How are FDC pallets organized per store

[RollingStone]

I‘ve recently moved from Fulfillment to our Produce Department and have noticed that we get a fair amount of pallets that have mixed Produce/Dairy/Deli products on them. Can someone in an FDC describe the process on how refrigerated pallets are assembled?

Is there a process that attempts to build Produce only pallets food departments can move them to their cooler without separating out other departments products?

Thanks for any info as I have never met anyone who works at a DC. Just trying to understand how things work on the line at a DC.

 

[Luck]

FDCs are their own beast. The simple answer is pallets are built by temperature zone, not the type of product. Anything else would be less efficient on route optimization and when one reefer truck can be loaded with 4+ stores worth of pallets, logistics takes priority over everything else.

 

[RollingStone]

Thanks Luck. Guess that makes sense since our FDC is hundreds of miles away. One extra truck to our district would cost a lot of extra $$ based on fuel and driver pay.

 

[BKop16]

The big rule is that fresh meat should be underneath produce. Especially poultry. After that, it's all about route optimization.