Urban Outfitters zigs while others zag

193617 Resource 165493 94146 94146 1199300824294 1201280441208 Controlled Retailer chooses not to outsource distribution center to a 3PL

Urban Outfitters, a retail chain, brings the distribution center in house instead of outsourcing to a 3PL to increase the speed to market of their products.

Urban Outfitters, a retail chain, has a unique supply chain. They opened a distribution center in <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Reno</city> <state w:st="on">Nevada</state></place> to serve the western US. The warehouse is currently 175,500 square feet and can be expanded to 429,000 square feet. There is an advanced material handling system in the warehouse with a pick-to-light system for automated piece and carton picking. What makes them different is that they run the warehouse and not a 3PL. In 1998 Urban Outfitters used a 3PL, but has decided to not outsource that function. Ken McKinney, director of distribution at Urban Outfitters stated, concerning not using a 3PL, “Speed to market is a competitive advantage.” He also stated “I’m responsible for reducing the time from when it hits the port until it gets to the store. I knew we’d have more opportunities to do that ourselves than if we rely on a third party.” 9 application/xml false 3PL Material Handling Urban Outfitters Urban Outfitters zigs while others zag Modern Materials Handling http://www.mmh.com/blog/1000000500/post/590019459.html Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.0; en-US; rv:1.8.1.11) Gecko/20071127 Firefox/2.0.0.11 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 Establish 208.105.4.154 false true false false true 187565 false false true false false false true 165493 blog blogsite/ChinaSupplyChain/web