Innovative “Wal-Mart®” Idea Saves Space in Warehouse

MARYVILLE, Tenn. - Aug. 16, 2013 - PRLog -- Neil Weaver, a Spradling International, Inc^® warehouse worker, is living proof of the innovative thinking that Spradling strives for. Weaver saw a need to make additional space for product storage in the Spradling warehouse located in Maryville, Tenn.

When Weaver asked “if all the racks could be set up like a Wal-Mart parking lot,” he did not know that he would soon be saving himself and others from the redundant task of continuously rearranging the same products to fit warehouse space restrictions.

Weaver did some homework, developing a plan on paper and “the next day [he came in] and said ‘the paper says it will work,” said Spradling warehouse manager, Mickey McKeehan. “I said let’s do it, and the rest is history.” Weaver’s idea was nicknamed the “Wal-Mart Idea” and Spradling was able to add 160,000 yards of vinyl into the warehouse because of this innovative and simple observation.

“It took approximately two weeks working on the project a few hours each day to rearrange the whole warehouse,” said Weaver. This project was helpful in more ways than one because “not only did it add space in our warehouse, it also dramatically improved the appearance of the warehouse environment,” said McKeehan.

 

While Weaver’s idea to turn all the racks at an angle to mimic a Wal-Mart parking lot may have been simple, “sometimes it takes thinking outside the box to come up with great ideas. Neil said it was a lot of work, but it has really paid off in the end,” said McKeehan.