2003-2004 Design Competition Summary
Sponsored by CICMHE and Modern Materials Handling magazine.
Gross & Associates developed the case.
Contest Case Description
Vital Vitamins is a manufacturer and distributor of over the
counter vitamin supplements, specializing in sports nutrition
proteins, powders, and drinks, and weight management products.
They ship to company-operated retail stores, and directly to
consumers on internet and phone orders. They also have a line
of Vital Brandâ„¢ products, which are generic
labeled knock-offs of some of their best sellers, manufactured
in-house. Due to tremendous growth, Vital has outgrown its
existing facilities and is in the process of building a new
warehouse. This new building will house offices, manufacturing,
distribution and warehousing of finished goods, raw materials
and packaging supplies. Vital Vitamins currently operates its
manufacturing and shipping staff on a 10 hour schedule. They
wish to remain on this schedule.
Vital Vitamins asked the teams to design their new facility.
Vital has provided all the current inventory and sales data for
this facility. The company anticipates that internet and
catalog sales will grow 2% per year and store sales will grow
20% per year. It is assumed that order characteristics (lines
per order, units per line, etc.) will continue at current
levels. Vital asked the teams to develop the best material
handling, storage and product flow for this facility including
the Vital Brandâ„¢ manufacturing space. They
have hired another contractor to design the corporate office
space and outlet store, and only need to know the locations of
these in the warehouse, not the internal design. They expect
the new warehouse to be sufficient for 5 years growth at peak
volume levels.
Judging
The three academic and two industry judges evaluated the
entries according to the criteria of product flow, equipment
utilization, space utilization, operational plan, overall
integration and economic justification. Additionally, the
judges were asked to evaluate writing quality, analysis and
presentation.
The Results
First Place ($1500 split among the team plus $500
for the department):
Will Chen, Rohith Kori, Andres Marquez, Janet Wolf
Virginia Tech
Dr. Russell D. Meller, Advisor
Second Place ($1000 split among the team plus $500
to the department):
Erin Bushey, Erik Lewis, Anna Nicholson
North Carolina State University
Dr. Clarence Smith, Advisor
Third Place ($500 split among the team plus $500 to
the department):
Jason Kistner, Sarah Ballard, Emily Johnson, Joshua
Dennie
Rochester Institute of Technology
Dr. Andres L. Carrano, Advisor
Honorable Mentions:
Nicole Pack, Kyle Cope, Greg Squires, Greg Newton
California Polytechnic State University
Dr. Lizabeth Schlemer, Advisor
Anshu Jalora, A. Reha Botsali
Texas A&M University
Dr. Brett Peters, Advisor