KAMAN EXPANDS WITH HI-TECH DISTRIBUTION CENTER

NASHVILLE'S REPUTATION as 'Music City, USA' has taken another step forward with the opening of Kaman Music's new distribution facility. Located a dozen miles north of downtown in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, the newly constructed 100,000-square-foot facility began ramping up its operations in May. The new facility features the latest in warehousing and materials handling technology and will have the capacity to process nearly 2,000 packages per day.

Kaman is consolidating two distribution centers in Buffalo Grove, Illinois, and Atlanta, Georgia, into the new facility. 'It wasn't possible to expand the way we needed to in these two current locations,' said Bob Saunders, Kaman's chief operating officer. 'It became clear that the best way to service our growing customer base in the heartland of America was with a single state-of-the-art new facility.'

In addition to a half-dozen sites in the Nashville area, the company considered other cities, including Memphis and Louisville. 'One of the big drivers in choosing Nashville was its importance as a music industry center,' said Saunders. 'Also, 50% of the U.S. population is located within 650 miles of Nashville. This puts almost every music dealer in the country within two days of a Kaman distribution facility by UPS Ground.'

A major UPS facility is located on Briley Parkway, a short distance from the Kaman warehouse. 'We worked extensively with the site location people at UPS in making our decision,' commented Saunders. 'Nashville has become one of the most active shipping hubs for UPS. This, combined with the technology in our new facility, should give our Midwest and Southeast customers a high level of service.'

With over two acres of musical merchandise under one roof, priority has been given to efficient shipping and receiving. The facility features 16 loading docks and an extensive receiving area. The warehouse will feature a 'high-velocity' picking area for fast-moving items served by a conveyor system link to the packing and shipping department. The 24-foot clear ceiling height gives the warehouse a particularly high cubic capacity. Kaman plans to have 30-50 employees at the new facility.

21st Century Goals

'This facility is part of our extensive modernization,' said Saunders. 'We've restructured our team and improved our internal communications, and we're currently bringing our 21st-century computer platform online. Our goal is to provide our customers with the fastest error-free order processing and delivery system in the industry.'

Kaman Music Corp is the largest U.S. distributor of musical products and accessories. The company's proprietary brands include Ovation and Takamine acoustic and acoustic electric guitars, Hamer electric guitars, and Gibraltar and Toca percussion instruments and hardware.

In addition to Goodlettsville, Kaman has distribution facilities located in Bloomfield, Connecticut; San Antonio, Texas; and Los Angeles, California. Kaman also distributes musical merchandise in Canada through its subsidiary B&J Music in Toronto.