Wine and spirits distributor RNDC found the answer to its space crunch—and throughput woes—in an innovative new DC that features mezzanines and state-of-the-art conveyors. Not so long ago, wine and spirits distributor Republic National Distributing Co. (RNDC) found itself facing the classic growth challenge&8212;at least where its distribution operations were concerned. RNDC, which is the second-largest distributor of wine and spirits in the U.S., had seen sales explode in one of its key markets: Virginia. That kind of exponential growth is great for the bottom line, but it can create problems elsewhere in the organization. In this case, it was the company’s DC in Sandston, Va., that was feeling the strain. Basically, RNDC had outgrown the facility, and building out was not an option. The Sandston building had already been expanded in 2001, says Stefan Kirshenbaum, RNDC’s vice president of operations systems and services, and the lot didn’t allow for further expansion. Filling orders on time was also becoming a challenge. Space limitations prevented the operation from deploying the kind of technology that would allow it to achieve the productivity and accuracy levels it wanted. And the building’s size limited the amount of merchandise that could be pushed through it in a day. "We just grew out of it, plain and simple. We needed to move forward to a new distribution space," Kirshenbaum says. After conducting a site search, the company found a suitable spot some 30 miles north of Sandston in Ashland, Va. The new location offered 23 acres to grow in as well as proximity to Interstate 95. The move would also put it a bit closer to the growth markets in Northern Virginia. Opened in February, the new facility has a footprint of 280,000 square feet but offers 315,000 square feet of processing space when you […]