Cadet improves production levels at WalMart distribution center

  • Published
  • By Jennifer Green-Lanchoney
  • U.S. Air Force Academy Office of Research
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY. Colo. --  Editor's note: This is the third story in a three-part series on the Air Force Academy's Cadet Summer Research Program. Each summer, through the CSRP, more than 100 cadets spend several weeks at private and public research facilities around the world where they apply their classroom knowledge to a variety of military research topics. This year, cadets visited the Facebook campus in California; Sandia Laboratories in New Mexico and Walmart headquarters in Arkansas.

An Air Force Academy cadet worked with WalMart employees this summer to increase production at the popular retailers' distribution center in Bentonville, Arkansas.

Cadet 1st Class Matthew Sprague, a management major at the Academy, worked with WalMart's Performance Visibility Team in the 19-acre distribution center, also the company's headquarters, to research shortfalls in the company's delivery process.

"I (followed) the 4 a.m. shift to learn how to do the job," he said. "To come up with the best method for doing a job, we took every motion a person does within the job and assigned a time value to it. By the end, we come up with a dynamic goal for improving production."

When Sprague arrived in Bentonville, the company's longstanding goal of preparing a number of cases an hour for shipment was hit-or-miss.

"With the heavy cases they used, it was about (less) cases an hour," he said. "When moving little cases, it was about (far more). "Once you assign labor standards, you have a goal that is realistic."

Sprague said he used his classroom knowledge of production and distribution sequence and labor standards to address the challenge.

"It was different from a lot of the experience I've had solving problems, especially in a classroom setting, where there is a formula you follow step by step," he said.

Sprague also revamped the center's pre-shipment storage method. 

"By turning the shelves toward each other, WalMart employees can stock both sides," he said. "They can load twice the cases in the same amount of time."

Retired Brig. Gen. Gary Profit, the senior director of military programs for WalMart, said WalMart officials were impressed with Sprague's ability to improve their processes. 

"He really 'killed it' with our team. We were all very impressed," he said. "His efforts are expected to bring in $250,000 annual savings to Walmart."