3PL Facilities Planning
Team Members Heading link
- George Cruz
- Kasandra Dominguez
- Cesar Garcia
Advisors: Dr. Michael Brown; Dr. Quintin Williams
Sponsor: BlueGrace Logistics
Project Description Heading link
Within the process of providing 3PL services, there is extreme variability in customer and carrier requirements, which creates delays between process checkpoints and the collection of real-time data. A study was conducted with BlueGrace Logistics, an 11-year full-service 3PL company, at its Chicago office location. The company has experienced a plateau in sales and is struggling with its employee retention rate. In order to remain competitive and effective in the market, the company must analyze its process from a continuous improvement perspective.
With a literature review, interviews with various employees, and collected data, our team generated an effective floor plan design. Some of the focuses were department layout, workstation layout, information handling systems, information waste reduction, and information flow improvements. Our research identified bottlenecks within management and technologies. This sparked specific interest with carrier sales reps and rate approval. The team is developing a tool to expedite carrier sales rep managers rate approval to collect data on queue time of this task and continued understanding of the 3PL process. A survey will be administered to qualitatively assess the level of importance of comfort and technology for work productivity in a 3PL office workplace. Ergonomics is extremely important in an office setting. Focus was put on human safety and well-being, office environment, and tasks/tools. A simulation of the company’s current process flow was created with Simio software, and data was collected from all departments. A 3D model was constructed on Simio to visualize current and potential processes. The goal is to create a simulation that matures with data analysis, developed tools, and alternative methods. The study resulted in the development of a system that uses metrics, standards, and automated data to measure and strengthen efficiency within a 3PL office workplace.