The Apparel Group reduced handling costs and increased speed to market through its new automated distribution center in Texas. The facility features a high-speed conveyor and sortation system, garment-on-hanger handling, and RF and pick-to-light picking technologies. These improvements allowed The Apparel Group to better serve retailers across the US with smaller, more frequent orders while maintaining a high level of accuracy. The distribution center also enabled The Apparel Group to launch a new business providing logistics services to other apparel manufacturers.

1. PRODUCTIVITY SOLUTIONS FOR DISTRIBUTION, WAREHOUSING AND MANUFACTURING
mmh.com
®
July 2010
The Apparel Group:
Dressed for distribution
success Page 18
SPECIAL REPORT
Top 20 SCM
Kirk Longo, vice president providers 26
of supply chain, The
EQUIPMENT REPORT
Apparel Group
Green unitizing
practices 30
INFORMATION MANAGEMENT
Five trends in WMS 34
Special corporate
profile issue

2. MODERN system report
Dressed for
distribution
18 Ju ly 2 0 1 0 / M ODERN MATERIALS HANDLING mmh.com

3. At the Apparel Group’s new Texas distribution center, the company reduced handling
costs and increased the speed of product to market—two items that are always in style.
success
By Bob Trebilcock, Executive Editor
W
hen The Apparel Group Ltd. (TAG)
sat down to design a new distribution
center, it had two goals in mind.
One was to create an automated
materials handling system that would get the job done
with the least number of touches and the lowest pos-
sible handling cost. Another was to build strategically
by locating the facility in an area that would comple-
ment TAG’s West Coast cross-docking operations,
allow its sales people to better serve its customers
across the country and improve its customer service
levels, especially the speed to market.
The 158,000-square-foot DC at the company’s
U.S. headquarters in Lewisville, Texas, near Dallas,
is a fashion success on both counts, says Kirk Longo,
vice president of supply chain for the manufacturer,
which also distributes men’s and women’s private
label and branded clothing to retailers like Dillards,
Kohl’s, Nordstroms and Lord & Taylor.
“This was a brand new facility that allowed us to
build to suit our needs,” says Longo. “We were able to
design a fulfillment center that meets our customers’
demand for smaller orders across the broad spectrum
of SKUs we provide, maintain a high accuracy rate
The team at The Apparel Group worked and do it with a lower cost per item of handling than
together to create an automated and at our previous facility in Kentucky. This was a team
strategic facility. Members include: (l-r)
Danny Terry, Jeremy Blevins, Kimberly
Massie, John Hrubo, Suzanne Khoury
GraphicCaption Feature Huang. Front is Kirk Longo.
and Jerry
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ED LALLO
mmh.com MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING / J u ly 2010 19

4. MODERN system report
effort that required the skill of opera-
tions, engineering and information
technology.”
Working with a systems integrator
(Worldsource, 630-795-1100, www.
world-source.com), TAG implemented
the first phase of the materials handling
system in 2008, featuring:
• high-speed conveyor and sortation
system,
• garment-on-hanger handling system
and
• RF- and pick-to-light picking tech-
nologies.
This year, TAG expanded the sys-
tem with a tilt tray sortation system After receiving (top
to bring additional efficiencies to its photo), product is
picking operations. In all, the materi- staged for putaway
als handling system manages more than in racks. In the
16,000 stock keeping units (SKUs) and pick-to-light area
distributes 6 million items per year with (bottom photo),
just 50 associates. order selectors pick
After a year and a half of operation items that might
in this new facility, TAG is not only be spread across
providing better customer service to its multiple orders.
retail customers, the company is using
its capabilities to create another busi-
ness, The Apparel Logistics Group. that story as it plays out. The privately cross-docks merchandise directly from
“The strategy is to leverage our held company does not reveal annual the ports to a retailer’s DC or directly
expertise in importing, distribution, revenues, but it is one of the world’s to the stores to quickly stock shelves
accounting, customer service and mer- largest apparel providers, specializing at the beginning of a selling season.
chandising along with our materials in the design, sourcing, merchandising Once the initial roll out is complete,
handling capabilities for other apparel and fulfillment of fashion merchandise. TAG receives point of sale data from its
manufacturers,” says Longo. “Many of With a strategic alliance with Hong customers as part of a vendor managed
them are already distributing to the Kong-based TAL Group, the company’s inventory (VMI) and quick response
same customers we service. They can North American customer list includes replenishment (QR) program that
focus on what they do best as manu- most of the major national and regional keeps the merchandise selling at the
facturers and let us handle the logis- retailers and department store chains store level on the shelves.
tics for them.” as well as more than 1,100 specialty “Our customers want to maintain a
retail stores. broad spectrum of SKUs, but they also
Bursting at the seams How big? “One in six men’s dress want to receive smaller orders with a
Many of the retail distribution projects shirts is made by TAL Group,” says greater frequency,” says Longo. “They
that are in the works today are driven Longo. “We provide an immense selec- buy merchandise from us, then their
by mergers, acquisitions and consoli- tion of men’s and women’s apparel.” point of sale (POS) system sends an
dation in the industry. Modern’s cover The six million units shipped from order to us for a QR program, or we
story last month about Bon-Ton Stores Texas are only half of TAG’s distribu- generate the order under the VMI pro-
is a prime example. As Bon-Ton dou- tion story. It also cross-docks an esti- gram on behalf of the customer, both of
bled in size—twice—and expanded its mated six million units annually from a which we fulfill in a quick response.”
footprint by acquiring other regional West Coast distribution center direct to In addition, TAG offers value added
retailers, it consolidated and improved retailers. services—such as display packaging,
distribution activities. The company’s model is to do more price ticketing and garments on hang-
As a supplier to retailers, The than just sell apparel merchandise to ers in poly bags—that minimize han-
Apparel Group has a supporting role in its customers. The Long Beach facility dling in the store. Value added services
20 Ju ly 2 0 1 0 / M ODERN MATERIALS HANDLING mmh.com

5. MODERN system report
The Apparel Group’s new DC brought together several materials
handling automation technologies, including roller and spiral
conveyor, tilt tray sortation, pick-to-light and RF picking technologies
and a garment-on-hanger rail system.
are typically performed at the point of rate inventory management and timely Dallas-Ft. Worth airport, important to
manufacture. order fulfillment. TAG’s goal of having a presence in a
Back in 2006, TAG realized that And while Kentucky was conve- foreign trade zone.
with more customers focusing on VMI niently located to replenish stores and The new facility is also much closer
and quick response, they were process- service customers in the eastern U.S., to the cross-dock facility in Long
ing twice the number of orders to main- TAG has customers like Nordstroms Beach. That allows TAG to more eas-
tain the same volume of business. “In that are headquartered in Seattle. “We ily make changes about warehousing
this recession, the average carton size wanted to position the location of the and distribution if the status of an order
has dropped from 15 pieces per carton company in an area where our distribu- changes. For example, TAG attempts
to 8 pieces or less per carton, with more tion center and our sales force could to do as many value-added services
frequent orders,” says Longo. “That serve customers in New York and the as it can at the point of manufacture.
meant we were doing a lot more picking West Coast without losing any time,” However, sometimes customer require-
and handling to process our orders.” Longo says. ments change after the product is in
Then, replenishment operations In other words, they wanted a loca- transit and value added services will
were handled in a leased facility in tion to lower handling costs and speed need to be done stateside.
Louisville, Ky. That DC was smaller up the time to market. “We can easily reroute product to
than the new facility and lacked auto- the distribution center,” says Longo.
mation. “Manual picking in Louisville Distribution success and style “Or, if we’re shipping to a West Coast
had become labor intensive and expen- The facility and materials handling sys- customer, we can route the product to a
sive, especially as we had to do smaller tem TAG built outside Dallas accom- 3PL we work with on the West Coast.”
and more frequent orders,” says Longo. plishes both of those objectives. In addition, TAG and its systems
Manual picking can be a major From Dallas, TAG can easily deliver integrator designed a materials han-
source of errors. This can be an impedi- to either part of the country. That has dling system to lower the cost per unit
ment to the success of vendor-managed translated into shorter lead times and of handling cartons, even in an envi-
inventory and quick response programs will lead to increased market share. ronment that increasingly clamors for
that are built on a foundation of accu- In addition, the facility is near the smaller and more frequent orders.
22 Ju ly 2 0 1 0 / M ODERN MATERIALS HANDLING mmh.com

6. light zone may be spread across multi-
ple orders that will be aggregated at the
packing station. The pick-to-light sys-
tem includes functionality that allows
supervisors, or associates, to adjust the
size of the zone they are working in
according to demand.
If specific bays in a zone are getting
heavier demand than other bays, asso-
ciates performing the work can expand
their zone to help out by simply scan-
ning into the area that needs help. “Our
associates are the first responders,” says
Longo. “If they see a bottleneck develop-
ing, they can adjust the zone to assist one
another and keep the process moving.”
RF and pick-to-light were part of the
first phase installed in 2008. Earlier this
year, TAG implemented a second phase
that includes a tilt tray sortation system
for the most labor intensive picks—
items that are picked frequently, but in
a low number of units per carton.
According to Longo, the result of both
projects has helped in lowering costs for
picking of smaller orders and gained a
For example, the new facility a zone and picks all of the items in that significant improvement in throughput.
was designed with 40-foot ceilings, zone for an order to a shipping carton. “It used to take us about three hours to
which are higher than the ceilings in RF is also used to do direct picking in fill an order,” says Longo. “We cut that
Louisville. The high-bay storage, with the garment-on-hanger area. average down to about 75 minutes.”
racks rising 366 inches, allows for more Pick-to-light technology was installed In addition, by operating the facility
efficient storage at the present time and
leaves room for expansion in the future.
TAG not only installed a high speed “We wanted to position the location of the
conveyor and sortation system for han-
dling and shipping, it also installed an company in an area where our distribution center
automated garment-on-hanger han-
dling system that allows it to efficiently and our sales force could serve customers in New
receive, putaway and pick garments
that are already on store-ready hangers. York and the West Coast without losing any time.”
Finally, TAG implemented a WMS
and picking methodologies to slot and —Kirk Longo, vice president of TAG Supply Chain
pick orders based on how fast the prod-
uct moves through the facility. “All of
our orders are handled by the WMS in a pick zone for orders that include in a foreign trade zone, TAG is generat-
based on an order type that considers items that turnover quickly and orders ing savings on import fees for its cus-
the quantity and velocity of an SKU,” with only a few line items per order. “This tomers that participate in the zone as
says Longo. is our fastest pick area,” says Longo. the importer of record. And, by launch-
RF technology was installed for pick- “We’re picking from split cases to a con- ing The Apparel Logistics Group, the
ing slower moving items and for orders tainer, and we’re generally picking two or materials handling system is generating
with fewer line items per order. In the more items at a time from a location.” additional revenues from a new source.
RF area, an order selector is assigned to Picks from a location in the pick-to- Those results never go out of style. M
mmh.com MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING / J u ly 2010 23

7. MODERN system report
The Apparel Group Ltd.,
Lowering handling cost, Lewisville, Texas
increasing speed to market Size: 158,000 square feet
Products: Men’s and women’s shirts,
Materials handling automation and picking blouses, pants, shorts and sweaters
technologies bring new efficiencies to Throughput: 6 million units per year
The Apparel Group. Shifts: 5 days, 1 shift
Employees: 50
By Bob Trebilcock, Executive Editor
The Apparel Group implemented con- onto trollies and flat cartons are placed ment system (WMS) to a putaway
veyors, tilt-tray sortation, pick-to-light onto an extendable conveyor (2). location. Meanwhile, garments-on-
and a garment-on-hanger rail system to hanger are inducted to a rail system
automate its new facility in Lewisville, Putaway: On the conveyor, bar code (3). The garments are automatically
Texas. The distribution center comple- labels on the cartons are automatically routed to a mezzanine area (5) that
ments a West Coast distribution loca- scanned and the cartons are weighed serves as both a storage and picking
tion that cross-docks goods directly to and cubed. After the scan, the mate- location for garments-on-hanger.
stores from the port. rials handling system routes it to an
assigned zone for putaway, based on Replenishment: Replenishment pre-
Receiving: Prior to shipment, The a pre-selected storage location in the cedes the actual picking process. Orders
Apparel Group receives an advance reserve storage area (4). Once they drop from the enterprise resource plan-
ship notification (ASN) from its facto- arrive in the putaway zone, the car- ning (ERP) system into the WMS.
ries. Receiving (1) is done against the tons are palletized and staged until a That creates pull tasks for the inventory
ASN. Inside the shipping containers, lift truck operator picks them up and needed to fill the orders. First, the WMS
associates load garments on hangers is directed by the warehouse manage- profiles the orders based on the veloc-
4
Case reserve
Shipping
sorter
9 7 Split tilt tray
10 packing sorter
Shipping Conveyor
6 RF and pick-to-light picking
lanes 8
5 RF and garment on hanger picking
Staging value added service and audit area
11
Shipping 12
Extendable
Conveyor
2
3 Garment-on-hanger
Receiving 1 rail system
24 Ju ly 2 0 1 0 / M ODERN MATERIALS HANDLING mmh.com

8. ity of the stock keeping units (SKUs) System Suppliers
required. With that information, the
WMS develops a slotting plan and SYSTEMS INTEGRATOR: Worldsource, 630-795-1100, www.world-source.com
sends tasks to associates on the floor. WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM: Manhattan Associates, 770-955-7070,
SKUs coming from the reserve storage www.manh.com
area (4), cartons are picked to a pallet GARMENT-ON-HANGER RAIL CONVEYOR: Railex Corp., 718-845-5454,
that is then placed on a pallet rail and www.railexcorp.com/RAILEX.PHP
slotted for picking. Cartons going into CONVEYOR AND SHIPPING SORTER: Automotion, 708-229-3700,
the piece picking zone (6, 7) are routed www.automotionconveyors.com/
to the right zone by the conveyor sys-
ADDITIONAL CONVEYOR: Dematic, 877-725-7500, www.dematic.us
tem. Once a carton arrives in a zone, it’s
scanned and the system directs putaway TILT TRAY SORTER: Crisplant (Intelligrated), 866-936-7300,
into a pick face. www.intelligrated.com
PALLET RACK: Interlake Mecalux, 877-632-2589, www. interlakemecalux.us
Picking: Picking can be done from sev- LIFT TRUCKS: The Raymond Corp., 607-656-2311, www.raymondcorp.com
eral areas. In the garment-on-hanger
BAR CODE SCANNING: Motorola, 800-722-6234, www.motorola.com
area (5), a label is placed on a shipping
carton as it comes off the automatic
carton erector. The label is scanned and for labor-intensive picking. Usually the shipping lane (10).
routed to a picking zone in the garment- these are items that are picked fre- The remaining items for an order
on-hanger area. In the zone, an associ- quently, but in less than full case quan- will be picked in the RF or pick-to-
ate scans the label and is directed by the tities. At a work station, order selectors light area (6), depending on the veloc-
WMS to pick an item for that carton. have an inbound pallet flow and an out- ity of the pick. In the pick-to-light area,
Once the pick is complete, the shipping bound pallet flow. The system tells the for instance, order selectors are usually
carton is either routed to the next zone, order selector how many units to pick picking all of the items to fill a case.
or, if all the picks are complete it may be from a carton. The items are placed on RF is used for slower moving SKUs.
directed to a random audit station or to the tilt tray sorter (7); if there are any In either event, once the picking is
a value-added services area. Otherwise, items left in the carton, it’s placed on complete in that zone, the container
it goes through a scan tunnel and a scale the outbound pallet and returned to is either routed to another zone, or to
and is then routed by conveyor (8) to the storage (4). The tilt tray unit then sorts the random audit or value-added ser-
shipping sorter (9), where it is sorted to the items to a packing chute, once a vices area. Finally, it is conveyed (8) to
a shipping lane. There, it is palletized carton is packed, it can go to a random the shipping sorter (9) and is sorted to
(10) and staged (11) for shipping (12). audit station, to the value-added ser- shipping where it is palletized (10) and
The tilt tray sortation area (7) is used vices area, or get sorted (9) directly to staged (11) for shipping (12).
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