FOR NEARLY 40 years Scholastic (Aust) Pty Ltd has been in the forefront of children’s book publishing in Australia.
Now as part of a $US 2.2 billion global multi-media company, reported to be the largest publisher and distributor of children’s books in the world, the company is currently in the process of publishing the 7th edition in the Harry Potter series of novels in the USA.
Operating out of its Australian head office and warehouse complex in Lisarow near Gosford on the NSW central coast and employing over 450 people, national book sales in 2006 exceeded a record 13.6 million.
This success, attributed largely to a marketing strategy change of emphasis, points to a 20 percent growth over the past 3 years.
David Peagram, Scholasitc managing director for Australia and New Zealand, explained how this came about.
“Because we send out Book Club leaflets to 95 percent of the primary schools in Australia, we thought it would be more appropriate to directly communicate with teachers in the classroom rather than one contact in each school.
“This meant instead of sending out 12,000 parcel offers to every school in the country, we decided to send out 40,000, 8 times in a year,” he explained.
“The consequences of this successful strategy and subsequent growth impacted quite profoundly on our operational facilities and coincided with a staged expansion plan which will mean nearly doubling our warehouse and distribution facilities.”
Currently under construction is a new 3,500 m² wing of the distribution centre, considered a vital element in the total reconfiguration of Scholastic’s logistic operations. Phase one required a focus on maximising the space available in the existing building.
This meant introducing a more efficient system to process the enormous amount of books coming in from the printers.
Mezzanine floor levels were built and new conveyor systems were strategically installed to optimise the flow of work throughput.
Adept Conveyor Technologies, were commissioned to draw up a plan to advise on the most efficient way to accommodate the daily throughput of product, bearing in mind that the D.C. was stretched to the limits of its floor space.
Adept’s operations director, Paul Johnson said the company was given the challenge of providing an integrated conveyor solution that would handle an enormous increase in throughput more efficiently and optimise the available space at a more economic level.
“Because more orders were being picked and packed at a throughput rate of 30 cartons per minute, bottle necks frequently hindered operational continuity,” Johnson said.
“This meant we needed to install a Zero Pressure conveyor system to control this in order to allow a controlled scanning and weighing operation,” he explained.
Adept, whose conveyor manufacturing plant is in Milperra NSW, has so far installed a 200 metre system consisting of a combination of powered rollers, belt and gravity conveyors, as well as transfer and diverter conveyor sections utilising unused overhead space where necessary.
Johnson says waste management was another consequence of such an enormous increase in production throughput.
Books sent in from the printers in cardboard boxes; generate thousands of tonnes of waste cardboard every year.
This waste had to be managed and processed no less efficiently, in the confines of the distribution centre, than the books they contain.
Once emptied, the books are destined to be repacked in new Scholastic branded boxes while the old ones are sent in the opposite direction towards the compacter.
“In order to avoid production space being overwhelmed by a massive increase in packaging, the operational staff simply placed the empty boxes onto the conveyor which directed them straight through the side wall of the DC into the compacter” said Johnson.
While the final chapter of Scholastic’s expansion initiative is yet to be written, there is no danger of primary school children in Australia being short of interesting and stimulating things to read in the early days of their education.
Further information email Adept Conveyor Technologies sales@adeptconveyor.com.au