Van Nuys, CA, May 12, 2009 - Moulton Logistics Management today announced the completion of its Van Nuys, California fulfillment center automation¡ªanother step in the company's swift roll-out facility expansion and automation strategy.
Currently, Moulton ships 50,000 packages per day from their Van Nuys complex and has plans to utilize this strategy to double transaction capacity in Van Nuys within the next two months. The strategy will allow the company to rapidly commission and roll out new facilities within their logistics network, in as little as 60 days. The expansion reflects continuing strong demand in the direct response (DR) industry as reported by Response Magazine and the Electronic Retail Association.
Although the DR channel is growing rapidly - even as other channels are experiencing a drop in this economy - it has its idiosyncrasies: Volume can increase suddenly, and a company's systems and infrastructure need to be rapidly scalable.
Moulton also credits the efforts of strategic partners UPS Logistics, Ajillus and Dematic with extraordinary effort in helping them deploy a fast, flexible and highly scalable solution that can meet the needs of a variety of direct response and mainstream multi-channel merchants.
Patrick Moulton, VP of Marketing, explained that Moulton's expansion prototype was developed carefully to meet the needs of this volatile market. "The DR channel is a responsive and highly measurable tactic in the marketer's arsenal, so it was vital that we developed a swift rollout strategy and our Van Nuys facility was the logical place to start," Moulton stated. "Not only have we met the goals of our initial project, but we can now quickly and easily roll out successive facilities across our logistics network to meet substantial growth in demand as well as our new customer acquisition goals."
John Bevacqua, Vice President of Logistics at Moulton, added, "Our expansion in Van Nuys included order management software development, process changes and automation - all designed to reduce process steps by 30%, reduce shipment turnaround time by 24 hours, increase labor efficiency across the board, and streamline operations. These systems are now operational and have met or exceeded our expectations in every way. The success we are experiencing reflects our commitment to Total Quality Management (TQM) and to a focus on a lean logistics operating philosophy."
With this accomplishment and the sustained growth of the DR channel in mind, Moulton has plans to geographically diversify - including mirroring the progress at Van Nuys at its port facility in Charleston, South Carolina, and additional satellite facilities.
Tony Sziklai, President of Moulton, noted, "Moulton has made major investments in infrastructure and technology to meet the needs of the direct response merchant and mainstream brands entering the DR industry for the first time." He added, "We continue to be committed to providing highly responsive fulfillment center and logistics services that exceed the expectations of our clients and their customers."
About Moulton Logistics Management
Based in Los Angeles, Moulton Logistics Management (www.moultonlogistics.com) utilizes advanced technologies to provide the direct response marketing industry with turnkey direct-to-consumer fulfillment, retail distribution, state-of-the-art customer service contact centers and web-based DR analytics software. Central to Moulton's offerings is a fully integrated web-based platform that empowers clients to manage all aspects of their campaigns in real-time, providing full back-end visibility and campaign optimization. With 40+ years of experience, automated operations and bi-coastal distribution centers, Moulton Logistics is the one-stop solution provider for the direct response industry's outsourcing needs.
