ReefTools visits Drs. Foster and Smith and LiveAquaria part 1 - For Posterity

 

ReefTools visits Drs. Foster and Smith and LiveAquaria part 1

Posted on Sunday, March 21st, 2010 at 11:35 pm by Felicia McCaulley

I'm feeling nostalgic about Drs. Foster & Smith. Please enjoy this post from 2009 when my  friend from Reef Tools came to visit our warehouse. 

"We recently had a chance to visit Drs. Foster and Smith (DFS) and LiveAquaria in Rhinelander, WI, and decided to share what we saw and learned. We are confident that most of our readers are familiar with the Drs. Foster and Smith, LiveAquaria, and the new Foster and Smith Aquatics websites, but though you would enjoy a behind the scenes look.

First off, we would like to thank Kevin Kohen, Director of LiveAquaria, for taking the time to show us around the DFS facilities, including the coral farm.

This part of the Drs. Foster and Smith visit series, will focus on the Dry Goods warehouse facility. The 300,000 square feet state-of-the-art warehouse, houses any imaginable pet supply items available (and some unimaginable ones too). The sheer number of products DFS stocks is truly staggering. We When an order comes through, a corresponding plastic bin is scanned and the process begins. The bin travels on the “green monster”, a computerized convoy system which travels throughout the massive warehouse.

Controlled by scanners and a set of automated arms, the bin gets redirected to the correct isles. Once the bin arrives at it’s first destination, it pauses, while a series of lights indicate which items should be added to this order. Once the items are added to the bin, it is placed back on the belt, and continues on it’s way to it’s next destination. Once the order is completed, the bin is redirected to the packaging center, where the items are matched against the order before everything is boxed.

With this kind of redundancy and automation, it’s not surprising that DFS is able to fulfill an almost absurd number of orders quickly and accurately. Each box is put together by a special machine, then an employee adds a catalog (of course  ) and fills the extra space with bio-degradable packing peanuts (which they house is huge holding rooms). This Green approach to packing, is just DFS doing their part in conserving the environment. Once the orders are ready to be shipped, DFS employees load up a slew of FedEx trailers which have their own parking lot at the facility. DFS ships so many orders, that they actually sort the packages for FedEx, based on their destination. Overall, the operation is top-notch, with every detail carefully planned and accounted for.

We hope you enjoyed this article and photos, please heck back soon for part 2 of this series, which will cover the LiveAquaria Aquaculture Coral and Marine Life Facility”.