What This Website Is About

"The master of all trades is seldom good at any. Concentrate all of your efforts on one chief aim."- Napoleon Hill.

Back in 2001, I decided to take my History and Political Science degree to work as a picker in a distribution center. Eventually, I moved "up" to replenisher, and from there I took a job as a mover, reporting to the Manager of Slotting. As a mover, I began to understand the importance of slotting and profiling in a DC. When my boss asked me to come into the office and help out with the clerical work, that understanding grew and eventually evolved into a philosophy. That philosophy, by the way, is still evolving today. Presently, I am one of two network Slotting Analysts for a successful Fortune 500 retailer. My colleague and I oversee slotting for six (about to be 7) distribution centers, and one import center. In addition to slotting and profiling, we also manage each SKUs dimensions and item attributes. Our current operating system is Manhattan 2010.

While I consider myself capable of wearing many different hats in a distribution center, and have in the past, slotting is my passion. The reason I love slotting so much, is because I believe that slotting affects everything. You can not receive a trailer if it is not slotted. You can not pick efficiently and effectively if slotting is not done well. Slotting can either reduce replenishments or increase them. Slotting affects your ability to manage your inventory. Slotting can positively or negatively affect what your industrial engineer is trying to accomplish. If your Slotting department maintains SKU data, then shipping and transportation are heavily impacted by slotting.

Regardless of what position you are hiring for in the DC, you should always inquire as to what that person knows about slotting, what their philosophy is, and how lean principles influence that philosophy. From Order Fill supervisor to General Manager, leadership needs to have more than a basic understanding of slotting.

The intended audience for this website is the logistics professional. Hopefully, my posts will not read like a homework assignment, or something out of a textbook. My intention is to be heavy on the personal experience, and light on theory.

Thank you for stopping by!