Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, entertainment

How Diamond Is Expanding – And Its All The Fault Of Variant Covers

We heard a bit about Diamond Comic Distributors' current expansion of their Olive Branch central inventory and shipping distribution center in Mississippi, at Baltimore's Retail Summit, but yesterday Diamond sent all retailers an in-depth look at the future of the distributor in 2017, it's 35th year.

Owner Steve Geppi describes it as "one of the largest investments I've ever made in Diamond and our industry."

The  Olive Branch Distribution Center, when established in 2009, was 600,000 square feet in area, and was predicted to suffice Diamond's needs until at least 2021. It exceeded that in 2014.

Diamond cite the increase in variant covers, each example of which needs its own distribution space, for running out of room, as well as a boom in interest in comic pop culture.

This necessitated emergency measures, an additional warehouse to store comics and products in other locations, which has been inefficient and delayed deliveries.

So they leased two new facilities in Olive Branch, one for weekly new product shipping, and the other for storage.

And now they've analysed their internal data and statistics to create new software, procedures, handling equipment and more storage space, upping the amount of orders they can manage.

They've created a mezzanine which, with the rest of the expansion, allows for 21,000 more product items, and are adding 16,000 more places for pallets for backstock storage.

They've added a new mile of conveyor belts in increase how many orders can be picked and packed an hour, as well as weighing, measuring and labelling machines, and a ceiling monorail for the movement of empty boxes.

New working practices are coming into place to improve accuracy, checking with barcodes and using order packing specialist to pick the right box to minimise damage of products in shipping, scanning again for any errors.

And the Dennis Bargers out there should be pleased to hear that Diamond are researching different types and sizes of boxes for shipping product in.

The expansion has cost Diamond millions and employees their free time. Much is underway, but they expect the change to continue into early 2017.

So hopefully next year, we'll be spared scenes like this…

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