Spotlight On The Warehouse

“The astronaut is only the most visible member of a very large team,” says Tom Hanks in the hit film Apollo 13, as he points out the jobs of various crewmen to a selection of reporters.  Personally, I like to think of myself and my compatriots on the sales and customer service teams as the astronauts of Parts Town – the public face of a vast and complex organization that’s reaching together for the stars.

Or maybe it’s just that I like to think of myself as an astronaut.  Anyway, the point is that while your sales representative may be the voice you’re familiar with and the name you know to ask for, he or she is supported by a whole network of people you never see.  Today we’ll take a closer look at the warehouse team, which has been referred to by some as the very backbone of Parts Town.

Your Parts Town ordering experience ends when your representative thanks you for your order and informs you of a projected ship time.  However, for the warehouse team, this is just the beginning.  As the representative completes the order, a copy prints out in the warehouse and is collected by one of the three members of the picking team: Mike Collins, Steve Graber, and Greg Jones.  Mike, Steve, and Greg have the important task of locating each item on the shelves, collecting it, and delivering it to packers Kevin Giammarino and Ulysees Mason.

Kevin and Ulysees are entrusted with the responsibility of carefully packaging up each order in an appropriately sized box.  It falls to them to ensure that each part is adequately cushioned so that items will be secure during shipping.  Both Ulysees and Kevin are skilled at this procedure.  However, as an extra measure, team member Daniel Crotty performs a quality control check.  Daniel checks each box for secure packaging and accurate shipping label before he loads the shipments onto the UPS trucks that arrive twice daily.

As the shipping team works to fill orders and get them sent out, the receiving team of Edgar Marquez, Julio Pena, Joe Palmisano, and Jarrod Fletcher handles incoming shipments of parts from our suppliers.  It’s the job of this team to unpack and check in all items, cross-referencing with Parts Town’s purchase order to ensure that the supplier has shipped us the correct parts.  Once the parts are checked in, Abby Paulsen and David Ortiz take charge of getting them to the correct location on the shelves.  Abby and David also make sure the shelves are maintained in an orderly fashion, so it will be easy for the picking team to find what they need.

The whole process is overseen by 16-year Parts Town veteran Kenny Hernandez, who takes great pride in the successful operation of his warehouse.  Kenny is a two-time winner of Parts Town’s annual Core Value award and has been the leader of the warehouse team for going on four years.  “I love Kenny like a little brother,” says management team member Dan Hinchley, “and I couldn’t be any more proud of what he’s achieved.”  A sentiment shared by all.

Parts Town is pleased to welcome Ricky Murray to the warehouse team!