Company Overview

3Sixty (previously the DFASS Group) is a world-class leader in retail options for travelers and travel-related audiences. They specialize in helping consumers and businesses access the enticing world of Duty Free and travel retail.

Founded by Chairman and CEO Bernard Klepach in 1987, 3Sixty has spent more than 31 years delivering their global reputation as the world’s largest in-flight Duty Free specialty retailer, and more recently one of the fastest growing airport Duty Free and specialty retailers. Today 3Sixty employs over 600 full-time employees, operating on five continents through a worldwide network of 120 packing and fulfilment stations and retail stores.

3Sixty Duty Free, is all about enhancing the travel experience for passengers by offering duty-free shopping opportunities both in-flight and at airports. But let’s zoom in on their Miami warehouse operations and how they optimized them for increasing efficiency.

3Sixty Duty Free Warehouse Miami

Background

The Miami warehouse is a critical hub for 3Sixty Duty Free, given its strategic location near Miami International Airport and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, two of the most visited airports globally. This proximity allows 3Sixty Duty Free to efficiently manage and distribute inventory, ensuring timely replenishment of their retail outlets and in-flight services.

The Miami warehouse supports the company’s rapid expansion by serving as a central point for receiving, storing, and dispatching products, thereby enhancing operational efficiency and reducing logistics costs.

The Challenge

As 3Sixty Duty Free rapidly expanded, the company faced significant challenges in managing its warehouse operations efficiently. The traditional shelving systems (Selective Pallet Racks) they used, were no longer sufficient to handle the increased volume of products and the need for faster order fulfillment. This inefficiency led to longer processing times, higher labor costs, and increased error rates in order picking.

Efficient storage and retrieval of products were essential to keep the duty-free goods flowing smoothly.

The picture on the right shows how individual products were stored in bins at different height levels, making it a very inefficient configuration for pickers. 

The Solution: Implementing Carton Flow Racking

To address these challenges, 3Sixty Duty Free worked with Atlantic Rack, well known for creating tailored solutions for warehouse storage optimization.

Atlantic Rack recommended implementing CARTON FLOW SYSTEMS in their warehouse. These systems are specifically designed to improve inventory management by using gravity-fed rollers that allow cartons to move smoothly from the back to the front of the storage rack. This solution ensures that products are always available at the picking face, reducing the time employees spend searching for items.

In their warehouse, carton flow racking was employed for small items that constantly rotate like perfumes, sunglasses, cosmetics, apparel, liquor and snacks. By organizing these items in carton flow racks, employees could quickly access them during order fulfillment.

The system was implemented in a LIFO (Last-in, First-out) inventory configuration, allowing the products to be fed and picked from both the front and back of the racking system.

The racking configuration allowed 4 levels of carton flow racking at human height allowing easy product picking and selectivity.

The higher levels of the racking system were endowed with pallet support, to store full pallets with multiple boxes of the products below. This allowed for easy fulfillment without employees having to travel long distances within the warehouse.

Carton Flow Racking Benefits

• Increased Efficiency: The carton flow system significantly reduced the time required for order picking. Employees could quickly access products, leading to faster order fulfillment and improved customer satisfaction.

• Space Optimization: By utilizing vertical space more effectively, 3Sixty Duty Free was able to store more products within the same footprint, taking full advantage of their warehouse space.

• Reduced Labor Costs: With products readily accessible, the company experienced a decrease in labor costs as fewer employees were needed to manage the same volume of orders.

• Error Reduction: The organized layout of the carton flow system minimized picking errors, ensuring that customers received the correct products.

• Scalability: The flexibility of the carton flow system allowed 3Sixty Duty Free to easily scale their operations in response to growing demand.

Carton Flow

Conclusion

The implementation of the carton flow system has been a game-changer for 3Sixty Duty Free. By optimizing their warehouse operations, the company has not only improved efficiency and reduced costs but also positioned itself for continued growth and success in the competitive travel retail industry. This strategic move underscores 3Sixty Duty Free’s commitment to innovation and excellence in service delivery.

Carton Flow
Carton Flow
Carton Flow