Thousands of SCDigest and Distribution Digest readers have looked at the beta version of our new DC Complexity Calculator™, and well over 100 of you now have either used the web version or downloaded the spreadsheet. (See Early Results from DC Complexity Calculator.)

We think we are pretty close, but it’s not been easy. Materials Handling editor Cliff Holste and I put a lot of time into this, and received some help from consultant David Schneider along the way.

We’ve also had several good comments from readers.

We selected a range of 1-100 for the tool (actually, 18-100, since 18 is the minimum score; 100 is the max) for two reasons: (1) a scale of 100 is a normal kind of index that most will understand, and (2) we were hoping complexity levels would come out sort of in the way that scores do in a school setting; for example, if you were at an above average level of complexity but not the highest, like a grade of B at school, you might score in the 80s.

It’s not working out that way, as we should have realized. First, no one is going to score into the 90s, we believe. The top score thus far is an 89, with just a handful in the 80s at all. So, everyone is starting out, if you will, with a deficit of 10-15 points versus the totally theoretical maximum complexity DC. That pushed individual DC and average scores down, in a real sense, from a letter grade sort of scale.

Second, as reader Jed Cowell of Cummins pointed out to us, some things are sort of mutually exclusive. For example, if you have a lot of DC automation and score high on that attribute, you are likely to have fewer DC workers, which is another complexity dimension. So, it again sets some ceilings to a given company’s total score.

In looking at it now, it makes sense to us that the average DC is going to score somewhere around 50, based on how we scored the 18 attributes of complexity. The average now is about 54, but the average is probably biased a bit upwards because very simple DCs are less likely to take the test. We have had a few scores in the 30s, however. But many cluster in the 45-55 range.

We are still very anxious for feedback on this, but think we know many of the tweaks needed for the first version 1.0 of the tool. For example, we will swap some point values around a bit; we have gotten a decent amount of feedback that giving DC size a 1-7 range (versus say 1-5) allots too many points for size, which some argue really doesn’t drive complexity (though we think it clearly does in part). But we may take away 2 points there and add them to another attribute.

We are also going to color code and describe score bands for different ranges that make it clear, for example, that the average DC will be in the 45-55 range, and that even there you have decent complexity. Anything above that is clearly starting to get pretty complex, with scores in the 70s and 80s quite complex.

We don’t want logistics managers not using this tool because they feel it is making their operations appear simple when in their view they are not.

In addition to the question about whether size drives complexity, we’ve wrestled with several other issues.

For example, does automation add complexity or take it away? Ideally it should do some of the latter, but does it really in practice? And, as this calculator was developed in part to help companies consider the level of Warehouse Management System (WMS) support they need, clearly an automated DC usually requires advanced WMS capabilities.

Holste also brought up that you need to distinguish between complexity and chaos. Some facilities may feel or operate chaotically, but that often is causes by poor management or processes, when the underlying fundamentals are really not that complex.

Should the amount of value-added services and/or product customization score even higher, as that clearly can add a lot of complexity to DC operations? Maybe. We’re still chewing on that one. Might take the two points from size and give it to VAS (making it the only attribute with a 1-9 range.)

These are just some of the questions.

All in all though, the feedback has been quite positive. One consultant who is a regular reader of SCDigest told me last week he missed the first article announcing the beta version, but just last week had a client ask about the level of complexity for his DC. The question was specifically related to the question of ERP versus best-of-breed WMS. He searched “DC Complexity,” found our piece, and sent it off to the client with a few comments.

We think the industry need this, and that we are close to a pretty good tool that can be the industry standard. Still would love your feedback and suggestions though.

Let me know your thoughts at the Feedback Button below.