For its new 420,000-square-foot facility outside of Birmingham, Ala., Hibbett Sports designed fulfillment processes that enable preallocated cartons to flow quickly and efficiently from receiving to shipping. Meanwhile, stores are replenished at the item level from a put-to-light pick mezzanine. Software integrates mixed SKU cases from the replenishment area into the flow of full cases received from manufacturers. In all, the facility is handling up to 30,000 cartons a day on one shift. Most importantly, the system can accommodate the rapid growth of the Hibbett Sports network of stores.

Receiving: The receiving process begins when a vendor submits an electronic advanced ship notification (ASN) that an order is available for pickup. That triggers the transportation management system (TMS) to schedule a carrier to pick up the order. The facility receives less-than-truckload (LTL) shipments that are palletized as well as full truckload (FTL) shipments that are floor loaded. Once a shipment arrives in the receiving area (1), the electronic file is uploaded into the warehouse management system (WMS), which tells the receiver what should be on the truck.

Read more: Hibbett Sports: Managing the flow