Cliff Holste, Materials Handling Editor

As promised two weeks ago, Supply Chain Digest and Distribution Digest have released a new tool to assess a distribution centers complexity. (See How Complex is Your Distribution Center?)

This is a “beta” version of the diagnostic, and delivered with an open invite for readers to add their comments, suggestions and other improvements.

In the next few weeks, version 1.0 of the tool will be released. Future versions, perhaps some specialized to specific industries or other situations, will be released over time.

The tool was created as a result of several inquiries about how to measure DC complexity, often in the context of whether a company should use a best-of-breed Warehouse Management System (WMS) or the WMS module of an ERP provider.

The beta version was developed by SCDigest Dan Gilmore and Distribution Digest editor Cliff Holste, with input from David Schneider, former director of logistics at Pep Boys and now an independent consultant (and SCDigest columnist).

Said Gilmore: “I don’t think the industry has seen a tool like this. It has the potential to provide an industry standard way to think about DC complexity. We look forward to using a community-based approach to finalize the diagnostic tool soon and enhance it over time.”

To add your feedback on the beta version, send an email to: feedback@scdigest.com

The diagnostic asks users to quantify their scores on 18 specific attributes, from size and scale of operations to level of value-added services performed and how many different customers and channels a DC supports. Users pick their level for a given attribute, and enter that score. A company with the maximum score on each attribute would achieve a score of 100.

“We believe actually that any DC with a score of 70 or more should be considered pretty complex,” Holste added.

Next to each attribute users will generally find some overall comments or some questions that the SCDigest development team struggled with in developing the tool.

(Distribution Article - Continued Below)

The complexity calculator is below. Enter a value for each attribute, and then click the "Calculate Total Score buttom at the bottom of the form.

Alternatively, you can download the actual spreadsheet: Distribution Center Complexity Calculator Spreadsheet.

The total complexity value is not meant to be a precise number, but rather to represent a reasonable estimate of the complexity of a given DC, and we think the result will well quantify the differences in operational complexity between different distribution centers and their operational requirements.

Note: Early testers seem to be showing that the calculator can result in fairly low scores (on a scale of 100) even for pretty complex DCs - meaning scores of just 50 or so for what rightly could be called complex distribution centers. We may make some adjustments accordingly.

DC Complexity Calculator™

What do you think of the new DC Complexity Calculator? What would you add, change, delete, etc? Please send us your ideas at the Feedback button below.

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