Content area
Abstract
Radio Shack has solved logistics problems by stratifying its product lines. The electronics retailer divides products into 3 categories. Small parts are stored in a fully automated "force feed" warehouse in Fort Worth, Texas, while slower moving items, such as computers and software, are stored in another warehouse. Electronics and other quick-moving products are housed in regional distribution centers (DC) in 7 cities. The 5,000 stores in the Radio Shack network are serviced on a cycled shipping schedule. They transmit orders to the Forth Worth, Texas, mainframe weekly on a fixed schedule. The data then are downloaded to the DCs. Although DC manager Laurence Ricchi says the company needs to increase capacity, it does not want to build news DCs. It prefers putting more merchandise through its existing facilities via automation. A bar code system installed in Ricchi's Columbus, Ohio, DC has been cost justified solely by the amount of computer time and paperwork it has replaced.