One Stop ShoppinE

Our newest product is pre-stained lumber. It joins an impressive roster of proven moneymakers for you. All grades and sizes of treated and untreated dlmension, plus treated timbers, boards and deck accessories. And we have the trucks to get it to you.

T[e have t]rree modern wood treating facilitles to serve you: Buclorer (Kansas City), Mo., Glenwood and Amity, Ar.

One call gets it all. You can depend on it.

THE LOGISTICS at Home Depot's

I Savannah. Ga.. Imports Distribution Center may sound iimple: shuttle full pallet loads of items such as ceiling fans, from the end of an orderpicking conveyor to a shipping staging area. with all pallet moves orchestrated in response to host computer directives. But considering each hour they're moving up to 150 full pallets plus a like number of partial pallets to as many as 100 shipping lanes, traffic control can get a little complicated.

The DC helps the chain fine-tune the supply chain for imported products. Developing creative logistics capabilities increases access to more unique products worldwide. "We stock upwards of 50,000 different kinds of building materials. home improvement supplies, and lawn and garden products," says spokesman Don Harrison. "The investment in the Import Distribution Center demonstrates our commitment to further improvement on product options for our customers."

The 1.4 million-sq. ft. facility services about 500 stores in the East. Imports include ceiling fans, window blinds, table saws and park benches.

Each hour they're

moving up to 150 full pallets plus a like number of partial pallets to as many as 100 shipping lanes.

Containerized shipments from Europe and the Far East arrive by sea at the Port of Charleston or Savannah Harbor. Some items arrive by air freight.

"Material receiving, incoming product storage and orderpicking activities are handled smoothly using conventional distribution strategy and techniques," explains Marc Schumacher, the facility's maintenance manager. "It's at the shipping end of the supply chain where advanced automation tools are considered imperative to expedite the final distribution step: maintaining a steady stream of merchandise out the door and on its way to our retail stores."

To simplify traffic patterns and remove shipping floor gridlock, Home Depot installed a seven-vehicle Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) system. Designed and supplied by AGV Products, Charlotte, N.C., the central controller's main element is the TRACE (Traffic Routing AGV Command