Building Materials Software

G-P Opens First "Triad" DC

Georgia-Pacific Corp.'s Building Products Distribution Division has opened its first "Triad" major warehouse and delivery center in Lawrenceville, Ga.

The DC marks the debut of G-P's new integrated logistics network designed to improve warehousing and delivery. The logistics network is part of a three-point strategy - enhancing product procurement, sales and delivery - the division has undertaken to reinvent itself.

Triads are being developed to combine the three elements of a successful building products logistics system in one large warehouse: a bulk distribution center handling large volume orders and full truckloads of product orders; a fabrication center for centralized order assembly and cutto-size orders, and a piece-pick center serving less-thanfull-unit orders and handling the availability of slow-moving items.

Expected to be fully occupied by early next year, the Lawrenceville facility features 390,000 sq. ft. of warehouse space, 190,000 sq. ft. of millwork space and 116,000 sq. ft. ofshed space on a 65-acre site.

Open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, it offers all GP product lines (5,000 to 6,000 SKUs) and serves customers direct within a 200-mile radius, shipping product each night to G-P bulk distribution centers in Memphis, Nashville and Bristol, Tn., and Birmingham, Al.

The Triad is staffed by 225 to 250 warehousemen, drivers and millwork assembly employees, utilizing 75 tractor trailers with on-board trip computers.

Lowe's Opens Temp Agency

In response to anticipated explosive growth by the year 2000, Lowe's Cos. Inc., North Wilkesboro, N.C., has opened an in-house temporary agency.

Established on a trial basis, Lowe's Temporary Services Division will be assessed in the upcoming months to determine its usefulness.

Prospective job applicants can call a 24-hour hotline, updated each Friday, to hear a list of available positions ranging from clerks to accountants.

Once these employees complete one year of service, they will be eligible for Lowe's Employee Stock Ownership Plan and Employee Stock Investment Plan.

"This was more a reaction to our hoping that we could enhance employee loyalty and performance by being their direct employers and doing our own skill-building," said Lowe's Cinny Haynes.