Gap's new DC relies on single lift truck brand

It's the performance that counts with a fleet of trucks able to move 30% more goods per hour, while requiring minimal maintenance.

Modern Materials Handling - October 2, 2002

Brand loyalty makes very good sense when the right manufacturer is involved. That was, and remains, true for Richard Nakutavicius, campus maintenance manager, at Gap Inc.'s new Northeast Distribution Center in Fishkill, N.Y.

When he was hired, Nakutavicius was told that-because of the retail company's national contract with one leading lift truck manufacturer-all warehouses on the site would be using trucks from this one brand of materials handling equipment.

"I said great," recalls Nakutavicius, who had significant experience with this brand of equipment at a previous assignment with a major toy company. "These trucks are real workhorses. When it comes to speed and reliability, nobody else can match them."

In the nearly two years since then, his faith has not gone unrewarded. More than 100 pallet trucks, orderpickers, reach trucks, and counterbalanced trucks are used in the first building to open on Gap's Fishkill campus. They have provided him with outstanding durability. This fleet works in the 1.5-million square foot facility serving the Northeast locations of the retailer's explosively popular Old Navy chain.

"Truck performance is amazing-they give us 30% more moves per hour than other trucks." This brand "just blows others out of the water," says Nakutavicius.

That productivity gain has become an even greater factor as Gap opened a second building on the Fishkill campus in late 2001. This 850,000-square foot facility serving Gap stores has some very narrow aisles where wire-guided orderpickers are used for piece picking. Both sides of the wider, pallet storage aisles can be used by wire-guided orderpickers for case picks, and by reach trucks for full pallet moves.

Many of Gap's operators were new to this manufacturer's equipment. "But with the intuitive layout of the controls, it didn't take long for them to get comfortable with it," Nakutavicius says. "I also hear comments about how ergonomic the trucks are, with great user features like the padded floor, which cuts down on foot fatigue. That keeps the operator comfortable and has a positive impact on worker productivity."

In the new Gap facility, like the existing Old Navy facility, Nakutavicius and his crew will perform the majority of repairs in house. For busy times, he relies upon his local dealer for maintenance.

Although most of Nakutavicius' day-to-day experience is with the local dealer, he is aware that his facility is part of a customer national account that is overseen by another member of the manufacturer's dealer network, a San Francisco firm. It has built an outstanding record of service with Gap Inc., serving a California-based account contract since 1996. It works with the Gap at facilities throughout the U.S. and Canada, coordinating seamlessly with the appropriate local dealer such as the one in New York.