Activation of $160 Million All Digital Distribution Center

Our client’s online sales spiked during the December holiday season, but they were running out of distribution center capacity and had systems that were not robust enough to get items to customers quickly in time for the holidays. They needed a facility focused solely on digital distribution, which required the customization of an existing 800,000 sq. ft. building that would become their only all-digital fulfillment center in North America. This would provide additional network capacity needed to achieve target growth goals and deliver exceptional service levels.

Challenges

• Operating on 9-month timeline, the fastest activation of a new facility by our client to date
• Working with large matrixed organization where understanding how things move is critical
• Managing multiple work streams that required much facilitation to track issues, keep stakeholders informed and inspire action across client and vendor organizations

Percipio partnered with senior program leaders to build the business case, which required approval from the board of directors given the $160 million ask, and prepared all executive communications to foster leadership support. Once approved, we provided program, budgeting and stakeholder management. We collaborated with all stakeholders to lead the development of project scope and approach, and aligned leadership while holding teams accountable for their commitments and reporting updates to the global leadership teams. Percipio managed all deliverables in partnership with the core team of program and project managers, transition managers, logistics, operational and technology SMEs, as well as business SMEs. We also developed a plan to scale the facility in two subsequent stages to meet growth plans.

It was transformational for our client’s supply chain to activate this custom digital distribution building. They were able to successfully deliver all holiday season online orders and averaged a 98-99% SIFOT consistently. This building now processes 80% of all online orders for North America, and is being used as blueprint for future digital distribution centers.