the method employed in ar-
ranging the pallets in the selection area and the storage area.
These will be discussed in the next chapter, along with the re-
lationship between the method used in operating a warehouse

and how it affects warehouse capacity.

CHAPTER 111
PLANNING THE WAREHOUSE

When the plans for a new warehouse are being discussed,
management makes certain decisions that affect the capacity of
the proposed building. This chapter deals with those decisions
and what the effect will be on the capacity of the warehouse.

One of the first decisions that management should make
is the system to be employed in handling merchandise in the
proposed building. The method decided upon will partially de-

termine the answers to many of the other decisions.
Tiering Height

In Chapter II it was shown that tiering height is limited
to 6 or 7 feet when either hand trucks or conveyors are used.
This will keep the ceiling height to approximately 9 or 10
feet. The change in receiving and shipping that results
from the use of a conveyor system over hand trucks is the
method employed to bring the merchandise to storage and in

transporting it to the shipping dock. The conveyor system will

24
also increase the efficiency of placing merchandise in the stor-
age area and in sending it to the shipping platform.

Merchandise loaded on pallets may be stacked in tiers
20 feet high by using fork lift trucks. After the merchandise
is placed on pallets from trucks or railroad cars, it is not

touched by hand again until it is selected for an order.
Aisles

The question then arises, does a fork lift truck operation
require more aisle space than with other methods? Assuming
either one—way or two-way traffic in all cases, yes, fork lift
trucks and pallets require more aisle space than either a hand
truck or a conveyor operation. With a hand truck operation,
the main aisles, where there should be two-way traffic, need
to be approximately 3 feet wider than the combined width of
two of the widest hand trucks. Usually, this does not exceed
10 feet. The feeder aisles, leading from the main aisles, are
approximately 5 feet wide with one-way traffic. In some cases,
these aisles are 2 feet wide and men carry the merchandise
from the main aisles to its proper position. To reduce the

distance these men have to walk, the number of feeder aisles

25
should be increased over that needed to permit the passage of
hand trucks.

Where a conveyor system is in use, the main aisles and
the feeder aisles may be the same width, which is between
3 and 5 feet. This will vary somewhat due to the width of the
conveyor, which may be 12 or 18 inches. When the conveyor
runs through the main aisles only, the feeder aisles are 10 to
15 feet long and about 2 feet wide.

The main aisles may run from 10 to 20 feet in width
and the feeder aisles from 6 to 12 feet in width, when employ-
ing fork lift trucks. This depends upon the type of fork lift
truck used and whether or not there is one-way or two-
way traffic. A straddle—type fork lift truck is required in
the 6-foot aisles.

Table II gives the recommended aisle widths for trucks
having different lifting capacities. The load length upon which
these figures are based is 48 inches. If a shorter pallet is
used, the width of the aisles may be reduced slightly. These
figures provide for two-way traffic and allow clearance for

smooth and rapid operation, but are not the minimum widths

26

TABLE 11

RECOMMENDED AISLE WIDTHS FOR FORK LIFT TRUCKS*

 

 

 

Truck Capacity Length of Truck Aisle Width
(pounds) (feet) (feet)
2,000 9 10
4,000 10 12

6,000 to 10,000 12 to 13 14

 

 

* Source: Curtis H. Barker, Jr. Industrial Materials
Handling. Cleveland: The Lincoln Extension Institute, Inc.
1950. p. 155.

in which the fork lift truck can turn and place or remove a
loaded pallet.

Sometimes, even where a pallet system is in use, not
all the items are palletized. Thus, some bulky items, such as
cereals, soap flakes, and paper products, are hand stacked in
the warehouse. Where this occurs, the aisles may be about
5 feet wide.

Wider aisles require more space, but the increased
operating efficiency resulting from their use will usually com-

pensate for the extra space needed. Where narrow aisles are

27
used, such as when hand stacking merchandise, more floor space
is provided for the goods. However, in this case, the merchan-
dise is not moved again until the tier is about exhausted. This
results in several tiers of merchandise being only partially filled,
while with a pallet system, this air space can be utilized and
results in more usable space.

In an attempt to reduce the amount of aisle space nec-
essary for a pallet system, angle stacking has been tried. In-
stead of placing the pallets at right angles to the aisles some
companies have placed them at a 45 degree angle. This reduces
the width of the aisle and the number of pallets that may be
placed in a given area. It also results in one-way traffic and
irregular alignment of the merchandise. Angle stacking may
be employed in either the storage area or the selection area,
or it may be used in both areas.

Using the same pallet sizes and the same aisle widths,
the direction of the stringers, on the pallets, determines the
number of pallets that may be placed in a given area. The
stringers run the long way on a 40 inch by 48 inch pallet, but
run the short way on a 48 inch by 40 inch pallet. In the former

case the pallet has a 40 inch face and takes up 40 inches along

28
the aisle, and in the latter case it has a 48 inch face. More
40 inch by 48 inch pallets can be placed in a given area than

those having a 48 inch face.

Pallet Racks

Where there is a separate selection area, merchandise
is usually not stacked more than two pallet loads high. The
space between the top of these pallet loads and the ceiling is
space that could be used for storing reserve stocks of mer-
chandise. There are several methods available to utilize this
space, such as by using pallet racks, a mezzanine, and a mez-
zanine combined with hanging shelves.

With pallet racks in the selection area, the first pallet
load of merchandise may be placed on the floor, the second in
the middle, and two more on top. By placing one item on the
floor and another item in the middle of the rack, the selection
line is cut in half. Reserve stocks of these items are placed
on top of the racks. Racks are expensive to install and it is
extremely difficult for selectors to pick merchandise from under
the rack or from the middle shelf. There is also a tendency

for the selectors to pick merchandise from the front half of

29
the pallet load on the middle shelf. This results in the pallet
load tipping over backwards when the equilibrium point has
been passed unless the load is picked evenly. The advantages
that pallet racks have are: they cost less than warehouse con—
struction; selecting difficulties are outweighed by the decreased
length of the selection line; and by placing reserve stock on top
of the racks, the hauling distance to storage and in replenish-
ing the selection line is greatly reduced. They are not justi-
fied when an abundance of warehouse space is available.

A mezzanine with hanging shelves is similar to pallet
racks, except that the middle shelf is supported by hanging it
from the mezzanine instead of supporting it from the floor.

The mezzanine allows for stacking one loaded pallet on
top of another for selection, and two more loaded pallets are
placed on the mezzanine for reserve stock. It does not permit
a shorter selection line as to the other two methods, but it
contains more flexibility for stock arrangement. In connection
with a mezzanine, single pallet racks are available that are
shaped like an inverted U and can be placed below the mezza-
nine and anywhere in the selection line. This can be used

where an item does not sell fast enough to have two full pallet

30
loads on the line at the same time. Using this rack, one slow
mover can be placed on the floor and another can be placed on
top of the rack, with one pallet load of each item in reserve
stock on the mezzanine. If more space is needed for a fast-
moving item, the pallet rack can be omitted and two pallet
loads can be placed on the floor under the mezzanine. This
seems to be the best method to use in utilizing the space over
the selection line and still retain flexibility.

Where selection is made directly from the storage area,
pallet racks cannot be used to increase the utilization of the
"air rights," or space above the front tiers of merchandise.
This space is wasted just as it is when merchandise is hand

stacked in storage.

Doors and Overhead Obstructions

In one-story warehouses, doors usually do not provide
a problem on the interior of the building. Roll-back garage-
type doors can interfere with storing capacity when they are
not carried high enough before starting the roll back. They
are carried back into the warehouse and prevent a fork lift

truck from stacking merchandise in the space behind the doors.

31

This problem is not encountered in the many warehouses where
both trucks and railroad cars enter the building for unloading.
Several of the newer warehouses in the northern part of the
country are incorporating both truck and railroad receiving in—
side the building. This is due to the climate, which requires
heating the warehouse several months out of the year. By being
able to close off the building, heating costs are reduced along
with an improvement in working conditions. Receiving in ware-
houses located in the warmer sections of the country is usually
done on the outside of the building, and the doors in these cases
can decrease available cubage.

In planning the new warehouse, all overhead obstructions,
such as lights, steam pipes, sprinkler systems, ventilators, and

heating ducts, should be kept above the maximum stacking height.

Column Spacing

While column spacing in an old warehouse might not be
suitable for a pallet system, it should be taken into considera-
tion when planning a new building. This entails laying out the

floor plan in advance, so that the pallets fit between the col-

umns without wasting space. If two different pallet sizes are

32
in use, this can be difficult to accomplish. If the feeder aisles
run the width of the building, the column spacing for the length
of the building will, of necessity, be different, due to the length
of the pallet. Once the direction of the aisles have been set

they are not easily changed.
Receiving and Shipping Area

The space required for receiving and shipping varies
with each company, as was pointed out in Chapter II. It de—
pends upon the type of business the warehouse serves, such
as chain stores, independents, or cooperatives, and the method
the company uses to receive and ship merchandise. If fork
lift trucks are used in receiving merchandise, there may be
room for twenty-seven railroad cars and twelve trucks in the
receiving area, and as many as thirty-five trucks in the ship-
ping area. In other cases, there may be room for only five
railroad cars and four trucks in the receiving area and twelve
trucks in the shipping area. The amount of space devoted to

receiving and shipping can vary above or below these figures.

33

Type of Merchandise Handled and
Functions Performed

The type of merchandise handled through the warehouse
affects the amount of space required. If it is strictly a dry
grocery warehouse, of which there are very few, this problem
is greatly reduced. There are certain items, such a macaroni
products, that cannot be stacked very high, since the package
is fragile and is easily damaged. Not all items fit on the pal-
let size being used in the warehouse, such as paper products.
This merchandise may be hand stacked or there may be two
pallet sizes used in the warehouse.

However, warehouses supplying the retail food business
usually handle other merchandise besides dry groceries. They
may handle fresh produce, fresh meats, frozen foods, dairy
products, drug items, houseware items, and many other types
of merchandise. Eggs may be candled in the warehouse, case
goods may be broken down and repacked into smaller units,
and there is always the salvage area which is used for salvag-
ing damaged merchandise. Not all warehouses perform all of
these functions, but if they do any of them, the space required

is greater than that needed for just dry groceries. These

34
functions require added equipment and different handling methods
than dry groceries.

In many cases, office space is needed in the new ware-
house. The building may also have a cafeteria, washrooms,
garages, sign shop, and many other facilities to service the
retail outlets. The amount of space needed for these various
facilities differs with each company, but when they are included
they obviously increase the amount of Space that is needed for
the warehouse.

Certified Grocers of California, Limited, of Los Angeles,
California, built its new warehouse on a tract of land that is
1,000 feet deep, 1,600 feet wide on the south end, and 1,080
feet wide on the north side, for a total of 31 acres. The ware-
house office is 20 feet by 120 feet; the assembly area, in building
one, is 250 feet by 260 feet; the reserve storage area in build-
ing two is 300 feet by 400 feet; the reserve storage area in
building three is 200 feet by 360 feet; the reserve storage area
in building four is 200 feet by 260 feet; the poultry dressing
room is 20 feet by 120 feet; the frozen food department is 160
feet by 150 feet; and the compressor room is 30 feet by 20 feet,

for a total area of 352,400 square feet.

35

In building one, the delivery shipping dock is 36 feet by
260 feet, the will-call shipping dock is 36 feet by 120 feet, and
the truck receiving dock is 25 feet by 300 feet in building two,
and 25 feet by 100 feet in building three. The truck receiving
dock in building four is 45 feet by 200 feet. There is a total
dock space of 40,080 square feet.

The maintenance building has 5,000 square feet of space.
There are 19,200 square feet in the transportation building, and
the main office has 36,000 square feet of space. These build-
ings cover a combined area of 60,200 square feet, while all the
structures have a total area of 452,680 square feet.

The beam clearance is 16 feet in both the selection area
and the reserve storage areas. The main aisles are 20 feet
wide in both areas, but the feeder aisles are 12 feet wide in
the reserve storage areas and 10 feet 6 inches wide in the se—
lection area. There are sixteen aisles in the selection line for
a total length of 3,200 feet. The selection line holds an aver-
age of 3,500 items. The pallet racks, of which there are ap-
proximately four hundred thousand, are 9 feet long and 104 inches
high. The basement is served with two hydroelectric elevators,

each having a capacity of 10,000 pounds. The railroad receiving

36
dock, at the south end of the storage area, has three tracks
capable of spotting twenty-seven cars, and a steel canopy ex-
tends over the dock and the first set of tracks.

The Lucky Stores, Incorporated, of San Leandro, Cal-
ifornia,l handles groceries, fresh produce, and drug items in
its warehouse, which is 820 feet by 200 feet. The grocery sec-
tion has 96,100 square feet, the drug section has 28,000 square
feet, and the produce section has 40,000 square feet of floor
space for a total of 164,200 square feet. The loading platforms,
for the warehouse, have a total area of 18,600 square feet,
which is covered by a canopy. On the same 20—acre tract,
there is an office building, 20,400 square feet; a kitchen and
packaging plant, 10,600 square feet, with a loading platform of
4,000 square feet; a garage and service station, 6,900 square
feet; a truck-weighing scale, 1,000 square feet; a silk screen,
repair, and salvage building, 12,300 square feet, with a loading
platform of 4,000 square feet; and railroad facilities covering

70,000 square feet. There is a paved area of 520,900 square

 

National Association 9f Food Chains Summary Report
o_n the Warehousing and Delivery Clinic, National Association of
Food Chains (Washington, D. C., January 15-17, 1951), pp. 2-5.

 

 

37
feet, and an unpaved area of 67,500 square feet. The combined
total of all the buildings is 241,600 square feet, while the total
area in the tract is 900,000 square feet.

The grocery warehouse handles about 2,400 items on a
selection line 2,100 feet long. There are fourteen aisles, 145
feet long and 11 feet wide, in the assembly area, which covers
approximately 60 percent of the building. The remaining space
is used for reserve storage. The main aisles, throughout the
warehouse, are 15 feet wide. Ninety-five percent of the selec-
tion line has pallet racks.

There are 4,400 items carried in the drug warehouse,
which uses pallet racks throughout. Reserve stocks of drug
items are carried on top of the pallet racks.

The produce warehouse is palletized, except for a few
of the 150 items that are carried.

There are four small rest rooms and one large locker
and rest room for the three warehouse buildings.

The merchandise is placed on pallets, which are on
warehouse trailers, when received. These trailers are formed
into trains and pulled to reserve section fork lift truck operators,

who place the merchandise in storage. About 20 percent of the

38
drug and grocery items are received by railroad cars, and the
rest of the items by truck. As there is no railroad dock, the
merchandise that is received by rail is taken directly to the
storage area.

The grocery warehouse operated by the Jewel Tea Com-
pany, Incorporated, of Chicago, Illinois, is 316 feet wide and
564 feet long. (See Figure 1.) The selection area covers ap-
proximately 60 percent of the warehouse, with the remaining
space being used for reserve storage. There is a conveyor,
316 feet long, at floor level, running from the reserve stock
area, through the selection area, to the shipping platform. Bulky
items are hand stacked on the west side of the conveyor, while
the remaining items are palletized on the east side of the con-
veyor. Eight aisles, in the palletized section, are 10 feet wide
and 185 feet long. Nine aisles, on the west side of the conveyor,
are 5 feet wide and 80 feet long, while one aisle is 10 feet
wide and 80. feet long.

There are two railroad tracks inside the north end of
the building, which provide space for eleven car spots. On the
northeast side of the building, truck receiving has a capacity

of ten trucks. The shipping platform is 40 feet by 300 feet,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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porated.

40
with room for twenty—eight trucks in a shipping drive 60 feet
by 300 feet. There is a receiving office, a shipping office, a
locker room, three rest rooms,_and a salvage area within the
warehouse.

When this building was completed in 1941, there was
enough land left vacant for future expansion. The proposed
expansion plans (Figure 2) show the amount of space needed
for 1952 and for 1956. Based on the present inventory, the
plan also shows the amount of extra space that would be re-
quired for an additional week's inventory for 1952.

The proposed plan shows an increase in aisles to fifteen,
aisle widths to 12 feet, railroad car spots to nineteen, and room
for twenty-seven additional truck spots on the south end of the
building. Pallets are to be used throughout the warehouse.
Pallet racks are not being used in the warehouse and they are
not included in the proposed expansion.

Hillman's Pure Foods, Incorporated, of Chicago, Illinois,
is building a new warehouse. The tract of land covers 260,000
square feet and the total building area is 133,701 square feet,
leaving room for future expansion on the west side of the ware-

house. A There is a frozen food storage space of 2,304 sQuare

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42

feet, an equipment room of 1,151 square feet, a boiler room of
1,139 square feet, a warehouse of 86,811 square feet, a truck
receiving and shipping platform of 7,048 square feet, an egg-
candling room of 1,885 square feet, a future store of 10,000
square feet, a shop building of 10,500 square feet, offices and
miscellaneous facilities requiring 1,435 square feet, and railroad
tracks requiring 2,966 square feet of space. Parking space is

provided for ten employees' cars and for seventy-two custom-

ers' cars.

The clear stacking height is 18 feet, while the aisles are
6 feet 9 inches in width. Truck receiving and shipping is per-
formed over the same dock. There is a mezzanine over the
entire selection area to provide for additional storage space.
The assembly area is between 60 and 70 percent of the ware-
house space. There is a fish work room, lounge, a separate
locker and rest room for women and men, a cheese room and
a cooler for dried fruits.

These are but a few examples of how various companies
have entirely different warehouse space requirements. They
show differences in aisle widths, tiering heights, and the amount

of space needed to handle the various types of merchandise.

43
The next chapter shows the effect storing merchandise in the

retail outlets may have on warehouse space requirements.

CHAPTER IV

WAREHOUSING IN THE RETAIL OUTLET

The retail outlet of a food business has as its primary
purpose the sale of merchandise. To be able to sell, the store
must have the merchandise on the shelves. Typically the stock
is delivered to the store throughout the week by truck from a
warehouse. The manager of the store ordinarily orders enough
merchandise to keep his shelves filled from one delivery to the
next. What is left after a delivery has been processed, is
called overstock. This consists of half cases, merchandise
from previous sales, and a few cases of fast-moving items.
Before another delivery arrives at the store, the fast—moving
items are moved from the storage area out onto the shelves.
The storage area for a retail outlet may consist of a back
room; a back room and a balcony; a basement; a basement,
back room, and a balcony} or a basement and a balcony. The
dollar value of the overstock amounts to approximately one to
two weeks' sales for the store. This overstock can be called

a normal reserve stock.

45

Two factors determine if the retail outlets can be used
to warehouse merchandise. The first one is the amount of
storage area available, and the second is the number of de-
liveries each store receives during the week. These two fac-
tors are not independent, but are dependent upon each other.
This can be seen by examining the practices followed by dif-
ferent companies.

The majority of the 158 retail units operated by the
Jewel Tea Company, Incorporated, of Chicago, Illinois, have
been constructed with a storage area that handled 50 percent
of the opening week's business. The company's policy is not
to warehouse merchandise in the retail outlets, and the amount
of storage space in each store was therefore kept to this limit,
which enabled the merchandise to be processed efficiently.
However, after these stores had been open for a year or two,
volume increased beyond that originally planned. This resulted
in the storage area being too small for an efficient operation,
and in one case the amount of merchandise needed for three
days' business would not fit in the back room. Part of the
grocery load was left behind the store until a night crew could

put the merchandise on the shelves. Increased deliveries have

46
assured these retail units of a needed supply of merchandise.
The exceptions to this are the retail units that have basements
and/or balconies. They receive a week's supply of merchandise
at one time. Some of the newer stores have been planned with
a storage area that is not needed for their present volume, but
as volume increases this space is available, with no changes
in the delivery schedules. The present delivery schedules are
arranged so that approximately thirty trucks are loaded each
warehouse working day. The layout of the back room, in the
newer stores, is being planned to create a greater degree of
coordination between the driver in delivering the merchandise
and the employees handling it in the retail unit.

The Wrigley's Stores, Incorporated, of Detroit, Michigan,
operates its retail units on the basis of having only a one
day's supply of merchandise in the storage area. The company
started with one store and received its merchandise from a
wholesaler. As the company grew from one store to sixty-
four, it has continued this policy of having only a one day's
supply of merchandise in the back room. The company still
purchases its dry groceries from a local wholesaler, Abner

A. Wolf, Incorporated, and each retail unit receives a daily

47
delivery. The source of supply is located on the same tract
of land where Wrigley's Stores, Incorporated, has its office
and produce warehouse. By purchasing from a wholesaler, the
company does not have to own a grocery warehouse.

At the other extreme is Hillman's Pure Foods, Incor-
porated, in Chicago, Illinois. Its retail outlets have large stor-
age areas for warehousing merchandise. As was mentioned
earlier, they ship palletized loads of merchandise to the stores,
receiving and handling the palletized loads in the store with
electric transporters and electric fork lift trucks. Fast-moving
merchandise is shipped in pallet loads from the warehouse to
the retail outlets for storage. This has been due to a high
sales volume, approximately sixty thousand dollars weekly, in
each outlet, and also because of an inadequate warehouse. The
company is experimenting with the method of ordering only
merchandise which is needed on the shelves between deliveries
in its store at Harlem and North Avenues. This store receives
daily deliveries, but each commodity group is delivered only
twice a week. Room is available in the basement for handling

a month's supply of merchandise.

48

Its store at Devon and Artesian Avenues has a back
room with pallet racks along two sides. These are used for
storing full pallets of fast-moving items, such as number five
cans of fruit juices, bulk cookies, and certain brands of coffee.
Approximately one -half of the back room has shelving, which
holds small quantities of hand-stacked merchandise, usually
slow-moving items such as spices. The remaining space is
utilized for stacking fast-moving items on pallets in rows,
medium movers and bulky items, a frozen food storage room,
room to charge the batteries of the transporters and fork lift
trucks, and an area for price marking the merchandise needed
on the floor.

In servicing a store daily, the size of the orders han-
‘dled in the warehouse is decreased, and this can lead to in-
creased warehousing costs. Mr. James K. Robinson, Jr., Vice
President in Charge of Warehousing and Transportation, Amer-
ican Stores Company, commenting on the special problems in—

volved in servicing small stores said that:

 

1 National Association gf_ Food Chains Summary Report
93 the Warehousing and Delivery Clinic, National Association of
Food Chains (Washington, D. C., January 15-17, 1951), pp. 13-15.

 

49
It is true that to stop at one place in a warehouse
and pick up ten cases of milk is easier and faster than
starting and stopping at ten different piles and picking up
one case each time. Good judgment says that selecting the
large store order is more efficient than selecting the small
store order.

When stores doing a large volume of business do not
have the space in their back rooms to handle large shipments
of merchandise in one or two deliveries a week and need more
frequent deliveries, servicing these stores begins to result in
some of the same problems involved in handling orders for
small volume stores. This also depends upon the number of
items going into each order. It is possible that a high volume
store will have a large enough order on each delivery so that
warehousing costs will not be increased out of proportion.

Although Hillman's Pure Foods, Incorporated, gives their
stores daily deliveries, each item on the order form cannot be
ordered for each delivery. The items are grouped by commod—
ities on the order form and each commodity group is ordered
twice a week. This enables the selector in the warehouse to
cover just that portion of the line carrying the specific com-
modity group that is being shipped. By breaking up the order

into commodity groups, large sections of the selection line,

where only a few cases are picked, do not have to be covered.

50
This increases the number of pieces the selector can pick.
This would eliminate the problem involved, as in servicing a
small store, when a large-volume store receives a complete
order daily.

Several of the newer retail outlets opened by Ralph's
Grocery Company, in Los Angeles, California, also handle pal-
letized units of merchandise from the warehouse. The back
rooms of these stores have been laid out to enable fork lift
trucks to handle large quantities of merchandise. The mer-
chandise is shipped from the company's warehouse on 30 inch
by 40 inch pallets in company-owned trucks to the retail out-
lets. The truck is unloaded in the store by a Load King Hy-
draulic fork lift truck and moved to a specified section in the
back room. Its retail outlet, in Santa Anita, California, has
9,000 square feet of floor space devoted to receiving; and pro-
duce trimming room; meat and prepackaging rooms; and a
storage area, which has pallet racks throughout. These racks
are 10 feet high, 14 feet long, and 36 inches deep, containing
three compartments or bays, and are movable to any part of
the back room. Each compartment has three adjustable shelves

which are used to store the working stock. The working stock

51
is placed into the compartments by hand and the reserve stock
is left on the pallet and placed on top of the rack with a Clark
fork lift truck.

The above companies follow different policies in ware—
housing merchandise in their retail units and also in the num-
ber of deliveries each store receives during a week. If a com-
pany has followed a policy of not warehousing merchandise in
the retail units, as Wrigley's Stores, Incorporated, has, it can-
not suddenly turn around and decide that it should reverse this
policy. The retail outlets have been designed to conform to
original policy and do not have the room that is required. It
is less expensive for the company to construct or add to a
warehouse instead of enlarging each store. A reversal in this
policy would also create a demand for additional cash, which
reduces the rate of return it now receives on its investment.
Under its present policy, the company is turning its inventory
approximately fifty-two times a year.

Hillman's Pure Foods, Incorporated, has already provided
the required space in each of its stores to warehouse substantial
quantities of merchandise. The company can take two courses

when planning a new warehouse. It can continue to follow its

52
present policy and reduce the amount of space that would be
needed, or it can reverse its policy and do all of its warehous-
ing in the new building. Neither course would cause any addi-
tional demands for funds to finance the inventory, except what
is needed because of additional retail outlets, growth, or price
fluctuations, nor would there necessarily be an increase in the
number of deliveries, which are already daily.

The companies that have some leeway in deciding whether
to warehouse more merchandise in their retail units are those
that fall in between these two extremes, as does the Jewel Tea
Company, Incorporated. If these companies decide to warehouse
more in the stores, there are several ways this can be accom-
plished.

Stores with a small stbrage area can receive a large
order twice a week, and by working a night crew to stock the
shelves, the back room can be kept cleared. With the bulk of
the merchandise being placed on the shelves at night, just the
fast-selling items are carried in the back room, which then
can be used for warehousing if necessary. An example of this
is the operation performed by the American Stores Company.

Employing contract drivers, the company makes night deliveries

53
to approximately 20 of its 180 stores in the Kearny, New Jersey,
branch. The store manager knows the time the delivery will
arrive and has a night crew available to remove the load from
the truck and transport it to the sales. area. The merchandise
is piled in the aisle in front of its shelf position. After the
load is removed, the merchandise is then price marked and
placed on the shelves, with only overstock remaining in the
back room.

Some chains make separate distributions of merchandise
that is to be advertised, while others add the advertised mer-
chandise onto the regular grocery order. This merchandise
usually arrives in the retail outlets from one to two weeks be-
fore the sale. By storing this merchandise in the retail out-
lets, the need for additional space in the warehouse is elim-
inated or it can be used for some other purpose. When the
advertised merchandise is shipped with the regular grocery
order, it is handled in the same manner as any other item on
the order form. It is placed on the assembly line in a speci-
fied place and is selected along with the rest of the order.
This creates a need for a man to fill continuously the selection

line from reserve stock, as this merchandise is picked in

54
quantities of five to fifty cases at a time. To overcome this
constant restocking of a few items, several pallet loads of ad-
vertised merchandise are placed on the shipping dock. When
the order checker checks the order, he fills in the required
amount of merchandise. This practice is used by the American
Stores Company. Jewel Tea Company, Incorporated, ships the
advertised merchandise in special trucks from its produce ware-
house. The truck driver has the order forms for ten to fifteen
stores, which list approximately five items each. He then de-
livers these five items to the stores, leaving the number of
cases each manager has ordered. These are items that have
been heavily ordered, while merchandise that has been lightly
ordered will be shipped along with the regular grocery order.

Along this same line, certain types of merchandise are
purchased for the entire year when the new crop is packed. In
some cases, this merchandise has to be warehoused by the
purchaser, since the vendor does not provide storage facilities.
At other times, an advantageous price requires the vendee to
provide the warehouse space. If the warehouse has not been
planned to provide for these situations, this merchandise is

often shipped to each retail outlet the company owns. Management

55
notifies each store as to the number of cases it is expected to
handle before the merchandise is shipped. The amount shipped
depends upon the available storage area in each retail unit.
This merchandise is often unloaded directly from the railroad
cars into trucks for shipment to the stores and bypasses the
warehouse completely.

When a store receives orders from more than one ware-
house, it may receive two deliveries a week on slow and medium
movers out of one warehouse, and one delivery a week of fast-
moving items out of another. This is presently being tried by
the Jewel Tea Company, Incorporated. Another method of dis-
tributing the merchandise is to place fast-moving and bulky
items in one warehouse and ship them once a week, and place
slow and medium movers in another warehouse and ship them
once a week. Still other operators split the order form into
separate sheets, divided between fast and slow movers. The
fast movers are delivered two or three times a week, while
the slow movers are delivered once a week; Each method re-
sults in more merchandise being stored at the retail level, and

can also result in more deliveries to each store. The costs of

56

delivery must always be balanced against the costs of warehous-
ing in the retail outlet.

Along with the number of deliveries to each retail out-
let, the distance from the warehouse to the store is another
factor that affects costs. Where this distance is short, a
driver can make several trips to a store in a day, if the mer-
chandise is shipped on pallets. Mr. Neal D. Ramsey, from
The Market Basket, Los Angeles, California, said in a speech2
that one of the major points that put his company in the top
ten in the National Association of Food Chains Warehouse Op-
erating Efficiency record was that orders were placed on pal-
lets as they were picked and the pallets were loaded onto trucks.
The drivers can make two to three trips per day by traveling
short distances. Its warehouse services twenty-seven stores,
with an average haul of 15 miles one way, 17 miles being the
longest one-way haul.

Steinberg‘s Wholesale Grocerterias, Limited, of Mon-
treal, Canada, services twenty-nine stores, and the longest haul

is 25 miles. Orders are selected on skids, and the skids are

 

2 Ibid., p. 28.

57
loaded directly into trucks and are shipped to the stores where
they are unloaded onto dock-height freight elevators and lowered
into the stock rooms. This company ranks high on the Ware-
house Operating Efficiency record.

With stores only a short distance from the warehouse,
the smaller load carried in the truck on pallets is just as
reasonable, if not cheaper, than loading the truck solidly by
hand. However, when the distance from the warehouse is in—
creased, this technique becomes less economical. Wrigley's
Stores, Incorporated, tried to locate its new warehouse in the
geographical center of Detroit so as to be conveniently located
to all of its stores. There were only 7 acres of land avail-
able at its old site and this was not large enough for its new
warehouse. Consequently, it was located on 13 acres of land
outside of the business district. The reduced traffic, through
which the drivers had to travel, increased their travel time
enough to offset the outside location.

Produce deliveries may be daily, as is the practice
with Jewel Tea Company, Incorporated; every day but Saturday,
as it is with National Tea Company; or three times a week, as

it is with American Stores Company in delivering to certain

58

stores. The space devoted for produce storage in the retail
outlets is usually only enough to hold a carry-over for one or
two days. Since produce is highly perishable, the amount of
space required for storage is small. Frequent deliveries mean
that the store can do without a large amount of storage space
and is not used for storing fresh produce. Hillman's Pure
Foods, Incorporated, delivers no produce from its warehouse;
but instead, has it delivered directly to the retail outlets from
, the produce market. The stores have capacity for carrying
three days' supply.

Meat is in the same category as produce. Due to its
perishability, it requires a small amount of storage space in
the store. The space allotted for meat storage is usually large
enough to hold a week's supply of meat, and frequent deliver-
ies make more space unnecessary.

It can be generally conceded that no retail food business
has the same policies in regard to handling merchandise in the
retail outlet. What the specific business wants determines
whether or not it will warehouse merchandise at the retail out-
let, how frequent it will make deliveries, and where it will 10-

cate its warehouse in relation to its stores.

CHAPTER V
METHODS USED TO ESTIMATE WAREHOUSE SPACE

With modern materials-handling equipment being designed
for more and more purposes, it would be well to consider what
can be done to modify the present operation to take advantage
of this mechanized equipment. One of the first things manage-
ment should do before deciding to relocate in a new warehouse
is to survey their present facilities with this in mind.

Mr. J. P. Williamson, Executive Vice President of the
Dixie-Home Stores, Greenville, South Carolina, suggested the
following points that should be checked before finally discard-
ing the present warehouse:

l. The floor is certainly of basic importance and
it should be determined whether the floor capacity is suf-
ficient to carry heavy industrial trucks, whether the com-
position of the floor will stand up under industrial truck

usage and whether the floor is sufficiently even to permit
a satisfactory industrial truck operation.

 

l J. P. Williamson, An Approach lg The Reduction 2f_

Warehousing and Transportation Costs, Annual Meeting of the
National Association of Food Chains (October 14, 1949), pp. 1-2.

 

60

2. Column spacing is often fundamental in develop—
ing a mechanized handling system--a definite selection and
storage pattern is an absolute necessity and these patterns
must conform to the dimensions of existing building bays.
Column spacing often determines the pallet size that is to
be used: the grocery industry is presently standardizing
on the 48“I X 40" and the 40" X 32" dimensions. If nei-
ther of these two pallet sizes conforms to existing column
spacings another size pallet must be adopted but here you
run into the danger of a pallet that will not adequately con-
form to the case dimensions of grocery merchandise.

3. Elevator size and capacity are important factors
in adapting an older building. The primary question here
is whether existing elevators can carry heavy industrial
trucks between floors.

4. Doorway clearances should be carefully exam-
ined with regard to width and height in order to determine
whether they can accommodate the over-all height of indus-
trial trucks.

5. A clear ceiling height of less than ten feet ren-
ders a building questionable from the standpoint of modern
materials handling practice.

After having made a survey of the old facilities, a sur-
vey of the proposed new warehouse should be made. Some of

the points to be checked before finally deciding whether or not

to move into a new one-story warehouse are:

 

National Association 9_f_ Food Chains Summary Report
gr; the Warehousing and Delivery Clinic, National Association of
Food Chains (Washington, D. C., January 15-17, 1951), p. 11.

61

1. Check to see if the cost of a good location is
excessive.

2. Check for a possible reduction in insurance
costs.

3. Estimate reduction in maintenance labor.

4. Recognize that protection costs (guards) are
probably the same.

5. Check to see if costs are higher or lower ,in
transportation, both inbound freight and outgoing shipments.

6. Recognize that there will be repair and upkeep
on any building.

7. Can materials and equipment be obtained for a
new building?

8. Check total cost of new installation, including
building and equipment, and compute cost of the total in-
vestment as compared with cost of present warehouse in-
vestment or liquidating value of present warehouse.

9. Estimate savings in man-hours which might be
accomplished by having a new warehouse and compute sav-
ings in dollars.

10. Compare total of savings indicated above under
point nine, plus or minus other savings or losses, as an
indication of whether there should be further analysis of
the ”new warehouse" problem. It isn‘t every case that
demands a new warehouse now. If, however, a company
can pay for a new building in 25 years, it might be profit-
able to build a one-story warehouse.

Once the decision has been made to move into a new
warehouse, the amount of space that is needed can be decided

by the firm from its own records and experience or it can put

62
this job in the hands of an outside firm, which specializes in
this type of work. If it decides to do the estimating itself,

Mr. W. L. Sundstrom, of the First National Stores, Incorporated,
Sommerville, Massachusetts, suggests this formula for estimat—
ing the required space: "twenty-five square feet times the
average tons shipped weekly times the average number of weeks
supply carried in the warehouse."3 For example, assume that
a warehouse handles 1,100 tons per week and has an average
of five weeks' supply on hand, then multiply 25 square feet by
1,100 and then by 5 to arrive at 137,500 square feet of floor
space.

In using this formula, it should be realized that it is
for a building with a clear ceiling height of 16 feet using H
columns 8 inches square with column spacing 21 feet on center.
The reason for using 25 square feet per ton is that "experience
has proven” this to be "a good figure to use." The area that
is derived from this formula includes platforms, aisles, locker
rooms, lavatories, shipping office, battery charging room, and

boiler room. It excludes a main office and space for warehousing

 

3 Ibid., p. 12.

63
meats and produce. To effectively utilize the cubage in this
warehouse, materials-handling equipment should be employed.

Along with estimating the space required, if a new ware-
house is decided upon, the building should be designed to meet
the specific requirements of the company. In arriving at a so-
lution to the design of the building and the system to be em-
ployed, some of the following points should be carefully con-
sidered and answered:

1. Size of Pallet. The problem is one of adopting
the pallet size which will best conform to the dimensions
of the merchandise handled. We at Dixie-Homes selected
the 48" X 40" pallet and have found it very satisfactory
for our standard line of grocery merchandise. In addition,
the 48" X 40" pallet ties in nicely with our trailer size.
Our weekly outbound tonnage averages around 1,100 dry
grocery tons per week and we feel that this pallet works
very satisfactorily for this volume.

2. Weight of Unit Load. The lighter unit loads
permit the use of smaller trucks and narrower operating
aisles. The heavier loads necessitate larger and heavier
trucks and wider aisles but make possible the handling of
more tonnage for each fork truck trip. In our new ware-
house at Greenville we have chosen a unit load of two
thousand pounds, which permits us to use a relatively small
fork truck with an over-all length, including load, of 113
inches and permits us to use a ten foot six inch aisle with
right angle stacking.

 

4 Williamson, 9p, gig, pp. 2-6.

64

3. Relationship of Storage Areas to Selection Areas.
Here the problem is one of determining the location of re-
serve storage in relation to selection, and also to deter-
mine the amount of space assigned to reserve storage in
relation to the amount assigned to selection. In our new
warehouse, approximately half of our grocery warehouse
space is devoted to reserve storage and half to selection;
so far our experience indicates that this is about the cor-
rect relationship for our inventory requirements. With
regard to the relative location of reserve and selection,
we have two large general reserve areas which replenish
our selection line and approximately 800 feet of selection
line backed up directly with reserve merchandise. In ad-
dition, we are using pallet racks on our slower moving
items with the reserve stored on top of these pallet racks.

4. Selection Systems. The towline, the tow tractor
train and the selection conveyors are the popular choices.
The towline requires a rather large initial investment and
probably requires at least 400 to 500 outbound tons weekly
to justify the expenditure. In our operation of 1,100 tons
weekly, we feel that it pays off in that it tends to reduce
the fatigue factor of our selectors and provides a means of
pulling fully loaded selection trucks from various points on
the selection line to the shipping floor.

The tow tractor train apparently has considerable
flexibility being adaptable to both the small and large op—
erations.

Conveyor selection systems are used by several
chains and apparently are doing a good job, however, this
type of system did not seem to provide the degree of flex-
ibility that we required.

In summary, we haven't found any better system of
selection to meet our particular problem than the towline
system.

5. Tiering Height. Tiering height determines how
much merchandise can be accommodated in a given storage
area. Many factors enter into this decision and they should

65

be closely appraised. Greater height will give increased
storage tons per square foot but it will also tend to de-
crease the speed of your fork truck operation. All mer-
chandise will not stand high tiering and this factor should
be weighed against the increased costs of additional height.
The choice of pallet size and unit load weight will affect
this decision since the larger fork trucks which are re-
quired to handle the heavier loads have greater stability
in tiering to the greater heights.

In our new Greenville warehouse we are tiering
merchandise 16 feet high in storage and feel this is a
sensible height for our 2,000 lb. unit load operation.

6. Ninety Degree Stacking or Angle Stacking. This
problem is present in both the selection and reserve stor-
age areas. Ninety degree stacking requires wider aisles
and makes possible the accommodation of more pallet items
along any given line. Angle stacking permits narrower
aisles, develops somewhat greater accessibility, but will
not accommodate as many items along a given line as will
90 degree stacking.

We have used 90 degree stacking on both the selec-
tion line and in the storage areas and while we cannot sub-
mit dollars and cents proof of the advantages of 90 degree
stacking, we can say that we are well pleased with our de-
cision to adopt 90 degree stacking throughout.

7. Special Selection Procedures. The changing
character of the chain store business from small stores
to the larger super markets points to the necessity for
specialized handling of a relatively few fast moving items
that make up a substantial share of the total tonnage. This
does not necessarily mean that present selection systems
(the towline and tractor train) are outmoded or obsolete,
but merely that warehouse planning should recognize the
change and provide special means and techniques for han—
dling such high velocity items.

66

We have made a start in this direction by concen—
trating some of our fastest movers close to the shipping
floor where they can be handled into the delivery trucks
by the pallet load. I understand that certain chains are ex-
perimenting extensively in an attempt to develop a success-
ful means of handling high velocity items. This development
should be watched closely as it is an obvious means of sub-
stantial cost reduction.

8. Size and Shape of Warehouse. This decision is
almost completely governed by individual conditions of turn-
over and number of items handled.

At Greenville we built our warehouse 968 feet long
and 240 feet wide. We allocated this approximately 60 per-
cent to dry groceries, 25 percent to produce and 15 percent
to meat. If we were doing it again, we might plan it more
on a rectangular basis with a little more length and a little
less width. All in all, we feel that our present size is
about right for our present operations and could handle a
volume up to 1,800 tons of dry groceries weekly without
difficulty.

Using the figures given by Mr. Williamson, of the Dixie-
Home Stores, there is a total of 232,320 square feet of floor
space in its Greenville warehouse. Since 60 percent of this is
for dry groceries, there is approximately 139,400 square feet
devoted to this type of merchandise. Assuming that Dixie-Home
Stores carries a five-week supply of merchandise in stock and
using the formula advanced by Mr. W. L. Sundstrom of the
First National Stores, Incorporated, there should be approxi—

mately 137,500 square feet of floor space devoted to dry

67
groceries. The answer is within 1,900 square feet of the space
actually devoted to dry groceries.

Mr. Nelson Friz, of the Construction and Maintenance
Division, Marketing Department, Esso Standard Oil Company,
New Jersey, suggested that a method used to estimate warehouse
space requirements for his company can also be used for other
companies handling different products.5 One of the first steps
to be taken is to make space estimates for warehouse additions
or for a new warehouse. This is done by making a careful
study of space requirements. In doing that, a stock layout should
be made showing where the items are to be located and whether
or not materials-handling devices will be employed. Considera-
tion should be given to palletization, but even if pallets are not
going to be used, a stock layout will answer these questions.

1. Is there cover for all the stocks requiring it?
2. Is the proposed building large enough, or--

3. Is it too large, even considering future expansion?

 

Nelson Friz, ”How to Estimate Warehouse Require—
ments," Modern Materials Handling (Vol. VI, No. 6, June, 1951),
pp. 23-27.

 

6 Ibid., p. 24.

68

However, Mr. Nelson Friz assumes that pallets will be
used and that a pallet layout should be made. In making a
pallet layout, the first step is to determine the annual through-
put by unit containers or items. Next, determine the number
of weeks' or months' inventory required, including that needed
to meet seasonal demands. This step determines the maximum
amount of stock that must be stored in the warehouse at any one
time. The fact that not all seasonal items are in the warehouse
at the same time should be taken into consideration. Therefore,
the space required for one seasonal item is occupied by some
other seasonal item during another part of the year. At this
point use the form in Figure 3.

Figure 3 is called a ”Table For Computing Warehouse
Size Using Fork Truck-Pallet System." It consists of fourteen
columns, headed respectively from left to right: product; ap-
proximate brands, grades, or sizes; throughput estimate yearly;
inventory, average and peaks by months; size of pallets; square
feet per pallet, including overhand; number of items per stack
from floor to ceiling; (number of pallets required; number of
stacks required; total square feet of floor area required; per-

centage increase in business or inventory; number of additional

69

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1950
l 2 3 4 5 6 7
Ap- Inven- Sq. Ft. .
prox- tory per No.
T -
imate 1111:2133; Avg. Pallet Pallet of
Product Brands, P S and , In'clud- Items
mate Size ,
Grades, Yearl Peaks mg per
or Y by Over- Pallet
Sizes Months hang
Subtotal
Receiv-
ing and
Ship-
ping
Aisle
Space
Office
Total
Source: Nelson Friz. How to Estimate Warehouse Requirements.

Modern Materials Handling. Vol. VI, No. 6, June, 1951. p. 2.4.

Fig. 3. Form I - Table for computing warehouse size using fork

truck-pallet system.

70

 

 

 

 

 

 

1955

8 9 10 ll 12 13 14
No. of .
Items Total % In- No. of 1:41:5-
per No. of No. of Sq. Ft. crease Addi- S 0 Ft
Stack Pallets Stacks Floor in Bus- tional 1:001:
(floor Re- Re- Area iness Stacks A ea

to quired quired Re- or In- Re- r

. , Re-

Ceil- quired ventory quired ,

, quired
mg)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fig. 3 (Continued)

71
stacks required; and additional square feet of floor area re-
quired. At the bottom of the form, there is a subtotal line;

a line for the amount of space required for each of the follow-
ing items: receiving and shipping facilities, aisles; an office;
and a line for the total. The first eleven columns apply to
this year, while the last three apply to some period in the fu-
ture, such as five or ten years hence.

Column two, the approximate brands, grades, and sizes,
is used as a reminder that there is no standard case and that,
for example, there is more than one brand of peas. Using the
same pallet size throughout the warehouse, the dimensions of
the case determine the number of containers to be placed on
each pallet. The smaller the package, the more cases to a
pallet load. If pallets of different dimensions are used in the
warehouse, the merchandise placed on the pallets occupies
varying amounts of floor space and cubage. This must be con-
sidered when determining space requirements.

For each item carried in stock, an estimate should be
made as to how much will pass through the warehouse for the

year. This amount is placed in column three.

72

From the information in column three, the average
monthly inventory can be obtained and this is entered in column
four. Along with these figures, any seasonal peak inventories,
such as the increased amount of cranberry sauce necessary
for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years, are also entered.

At this point fill out the form in Figure 4, which is
called ”Estimating Data on Palletized Materials For Use in
Determining Warehouse Size (Area).” Across the top of this
form, place the various ceiling heights that are being consid-
ered. Below each ceiling height, place the rated maximum
load the mechanical handling devices in use are capable of
lifting. Next, have a column for each pallet size that is in
use or will be employed. For each pallet size, enter the num-
ber of cases or units per stack, the number of pallets used in
a stack, and the square feet of floor area occupied by each
stack for each item. After Figure 4 is filled out, the fifth
to the eleventh columns can be filled out on Figure 3.

The pallet size used for each item in column five is
taken directly from Figure 4.

The square feet required for each pallet, including

overhang, is taken from Figure 4 under the column headed

73

 

 

Ceiling Height
12 15
(feet) 9

 

 

 

Maximum Load
of Equipment

 

 

 

 

 

 

24H 40!]
Pallet Size
, 24" b 48" by by
(5-1/2H thick) Y 48,, 48,,
Sq. Ft.
No. of No. of of
Cases Floor
Pallets
or Area
Item , Used
Units Occu-
per in a pied
Stack StaCk by Each
Stack

 

 

 

Source: How to Estimate Warehouse Requirements. Modern
Materials Handling. Vol. VI, No. 6, June, 1951. p. 25.

Fig. 4. Form II - Estimating Data on Palletized Materials For
Use in Determining Warehouse Size (Area).

74
square feet of floor area occupied by each stack. This figure
is placed in column six.

To get the number of items per pallet, for column seven,
take the number of cases or units per stack, from Figure 4, and
divide this by the number of pallets used in a stack, which is
also from Figure 4.

The number of items per stack, from floor to ceiling,
is placed in column eight, and is taken directly from Figure 4.

To determine the number of pallets required, take the
product of the number of stacks required from column ten and
the number of pallets used in a stack from Figure 4 and enter
this figure in column nine.

The total inventory of items divided by the number of
cases or units per stack, from Figure 4, gives the number of
stacks required to enter in column ten.

To arrive at the total square feet of floor area required,
take the product of the number of stacks required, from column
ten, and the square feet of floor area occupied by each stack
from Figure 4, and place this figure in column eleven.

Odds and ends that are handled in such small quantities

that they do not lend themselves to palletization can be included

75
by taking the dollar value of the inventory that is to be stored
and divide this by twenty—five to find the square feet of floor
area required. This includes the aisle space and gives the
same result regardless of the ceiling height.

To estimate the amount of additional space needed for
aisles, excluding an office, add 33 percent of the total ware-
house storage area when using a 1,000 pound fork lift truck
with a 24 inch by 48 inch pallet, 36 percent when using a 1,000
pound fork lift truck with a 24 inch by 48 inch pallet, 38 per-
cent when using a 2,000 pound fork lift truck with a 24 inch
by 48 inch pallet, 45 percent when using a 3,000 pound fork
lift truck with a 40 inch by 40 inch pallet, and 50 percent when
using a 3,000 pound fork lift truck with a 48 inch by 48 inch
pallet. The estimated space needed for a loading and unloading
zone and an order-filling area can be computed by using 5 per-
cent of the total warehouse storage area. This does not include
the area required for an office or for aisle space. To be used
for a grocery warehouse, the total storage area, as determined
in this method, would include the order-filling area or the

selection line as it is better known in the industry.

76

To fill in column twelve, percentage increase in business
or inventory; column thirteen, number of additional stacks re-
quired; and colunm fourteen, additional square feet of floor area
required; estimate the percentage that the business will increase
during the next five years and apply it to the figures in column
four, throughput estimate yearly, column ten, number of stacks
required, and column eleven, total square feet of floor area re-
quired, respectively. Fill in the space required for receiving,
shipping, aisles, and an office and then total columns eleven
and fourteen. The sum of these two columns gives the total
space required for the warehouse, inside the walls, including
an office, but excluding warehouse lavatories, locker rooms,
boiler rooms, and any other miscellaneous items that are not
covered in the forms.

In applying the above percentage to columns four, ten,
and eleven, it should be remembered that many factors can
influence the rate a business expands. Since the inception of
the second world war, the food industry has experienced an
unparalelled growth. This has occurred in an inflationary
economy. and can easily lead management into thinking that

this situation will continue forever. The assumption that a

77
company continues to progress at a certain definite rate each
year does not hold true. Competition, changes in markets, and
shifts in population are but a few of the reasons why there
cannot always be a definite percentage growth every twelve
months. A 10 percent change in sales volume is not always
reflected as a 10 percent increase or decrease in tonnages
handled through the warehouse. This 10 percent change may
occur through price fluctuations or be caused by shifts in types
of merchandise sold. For example, merchandise delivered di-
rectly to the retail outlets may account for the entire change.
Even the addition of new items to the line will cause changes
in warehouse requirements, which are not reflected in past per-
centage figures. Expansion policies followed by the company
in the past may change. The future may not always be re-
flected by past history. When applying this percentage figure,
management should realize that the results are not as accurate
as two plus two equals four, but are instead a rough estimate
of what might be needed.

Besides determining the size of the warehouse, the lot
should be large enough to provide for any possible expansion,

without resorting to another floor. The above method of

78
estimating the area for a warehouse should insure that a new
warehouse will not be too small within a year or sooner. How-
ever, by providing for a large enough lot, expansion in the fu-
ture can be undertaken without building an entirely new building
in some other location.

The majority of the new warehouses that have been
built by the food industry are planned for a larger volume of
business than they are doing. The Dixie-Home Store's ware-
house was handling 1,100 tons weekly and can easily handle
1,800 tons weekly. The new Wrigley‘s Stores, Incorporated,
warehouse in Detroit, Michigan, is capable of handling 25 per-
cent more than its present volume. However, even with this
increased capacity available in the new one-story warehouses,
they are being built on large enough lots to provide for future
expansion by adding to the present building.

The Jewel Tea Company, Incorporated, is operating out
of a warehouse that was built in 1941. To estimate the amount
of additional space that will have to be added to its present
building, the company surveys the peak loads handled during
the year, which includes the warehouse at capacity, with the

docks loaded and loaded cars on track that cannot be unloaded

79
due to lack of space. The total is then converted into the
amount of space that the merchandise requires, using a num-
ber two or two and one-half case to figure cubage and square
feet. This gives the amount of space required to operate at
the present volume, but as tonnages have been increasing each
year by a certain percentage, this percentage figure deter-
mines the amount of space required for next year or for three.
or four years hence. Considered along with the rate of in-
crease in tonnages are the budgeted sales for the next year
as well as plans for new stores to see if they will affect ton-
nages in the coming year as well as tonnages presently being
shipped to the stores. Expansion plans are only for three or
four years in the future in order to remain flexible. With
new methods and procedures constantly being developed in
materials handling, it is possible to utilize the available space
in the present warehouse more effectively. This reduces the
capital investment that would be necessary in a large warehouse
that would not be operating at capacity for some time, as well
as taxes, interest, and overhead charges.

In estimating space requirements for a new warehouse,

space that is presently being used in public warehouses should

80
be taken into consideration. Will this space continue to be
utilized or should the merchandise be transferred into the new
warehouse? Wrigley's Stores, Incorporated, use public ware-
houses for storing its year‘s supply of frozen foods. In build-
ing its new warehouse, the company did not plan on storing any
large quantities of frozen food in Detroit. Instead, the 3,000
square feet of frozen food space in its new warehouse is to
be used to provide a steady supply of merchandise to its stores;
in other words, it is just a distribution center.

The American Stores Company, Philadelphia, Pennsyl-
vania, carries only a small supply of sugar in its warehouse.
This is used to fill orders for small volume stores and in
case a store runs short during the week. The majority of its
retail outlets receive a direct shipment each week from the
nearby sugar refineries. The Jewel Tea Company, Incorporated,
ships sugar to its retail outlets from a nearby sugar warehouse,
carrying only a small supply in its warehouse to service cer-
tain suburban stores. If this merchandise were to be trans-
ferred to their own warehouses, both of these companies would
require more space, provided the supply of all other items re—

mained the same. This would also be the case if merchandise

81
that is now delivered directly to the store, such as cookies,
crackers, and beverages, were to be warehoused by the com-
panies instead of by the suppliers.

Where additional space is required and there are re-
strictions, either financial or governmental, that do not permit
either expansion or construction, a nearby building can be leased
to obtain additional space. The National Tea Company, in its
Chicago branch, leased the building next to it to obtain the
added space required. The Jewel Tea Company, Incorporated,
has leased a building across the street from its dry grocery
warehouse to obtain additional space. This is often a more
flexible arrangement and is usually cheaper than utilizing pub-
lic warehouses.

There is no set way to compute the space requirements
needed for a specific case, either by using some formula that
has worked for another business or by using some method
adopted by another industry, even though warehousing is sim-
ilar in all industries. Each individual business requires its
own formula due to its own characteristics, its methods of
~operation, its geographical location, and its policies. This

can be seen by considering that Wrigley's Stores, Incorporated,

82
operates without its own grocery warehouse, buying merchan-
dise from a wholesaler, who also serves some eight hundred
other accounts. Hillman's Pure Foods, Incorporated, does not
warehouse meats or produce, these items being shipped directly
to the stores from the packers or the produce market in Chi-
cago. Still other businesses operate without warehousing meats,
being close to some packer, who will make direct store deliv-
eries, but they do warehouse produce. Mr. Williamson had
this to say about planning a new warehouse:

Here, it is of primary importance to design the building
to fit that warehousing system that most satisfactorily
meets the requirements of your particular business. No
one solution will satisfy the requirements of all operators:

it should be a system custom made to meet your particu-
lar problem.

 

7 Williamson, 92. gi_t_., p. 2.

CHAPTER VI

PURCHASING POLICIES AND WAREHOUSE CAPACITY

Purchasing policies determine the amount of merchan-
dise that must be warehoused. Some of the policies mentioned
in this chapter have been presented in earlier chapters. How-
ever, their effect on warehouse capacity is important enough so
that they are presented separately. The formula used by the
E330 Standard Oil Company and presented in Chapter V requires
an estimate of how much merchandise is to be carried in the
warehouse for a definite period of time. In Figure 3, this is
listed as a month's supply; however, it can be two or six weeks'
inventory, depending upon the policy followed by the particular
company. The effect an increase from two weeks' inventory
to three weeks' supply can have on warehouse space is shown
in Figure 2. In this case, it requires 98,000 square feet of
floor space with a tiering height of 16 feet.

A larger inventory requires a greater capital investment

and can result in a lower turnover for the year. It also requires

84
more space in the warehouse for a given volume of business.
Since company policy differs, the turnover rate varies.

The distance the vendors are located from the warehouse
determines how much must be carried. This is reflected in
the minimum and maximum order points. When the minimum
order point is reached, an order is placed for enough merchan-
dise to bring the inventory to the maximum order point. This
is six weeks' supply for the Jewel Tea Company, Incorporated.
The minimum order point is determined by the location lof the
supplier, the length of time it takes for an order to be placed
and received, and a small reserve. This can be a day's supply,
as it is with some items in the Chicago area, or it can be a
month's inventory.

Many manufacturers have quantity discounts, which in-
crease as the order increases. To be able to take advantage
of these, the company must have the storage space available.

If the company's policy is to buy in quantities that gives them
the greatest discount, then its minimum and maximum order
points are set at these levels.

‘When suppliers are located nearby, a smaller amount of

merchandise may be carried in the warehouse. With assurances

85
of quick delivery, the warehouse can be used strictly as a dis—
tribution center. However, when the supplier is located some
distance away, a larger amount of merchandise needs to be
carried. Even in this situation, there may be a railroad car
of merchandise ordered for delivery early in the week and
another car ordered for later in the week. In this way, the
storing function can still be left to the supplier, and the ware-
house can be used for distributing the merchandise to the re-
tail outlets. Where slow-moving items are involved, there may
be only enough merchandise ordered to fill the selection area.
When the warehousing function is passed back to the supplier,
merchandise has to be delivered‘on schedule. If it is not, it
may result in the warehouse being out of merchandise, which
causes lost sales and customer dissatisfaction. The new ware-
house constructed for Abner A. Wolf, Incorporated, of Detroit,
Michigan, was located on a site where delivery could be achieved
one day earlier than previously. Where they were served through
a belt-line railroad, they are now served directly. Since the
Wrigley's Stores, Incorporated, does not operate its own dry
grocery warehouse, its storage problems are passed to its sup-

plier, Abner A. Wolf,‘ Incorporated, who is located next door.

86

When merchandise is contracted for on a yearly basis,
the vendor usually makes a periodic delivery from his ware-
house. An annual supply is assured, while the space require-
ments in the vendee's warehouse are not increased. The de-
livery schedules may be further apart and the quantities shipped
may be greater than if the merchandise were reordered each
time the minimum order point was reached. In other cases,
the purchaser may contract for a year's supply, and can order
against this in any quantity desired, as long as the entire
amount is ordered by the end of the year.

In planning a new warehouse, space must be provided
for the large quantities of merchandise that are ordered for
the weekly specials. This merchandise begins to arrive from
four to six weeks in advance of the sale, which allows time
for distribution to all of the retail outlets. Sale merchandise
does not have to be stored in the warehouse, but can be shipped
directly to the stores from the railroad cars, as was pointed
out in Chapter IV.

Premium and coupon merchandise is in the same cate-
gory as weekly specials. This merchandise has to be carried

in huge quantities to meet consumer demand. However, it

87
places a terrific strain on warehouse capacity. This class of
merchandise can usually be handled the same as weekly spe-
cials, since the manufacturer gives the vendor several weeks'
notice before the coupons are distributed to the consumers.
The coupons are not distributed throughout the entire trading
area at once, but are on a staggered schedule.

Throughout the year, a company has several opportuni-
ties to purchase merchandise at favorable prices, providing it
can take a specified quantity at that time. If the warehouse is
large enough to handle the required amount of merchandise,
the company can take advantage of this low price. However,
the cost of storing the merchandise in a public warehouse must
be added to the price of the goods when warehouse capacity is
not available.

The point where a favorable purchase passes into specu-
lation is difficult to determine. Some companies have a policy
of speculation in a rising market, while others do not. This
policy increases the need for additional warehouse space and
can also leave a company with a large inventory of merchan-
dise sitting in the warehouse when the market breaks. Several

companies have found that an item suddenly quits selling, while

88
merchandise that has been ordered continues to arrive at the
warehouse. This was the case when soap flakes became plen-
tiful after the second world war. The price increase might not
justify the cost of the extra space.

Several food companies control their own line of branded
products. Since these may be purchased for the entire year,
they are handled in the same manner as a favorable purchase
or a periodic delivery.

As was mentioned in Chapter V, seasonality of certain
items creates a need for space. If the buyer has ordered
more merchandise than can be sold, the unsold portion is car-
ried in the warehouse for the entire year. This wastes space
that can be employed for merchandise that is constantly being
turned over.

There are certain manufacturers who deliver merchan-
dise directly to the retail outlet. The food company purchases
this merchandise on a contract basis, but the individual retail
outlets place the orders. The manufacturer has several rea-
sons for wanting to service the individual stores instead of
having his merchandise pass through the food company's ware-

house. These are: better service, quality control, inventory

89
control, and perishability of the merchandise. This arrange-
ment reduces the amount of warehouse space the food company
requires.

Do buyers have space allotments in the warehouse?
There is usually very little cooperation between the buyers and
the warehouse manager as long as the warehouse is not over-
stocked. The buyer purchases what he thinks is needed, and in
the quantities he believes will give him the best possible price.
However, when the warehouse begins to bulge at its seams and
demurrage charges begin to increase, the buyers and the ware—
house manager begin to work together. Instead of ordering
six weeks' supply, the buyer only orders two weeks' supply.
He also notifies the warehouse manager on any large shipments
of merchandise. This cooperation is usually not secured until
the warehouse is overstocked and there is need for more space.

If the warehouse uses a pallet system, the buyers should
cooperate with the warehouse manager and order in even pallet
loads. This eliminates the oldd cases that waste space. Thus,
if a pallet held 25 cases of number two cans, the buyer
would order in multiples of 25. If 102 cases of merchan-

dise are ordered instead of 100 or 125, there are 2 cases

90
of merchandise that occupy the same amount of space as 25
would.

The buyer can work with the warehouse manager and
the company's suppliers in adopting standardized pallets. This
in turn can lead to the company receiving merchandise already
palletized from its suppliers, which would decrease the time it
takes to unload the trucks or railroad cars.

To enable the warehouse manager to schedule the work
in the warehouse on an efficient basis, the buyer can send a
copy of the purchase order to the receiving clerk. This informs
the warehouse on what merchandise is on order, how much, and
the approximate delivery date.

When cooperation exists between the purchasing depart-
ment and the warehouse manager, the warehouse may be oper-
ated more as a distribution center than as a storage depot.
This results in lower warehouse operating costs, which are

only increased as the merchandise is moved.

CHAPTER VII
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

To be able to secure lower operating costs, the food in-
dustry has been moving from multistory to one-story warehouses.
This is true regardless of the volume of business a company
does. How large should these warehouses be? This study has
tried to point out some of the things that need to be considered
in answering this question. It is apparent that a company hav-
ing a yearly volume of sixty million dollars does not require
the same size warehouse as one doing two hundred ‘mfllion dol-
lars. Volume, however, is not the sole determinant since
these companies differ in their method of handling merchan—
dise, laying out the warehouse, type of merchandise handled,
functions performed, size of retail outlets, and purchasing poli-
cies.

The method used to handle merchandise in the warehouse
is one of the factors that determines the amount of space re-
quired for the structure. This can be seen in Chapters II and

HI. When hand trucks are employed, the four-wheelers accumulate

O 1‘

min

t
I

92
in large numbers on the receiving platforms. To reduce this
traffic jam, either more space is required for the receiving
dock, or more labor has to be used in clearing the platform.
The merchandise cannot be tiered higher than 6 or 7 feet in
the storage area, which limits the ceiling height to 9 or 10 feet.
Once the merchandise has been placed in a tier, it usually is
not moved again until selected for an order. This results in
several tiers being only partially filled. Since it is uneconom-
ical to take advantage of the "air rights," this results in wasted
space. Even though the main aisles are less than 10 feet wide
and the feeder aisles range in width from 2 feet to 5 feet,
which provides more square feet of floor space for storing
merchandise, this loss of space is not overcome. The shipping
platform also accumulates a large number of hand trucks filled
with outgoing merchandise.

A conveyor system reduces the amount of space needed
for receiving docks, since only one truck or one railroad car
can be unloaded at any given time. It eliminates the space
required for hand trucks and the men that would be needed to
keep the docks clear. A conveyor does not change the amount

of air space that can be used for tiering merchandise. The

93
width of the main and feeder aisles depends upon the conveyor,
which requires 12 or 18 inches. These aisles are from 3 to 5
feet wide. When "crew" picking is used with a conveyor system,
the shipping platform may be limited to space for one truck,
since this is all that can be loaded at one time.

The pallet system is usually combined with one of the
above two methods to achieve their particular advantages in
certain cases. The receiving platform requires more space
than the other two methods. This is due to the number of
trucks and railroad cars that can be unloaded at one time. The
storage area is usually divided between a selection line and
space for reserve stock. The selection line occupies approx-
imately 60 percent of the warehouse. Merchandise can be tiered
to heights of 20 feet throughout the building. The main aisles
are from 10 to 20 feet wide and the feeder aisles are from 6
to 12 feet. Even with the wider aisles, a pallet system utilizes
the space more effectively, by increased efficiency and complete
use of ”air rights." Where angle stacking is employed in an
attempt to reduce the width of the aisles, fewer pallets can
be placed in a given area. More pallets can be put in a given

area when the short side faces the aisle.

94

When assembling is performed in a separate area, mer-
chandise is limited to two pallets high. To utilize the ”air
rights" over the selection line, pallet racks, mezzanines, or
a combination of these are employed. The addition of pallet
racks is more economical than the construction of new warehouse
space. However, when space is abundant, they are not justified.
The combination that provides the greatest degree of flexibility
is a mezzanine and a single-step pallet rack.

The construction of doors leading into the warehouse
should be such that the space behind them can be used for
tiering merchandise. This problem usually occurs only in the
warmer climates. Such overhead obstructions as lights, steam
pipes, sprinkler systems, ventilators, and heating ducts should
be kept above the maximum stacking height.

A layout should be made showing the aisles, colunrm
spacing, and the pallets. This assures that the pallets will
fit between the columns without wasting space.

The amount of space devoted to receiving and shipping
driveways varies between warehouses. This is due to the
method of handling the merchandise and the services performed

for the. retail outlets.

95

The type of merchandise handled affects the space re-
quirements in various ways. If it is light and fragile, it cannot
be stacked high. Bulky items may require two different pallet
sizes. Fresh produce, meats, frozen foods, dairy products,
drug items, housewares, and many other types of merchandise
may be handled besides dry groceries. Each of (these have
special problems and require special equipment and additional
space.

Every additional function performed in the warehouse
requires added space. Room for egg—candling, salvage, offices,
a cafeteria, lavatories, garages, a sign shop, and many other
facilities can be provided in the warehouse. Examples of these
are shown in Chapter III.

The amount of space required for a warehouse can be
reduced by storing merchandise in the retail outlets. Two fac-
tors determine if this can be done. They are: the availability
of storage space in the retail units, and the number of deliver-
ies each receives. The amount of space that can be used var-
ies from practically nothing, as in the case of Wrigley's Stores,
Incorporated, to a month's supply of merchandise, as in the

case of Hillman's Pure Foods, Incorporated. In the first

96
situation, it would be uneconomical to change, while in the latter
case the company can reverse its policy. Both of these com-
panies have daily delivery service to their retail outlets. By
increasing the number of deliveries, the amount of merchandise
going into the order is reduced. This can lead to increased
warehouse operating costs.

The companies that have ' some latitude in deciding whether
or not to warehouse more merchandise in their retail outlets
lie in between these two extremes. There are several ways
these companies can employ their retail outlets as miniature
warehouses. A store can receive a large order twice a week,
and by working a night crew to stock the shelves, the back room
can be kept cleared. This leaves space available for storing
four to eight weeks' supply of several fast-moving items. Mer-
chandise that is to be advertised two weeks hence can be shipped
to the retail outlets early. This eliminates the need for addi-
tional space in the warehouse, or it can be used for some other
purpose. In some cases, merchandise must be purchased for I
the entire year, with the vendee providing the storage space.
Where this occurs, the merchandise can be shipped directly

from the railroad cars to the retail units. The number of cases

97
each outlet receives is determined by the amount of storage
area it has. Any method resulting in more merchandise being
stored in the retail outlets decreases the amount of warehouse
space required. One way of accomplishing this is to separate
the order form into slow- and fast-moving items and ship each
once instead of twice a week.

There are several formulas available to aid in estimat-
ing the amount of warehouse space that is required. Since
these are for estimates, the results are not accurate, but indi-
cate some of the factors that must be considered in determin-
ing space requirements. Before deciding on a new one—story
warehouse, certain points should first be checked, such as cost
of a good location, reduction in insurance costs, reduction in .
maintenance labor costs, costs of inbound and outbound ship-
ments, availability of materials and equipment, cost of the
building and equipment, and an estimate of the savings in man-
hours should be converted to dollars. This gives an indication

of whether or not it is profitable to construct a new warehouse.

 

1 National Association 9f Food Chains Summary Report
93 The Warehouse and Delivery Clinic, National Association of
Food Chains (Washington, D. C., January 15-17, 1951), p. 11.

 

98

Another formula which estimates the area for a new
warehouse, including platforms, aisles, locker rooms, lavatories,
shipping office, battery-charging room, and boiler room is:
"twenty-five square feet times the average tons shipped weekly
times the average number of weeks supply carried in the ware-
house.”2 This is for a building with a clear ceiling height of
16 feet, with a column spacing of 21 feet on center.

Still another method of estimating warehouse space re-
quirements includes making a pallet layout for the proposed
building. This consists of listing all the different brands,
grades, and sizes of each type of merchandise. An estimate is
made of the total amount of each of these items that is required
for the year. This estimate is'then reduced to the average
inventoryneeded for each month. For each item carried, the
average inventory is converted into pallet loads. The pallet
loads are converted into tiers, which multiplied by the amount
of floor space required for each stack, including overhang,
gives the total square feet of floor space required for the

year. A percentage estimate is made of the probable increase

 

2 Ibid., p. 12.

99
in business during the next five years and applied to the total
area required. This gives the amount of warehouse space that
will be required five years hence.

The above formulas provide a rough estimate of what is
required in warehouse space. The building should be constructed
on a tract of land that allows room for further expansion.

If space is being rented in public warehouses, this amount
must be included in plans for a new building.

Purchasing policies have a decided effect on warehouse
capacity. The amount of merchandise carried in stock varies
between companies; but the larger the inventory, the greater
the space needed to store it. In determining the inventory
figure, minimum and maximum order points are used. The
location of the vendor, the length of time it takes for an order
to be placed and received, and a small reserve sets the min-
imum order point. The maximum order point reflects the buy-
ing policy of the company and may be two weeks' supply or
more. If a company buys in large enough quantities to receive

a discount, this policy is reflected in the maximum order point.

\\\.

When the quantity discount is not reflected in the maximu

Q

order point, additional space is required in the warehouse. The .

L- -_.

~. '.‘ \

(a, ~ ‘ ,\
“— g
\
A x
.
e
\

\\\\\\

100
extent to which the storage function can be passed back to the
supplier reduces the need for warehouse capacity. In some
cases, a supply of merchandise is contracted for on an annual
basis. This may require the vendee to take immediate posses-
sion, periodic delivery, or it can be ordered as needed. Im-
mediate possession "requires added warehouse space, while the
other two methods might not. Sometimes, the merchandise is
. ordered as needed and delivered by the vendor to the vendee's
retail units. This completely bypasses the warehouse. Mer-
chandise purchased for premiums and coupons, weekly specials
at a favorable price, a private brand, and speculating on a
rising market create a need for additional space.

The purchasing department can cooperate with the ware-
house manager to secure the best possible use of existing ca-
pacity by ordering in even pallet loads; notifying him, through
a copy of the purchase order, of the merchandise ordered, the
quantity, and the expected arrival date; and by working with
suppliers to secure palletized shipments of merchandise.

With new methods and procedures being made available
almost daily, the use of materials-handling equipment and, in

particular, fork lift trucks, can be used by almost any warehouse

101

regardless of its size. Palletized shipments from vendors can
reduce the man-hours required to receive merchandise and re-
sult in savings for everyone concerned. The future holds the

key to greater utilization of warehouse capacity, with resulting

lower costs for the retail food industry, and ultimately, the

consumer.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

A. Books

Anon. The Control and Valuation gf_ Inventories. New York:
National Association of Cost Accountants. 1941. 408

PP -

 

Alexander, R. S., F. M. Surface, and W. Alderson. Marketing.
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Barker, Curtis H., Jr. Industrial Materials Handling. Cleve-
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Clark, Fred E. and Carrie P. Clark. Principles 9_f_ Marketing.
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Cornish, Newel Howland. Marketing 9_f_ Manufactured Goods.
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Converse, Paul D. The Elements g Marketing. New York:
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Dipman, Carl W. (Editor). Self-Service Food Stores. New
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Duncan, C. 8. Marketing I2 Problems and Methods. New
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Duncan, D. J., and C. F. Phillips. Retailing Principles and
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Heinritz, Stuart F. Purchasig. New York: Prentice-Hall,
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103

Killough, Hugh B. The Economics _cfi Marketing. New York:
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Lewis, Howard T. Procurement Principles and Cases. Chicago:
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Maynard, Harold H., and Theodore N. Beckman. Principles 2f
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1946. 736 pp.

 

Melnitsky, Benjamin. Manggement g Industrial Inventory. New
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Sayres, Paul (Editor). Food Marketing. New York: McGraw-
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Shubin, John A., and Huxlesy Madeheim. Plant Layout. New
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Adams, A. D. Lee and Cady's Toledo Warehouse. Wholesale
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Alger, Horatio. Serving Retailers With A Modern Group Plan.
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Anon. Grocery Warehousing. Modern Materials Handligg. 4:
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Anon. Railroads and Unit Loads. Modern Materials Handling.
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Anon. New Grocery Plant Combines Warehousing and Proces-
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August, 1949.

 

Anon. Development of Industrial Trucks. Modern Materials
Handling. 4: 14-26. September, 1949.

 

Anon.

Anon.

Anon.

Anon.

Anon.

Anon.

Anon.

Anon.

Anon.

Anon.

Anon.

Boissevain, M. G. J.

104

Platform Lift Trucks.
28-30. October, 1949.

Modern Materials Handling. 4:

 

Racks End Confusion in Storage Area. Modern Materials

Handling. 4: 37. October, 1949.

Expendable Pallet Shipments Bring New Economy to
Government Agency. Modern Materials Handlilg. 5:
20—21. April, 1950.

RX for Shipping Headaches.
5: 18-21. June, 1950.

Modern Materials Handlipg.

A Measure of Pallet Storage Efficiency. Modern Ma-

terials Handling. 5: 28—29. June, 1950.

 

Freight Elevators. Modern Materials Handlig. 6: 34-

36. April, 1951.

Warehouse Efficiency in The Complex Food Industry.
Modern Materials Handling. 6: 55, continued 57. June,
1951.

Lowry's New Warehouse. Wholesale Grocer News. 26:
13. August, 1951.

Lee and Cady Speeds Handling. Wholesale Grocer News.
26: 14-15. August, 1951.
Tom Boy's Fork Truck Pallet System. Wholesale Grocer
News. 26: 19-20. October, 1951.

A. 8: P. Packs New Warehouse With Tricks.
Week. 1174: 38-40. March 1, 1952.

Business

Warehouse Location Based on Trucking
Costs. Modern Materials Handlipg. 4: 26-27, continued

50. February, 1949.

 

Braithwaite, W. E. Package Design Can Affect The Cost of

Modern Materials Handligg. 4:
August, 1949.

Groceries. 21-22, con-

tinued 42 -43.

105

Bryan, W. C. Sixty Per Cent Saving in Man Hours. Wholesale
Grocer News. 26: 20. December, 1951.

Byerly, Russel W. Our New Grocery Warehouse and How it
Works. The Voluntary and Cooperative Groupp M_agazine.
21: 33-37, continued 92-95.

Friedman, Walter F. Are Palletized Shipments Economical?
Part 1. Modern Materials Handliig. 4: 22, continued
24-25. December, 1949.

Gardenier, David. Two Suggestions to Help Warehouse Operators
Reduce Labor Costs. The Voluntary and Cooperative
Groups Magazine. 21: 21-25. February, 1951.

Graham, David R. A Warehouse Planned on Current Levels.
Wholesale Grocer News, 26: 22-23, continued 58. Novem-
ber, 1951.

Holley, Elba. Abner Wolf Celebrated Four Decades in Food
Business By Opening Modern Grocery Warehouse. 1313
Voluntary and Cooperative Groups Mgazme. 22: 19,
continued 39. May, 1952..

Hyde, Charles H. Our Conveyor System and How it Works.
The Voluntary and Cooperative Groups Magazine, 21: 17-
19, continued 45 and 58. July, 1951.

Kaylin, S. 0. Receiving 35 Ways to Avoid Bottlenecks. Chain
Store Age. 27: 132-142. August, 1951.

Kaylin, S. 0. Storage 26 Ways to Save Space. Chain Store Age.
27: 254-261. September, 1951.

Kaylin, S. 0. Order-Filling 29 Ways to Speed Stock—Selection.
Chain Store Age. 27: 170-177. October, 1951.

 

Kriesberg, Martin, and Raymond Hoecher. More Efficiency in
Warehouse Operations. Wholesale Grocer News. 26: 19-
21. March, 1952.

106

Lucas, E. R. How The Associated Grocers CooPerative of
Seattle Operates and its 1950 Progress. The Voluntayy
and CoOperative Groups Magazine. 21: 23-27, continued
67-68. April, 1951.

 

 

Mallick, R. W. and A. T. Gaudreau. Planning The Materials
Handling Project. Modern Materials Handlirg. 6: 38-
42. April, 1951.

Miller, Harry J., Jr. More Pallet Loads in Less Space. Modern
.Materials Handling. 6: 38-39. February, 1951.

 

Sanders, Ruby W. Back Rooms of New Ralphs Super Markets
Are Operated Just Like a Modern Grocery Warehouse.
The Voluntary and C00perative Groups Magazine. 20:
49-51, continued 56. September, 1950.

Sanders, Ruby W. Certified Hasn't Reached the Peak Yet! The
Voluntary and COOperative Groups Magazine. 21: 63-66.
April, 1951.

Treppendahl, C. H., Jr. A Conveyorized Warehouse System.
Wholesale Grocer News. 26: 14-16. March, 1952.

Vaughn, Charles H. A New Home For The Sponsor of The
Chesapeake Division of Clover Farm Stores. The Volun-
tary and Cooperative Groups Magazine. 21: 17-19, con-
tinued 76. September, 1951.

C. Bulletins

Murray, R. V. Storage 2f Canned Foods. The Research De-
partment of Continental Can Company, Inc. New York:
Bulletin No. 17, 1949. 31 pp.

 

National Association 93: Food Chains Surmnary Report 93 1133
Warehousing and Delivery Clinic. National Association
of Food Chains. Washington, D. C. January 15-17,
1951. 37 pp.

 

107

D. Gove rnment Publications

United States Department of Commerce. Modernizigg and Qper-
ating Grocery Warehouses. Domestic Commerce Series
No. 26. U. S. Govermnent Printing Office. Washington,
D. C. 1951. 78 pp.

 

 

United States Department of Commerce. Streamlined Wholesale
Grocery Warehouses. Bureau of Foreign and Domestic
Conunerce. U. 8. Government Printing Office. Washing-
ton, D. C. 1945. 96 pp.

 

 

E . Company Publications

Alpha Beta Food Markets, Inc. Fortieth Anniversary Report of
The Alpha Beta Food Markets, Inc. August 15, 1950.

51 ppg

 

Ballinger Associates, The. Lowering Food Warehouse Costs.
4 pp.

 

Benner Tea Compafi. Information and Interesting Facts About
The Benner Warehouse. 3 pp.

 

Publix Super Markets, Inc. PrOgress of Publix. 1951. 18 pp.

Safeway Stores, Inc. Annual Report. 1951. 29 pp.

 

Scott Store Advisory Service. Low Cost Grocery Warehousing.
March, 1950. 7 pp.

 

F. Thesis

Park, D. M. Warehouse Materials Handling ip The Food Chain
Industry. ”Unpublished M. A. thesis." Michigan State
College. 1951. 99 numb. leaves, 8 figures.

108
G. Speech
Williamson, J. P. g Approach 39 The Reduction 9_f_ Warehousing

and Transportation Costs. Annual Meeting of The National
Association of Food Chains. October 14, 1949. 8 pp.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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