The Sports Authority

Systems Integrator: Fortna, Inc., West Reading, PA

A "Flow Through" Success Story

Conveyors, RF systems, WMS combine to help The Sports Authority achieve 24-hour inventory turnaround  

The story of The Sports Authority is a story of growth. Founded in 1987, the company in just 13 years has become the largest full-line retailer of sporting goods in North America. Today, The Sports Authority has more than 200 stores in the United States.

That rapid pace of growth has brought with it a number of challenges—one of the most pressing being store replenishment. Until a few years ago, all of the retail outlets received their merchandise directly from the vendors. Yet this was not always the best approach to inventory management. Plus, it often resulted in high transportation costs.

To more effectively manage the store replenishment process, The Sports Authority decided to build a modern distribution center that would operate under a "flow through" concept. For those stores being served by the new center, product would come in from the vendors, be tagged and ticketed, if needed, and then moved out to the appropriate stores in full truckloads—all within a period of 24 to 48 hours.

In late 1997, a 300,000 square-foot distribution center was completed in McDonough, Georgia, just outside of Atlanta. The facility features an integrated series of Hytrol conveyors, coupled with an RF-based paperless picking system and a new WMS (Warehouse Management System). Fortna Inc., a systems integrator and a Hytrol distributor based in West Reading, Pa., worked closely with The Sports Authority throughout the design and installation process.

With the new distribution center, The Sports Authority has greatly enhanced inventory management and store replenishment. The center now processes more than one million units a week, serving a network of 150 stores up and down the East Coast. 

An Integrated System

The installation was designed to integrate the flow of product throughout the following functional areas of the distribution center: receiving, value-added service (VAS) preparation, VAS processing and takeaway, put-to-store location, and shipping.

To achieve that desired integration, The Sports Authority relies on a wide range of Hytrol equipment. The units include accumulation conveyors, belt inclines and declines, live rollers, sorters and diverts, trash takeaway conveyors, and more. The accumulation conveyors, Models 190-SPEZ and 190-ABEZ, include Hytrol's patented EZ-Logic technology. The EZ-Logic feature senses product presence and controls the accumulation and release of product from zone to zone.

Inbound goods from the vendors are initially handled in a VAS (value-added service) preparation area. The operators here remove the contents from the cartons and place the items in totes. The totes then are scanned and the information is entered into the WMS. Labels that will accompany the items through the order-fulfillment process are generated at this point as well. Trash takeaway conveyors in the processing area help keep the facility clean and free from debris.

The totes then are placed on a powered conveyor that carries them to the VAS processing area. Each tote is diverted to one of four lanes, where they accumulate on the EZ-Logic conveyors. Processing personnel retrieve the totes from the main accumulation line by pressing a foot pedal that controls a pneumatic divert. A work surface at the bottom of the chute serves as a table for the processor to empty the contents of the tote and apply the labels and tags. Once the VAS processing is done, the totes are placed on an outbound chute, which leads to a takeaway conveyor and up an incline to a recirculation loop.

Automated diverts send the processed totes from the recirculation loop down one of "five fingers" in the put-to-store location (PTL) section of the DC. There's a total of 152 work stations in these five accumulation lanes. Once a tote is diverted from the finger lane into a store location zone, the operator scans the tote. The terminal indicates the quantity of the product within the tote to be put to the store location specified.

Operators place the appropriate quantity in a shipping carton, drawing from the carton flow racks behind them. Once the store orders are complete, the operator informs the WMS and then seals and labels the carton. The completed order is pushed down the carton-flow takeaway lane. These cartons are then palletized and taken to shipment staging areas, where full truckloads of product are built for store delivery. The system is streamlined and efficient. And most importantly, inventory doesn't get a chance to sit still for very long.

Control and Productivity

Picking accuracy and inventory control have improved greatly, too, Jaunzemis reports. Much of the credit for that, he says, goes to the paperless picking system and the WMS.

In addition to the Atlanta operation, The Sports Authority is in the process of completing a smaller flow through distribution center in Ontario, Calif. That facility initially will serve 20 to 30 stores, with the capability to handle 50 to 60. Many of the "lessons learned" in Atlanta have been applied successfully in the design and operation of the West Coast DC.

The Sports Authority's Regional DC

Inbound goods are moved from receiving areas to VAS (value-added service) processing station. After scanning and tag-generation, totes move on powered takeaway unit to VAS processing area, where they accumulate on EZ-Logic conveyors. After processing, they move up a belt incline to a recirculation loop. Totes are diverted off the loop to one of five "fingers" in put-to-store location. Operators fill and seal cartons for the appropriate store and then place them on takeaway conveyor for movement to shipment staging. Here they merge with full pallet orders for truckload delivery to the stores.

Facts and Figures on the Distribution Center

Company: The Sports Authority  
Facility: Regional Distribution Center
Location: Atlanta, GA Size: 300,000 square feet 
Employees: 400 RDC General Manager: Randy Jaunzemis 
Product handled: Sports equipment, footwear, and apparel 
Throughput: One million units received and processed a week 
Types of conveyors: Accumulation (190-SPEZ, 190-ABEZ), belt incline and decline, live roller, gravity, O-ring transfer, swivel wheel sorter (Model SC), pallet flow, trash takeaway 
Shipment method: Truckload 
Conveyor supplier: Hytrol Conveyor Inc., Jonesboro, AR 
Systems Integrator: Fortna Inc., West Reading, PA