Historically a user of Crown and Raymond reach trucks and order pickers, the North American subsidiary of a shoe manufacturer/retailer is adding distribution capacity.
Clarks Companies North America (CCNA) is constructing a 452,000 sqft. (40,680 sqm) logistics centre to complement an existing facility across Kindig Lane in Conewago Township in south central Pennsylvania's Adams County. The township issued a construction permit on 27 September listing the value of the project at USD38 million, says David Arndt Jr, zoning and code enforcement officer.
Neither details about CCNA's current fleet nor the requirements for additional forklifts were available.
Crews began earthmoving on 12 October at the 115-acre site near Hanover, Pennsylvania. Pending completion of the project in late 2012, the Adams County assessor's office lists the land under development at USD1.8 million for tax purposes. The existing space occupies 325,000 sqft. (29,250 sqm) and has an assessment of USD11.7 million.
"We are heavy into a project" involving point-of-sale, e-commerce and enterprise resource planning software systems in addition to building the logistics centre, says Jim Salzano, president of CCNA with subsidiary headquarters in the village of Newton Upper Falls, Massachusetts.
Clarks employs about 440 staff at the Conewago Township facility and may hire 50 to 75 additional workers. CCNA began planning the centre project in 2006.
CCNA selected Knapp Logistics Automation Inc of Kennesaw, Georgia to provide the centre's materials handling systems including an OSR Shuttle system that is used for goods-to-person picking, buffering, storage and sequencing.
"Based on a uniquely different concept, our solution utilised Knapp's extensive engineering expertise and broad technology portfolio to create a flexible, progressive system to support Clarks' order processes and future growth, says Josef Mentzer, chief operating officer of Knapp Logistics.
The Knapp technology is projected to enable the Clarks' centre to reach volumes of up to 50 million pairs annually. Current CCNA volume is about 20 million pairs.
Knapp Logistics is an operation of Knapp AG of Hart bei Graz, Austria.
CCNA received the fusion award for retail management excellence at the 2004 retail executive summit sponsored by Edgell Communications'
RIS News magazine.
The US Foreign Trade Zones Board established a special-purpose subzone at the existing Clarks facility in 2002. Campbell Trade Group Inc of York, Pennsylvania administers foreign-trade zone 147 for nine counties including Adams.
CCNA owns and operates more than 280 North American retail stores marketing and selling shoes under the Clarks, Bostonian, Indigo and Privo brands.
Parent firm C&J Clark International Ltd, operating as Clarks, is based in the village of Street in Somerset County, England. Members of the Clark family own 81% of the company, which Cyrus Clark and James Clark founded in 1825. CCNA accounts for about one-third of Clarks' business.