Designed Conveyor Systems (DCS) partners with wholesale, industrial, and electronics distributors to design efficient, scalable fulfillment solutions. By taking a data-driven approach, DCS evaluates each operation’s unique requirements, including inventory, order profiles, throughput, and seasonality, to determine where technology and automation deliver the greatest value. The result is a flexible, high-performing operation built to support long-term growth from receiving through shipping.
DCS delivers automated material handling systems and software to wholesale and industrial distributors across a range of industries, including:
Challenges Faced in Wholesale & Industrial Distribution
Geopolitical factors—from tariffs and trade agreements to port congestion and shipping delays—continue to challenge the wholesale industrial supply chain. Nearshoring and reshoring create new requirements for network design and adaptability. DCS reviews, analyzes, and models operational data, business requirements, and global supply chain inputs. These details inform the development of strategic supply chain roadmap to help wholesale and industrial distributors be prepared to adapt and respond amid any geopolitical scenario.
With rising labor costs and increasing scarcity of skilled warehouse workers, industrial distribution facilities still relying on manual, high-touch workflows struggle to meet service level agreements (SLAs). Meanwhile, physical strain and inefficiencies add to risk and turnover. DCS can engineer a solution that enhances throughput, utilization, and ergonomics. The result? A system that boosts your workforce’s productivity, improves training and efficiency, and leverages automation and technology to ultimately reduce the chances of injuries.
Wholesale and industrial product lines—including chemicals, fragile parts, and electrostatic-sensitive electronic components—often have special handling requirements. Further, depending on each product’s characteristics (cases, pallets, or oddly shaped items), a blend of racking, shelving, bin systems, and bulk storage is often required. Without data driven storage logic and dynamic slotting, replenishment and picking quickly become inefficient and error prone. Let DCS design and implement a solution that effectively manages specialized inventory profiles and streamlines handling workflows.
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, warehouse management system (WMS) software, and automation technologies are often out of sync—slowing fulfillment and limiting data flow. Many wholesalers rely on outdated software and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) platforms that may create bottlenecks and complicate automation upgrades. By deploying DCS’ proprietary warehouse execution system (WES), DATUM, your wholesale industrial distribution facility can extend the functionality of current hardware, software, and controls within the operations. This also provides a framework that supports future operational enhancements.
Within the wholesale, industrial, and electronic component space, many customers require more specialized handling than traditional pick-and-pack operations. Light assembly, kitting, labeling, and returns handling are very common—but can be difficult to scale without automation and accurate inventory visibility. Informed by an operational assessment, DCS can implement a system that enhances efficiency throughout each handling process to help you meet your customers’ exacting specifications.
Mergers and acquisitions leave operators managing inherited networks, redundant distribution centers (DCs), and incompatible processes. Flexibility and modular design are critical in adapting infrastructure without complete overhauls. Through assessments of both assets and network, DCS can help modernize your facilities and location strategies to enhance customer service through faster delivery and lower transportation costs.
DATUM—DCS’ proprietary WES—integrates with any legacy, commercial, or homegrown WMS. It bridges data gaps from receiving to shipping, enabling inventory accuracy, labor visibility, and process control. By enabling current material handling hardware and software to be modernized but not replaced, DATUM lets your facility avoid expensive updates while enhancing operational resilience and agility.
DCS evaluates your distribution footprint through a data-driven analysis of SLAs, transportation costs, and facility utilization. Whether consolidating, expanding, or regionalizing, DCS ensures your network aligns with customer demand and margin goals.
DCS engineers solutions tailored to your wholesale and industrial operational requirements. By leveraging operational data about your inventory, product and order profiles, storage and process needs—along with details about overall throughput and projected growth targets—DCS designs right-sized storage, efficient workflows, and long-term flexibility. Your system will utilize automation where it makes the most operational sense. With a brand-agnostic approach, your custom design will incorporate the optimal mix of technologies—such as AMRs, goods-to-person AS/RS, sortation, light-directed picking, and more—balanced with throughput demands, labor constraints, and return on investment (ROI).
DCS is a proven partner to wholesale distributors and industrial distributors and manufacturers of components, electronics, hardware, and spare parts, helping them address:
Problem: Graco’s aging distribution center (DC) lacked space and relied on outdated equipment, causing fulfillment bottlenecks, downtime, and inefficiencies.
Solution: DCS designed and implemented a brand-agnostic, fully automated fulfillment system featuring a goods-to-person automated storage and retrieval system (AS/RS), autonomous mobile robot (AMR)-based order consolidation, and integrated warehouse control software (WCS).
Results: Graco’s modernized distribution capabilities eliminated previous workflow pain points through seamless automation integration.
Superior Communications Boosts Throughput with New WES
Problem: Superior Communications’ explosive order volume and growing inventory count outpaced its legacy systems, limiting visibility, flexibility, and fulfillment efficiency.
Solution: DCS implemented its DATUM warehouse execution system (WES) to enhance replenishment, order flow visibility, labor planning, tote tracking, and packing efficiency without replacing the existing warehouse management system (WMS).
Results: In just five weeks, DATUM improved picking rates by 40%, increased pack-out efficiency by 20%, and enabled faster onboarding, greater order accuracy, and scalable automation readiness.
Problem: Meyn Americas needed to modernize its manual, paper-based picking process to improve fulfillment speed, reduce errors, and support growth from a new spare parts distribution center (DC).
Solution: DCS designed and implemented a scalable solution featuring autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and its DATUM WES to optimize workflows, integrate with Meyn’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, and enhance visibility.
Results: DATUM and the automated solutions increased throughput, reduced picking errors, and cut both costs and emissions associated with Meyn’s global shipping process.
The cost of implementing automation at your wholesale or industrial distribution facility can vary widely based on what technologies you choose. DCS has observed that ROI typically comes within 2-4 years, and sometimes as quickly as 12 months.
There are many automation solutions available to wholesale or industrial distribution companies. DCS’s wholesale and industrial clients see great success with motorized transport conveyor systems, light-directed put walls, and automatic sortation systems, including cross belt, tilt-tray, and bomb bay loop sorters. We also offer custom systems tailored to handle bulk storage, chemicals, fragile parts, and electrostatic-sensitive electronic components.
DATUM, DCS’s proprietary warehouse execution system (WES), integrates seamlessly with your company’s legacy software, hardware, and automation systems, including commercial and custom WMS software. DATUM incorporates a flexible, secure API gateway and integration bridge, as well as multi-agent orchestration features to create a unified mix of people and automation. This transforms different systems and workflows into a coordinated, intelligent operation capable of delivering predictive throughput.
DCS can create a scalable, adaptable, and modernized automation plan for your wholesale or industrial distribution operation. On the digital side, DCS can deploy a platform to manage diverse and evolving inventory profiles. On the physical side, we can design flexible conveyance solutions, storage methods, and handling processes that accommodate a broad range of product sizes, packaging types, and throughput volumes. Cloud-based software, flexible automated solutions such as autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), and dense storage solutions that maximize the cube of your warehouse are available to help you increase capacity without expanding your facility’s current footprint.
Wholesale and industrial distribution operators can achieve basic automation equipment proficiency within one week. The knowledge base for managers is more expansive, so training typically takes several weeks. DCS offers both levels of system training with new installations, as well as refresher and advanced training through our ASURE MRO (maintenance, repair, and operations) program.
DCS combines consulting, design, engineering, and software integration to build a custom solution for wholesale and industrial distributors. Let us help you achieve your accuracy, reliability, and compliance goals with a scalable, secure, and integrated system. Schedule a consultation.
The DCS Supply Chain Consulting team offers a range of services to help your operations address the challenges it faces. Following its acquisition of Waller Consulting, the Waller Consulting team combines decades of consulting expertise with DCS’s industry-leading systems integration and automation capabilities.
Keeping your warehouse operations and material handling systems running smoothly and at the peak of productivity are the goals of DCS’ Customer Service Team. By partnering with DCS, your warehouse automation solution is supported from commissioning to end of life. You’ll receive comprehensive in-house training of your personnel, including specialized training of your designated internal system expert. Plus, DCS offers a complete package of spare parts and expert system troubleshooting support from qualified engineers dedicated to your installation.
DCS offers a broad range of services including automated system design, installation, and integration services for a multitude of projects. These include retrofits, expansions, upgrades, and more. While every project is unique, our system design and execution processes are the same, encompassing meticulous attention to detail, frequent communication, and a dedicated partnership with our clients.
