SpecialdeliveryDirect marketer Valpak’s new $220million production and distributionfacility in Florida is a hub of technologyand automated materials handling.By Bob Trebilcock, Executive Editor
modern SYSTEM REPORTEACH MONTH, A FAMILIAR BLUE ENVELOPEstuffed full of money-saving coupons and promotionsarrives at more than 45 million U.S. and Canadianhouseholds from Valpak, a Cox Target Media Company andNorth America’s leading cooperative direct marketer.Do the math and that works out tomore than 500 million envelopes, andmore than 20 billion coupons, mailedannually by Valpak.To print, assemble and distributethose mailings, Valpak invested $220million to build a new 470,000-squarefoot,state-of-the-art production and distributionfacility in St. Petersburg, Fla.The first envelope was shipped in Julyof 2007.Valpak describes the new facilityas a hub of technology where automationand robotics are at the core of theoperation.The solution designed and implementedby Valpak’s system integrator(Daifuku America, 801-359-9900,www.daifukuamerica.com) has resultedin one of the most advanced and automatedmanufacturing centers in theworld: While 430 workers are employedin the production areas, the movementof raw materials and finished goodsfrom the receiving dock to the shippingdock is almost entirely handled byautomated materials handling systems,including:• A four-crane unit-load automated storageand retrieval system (AS/RS) withroom for 8,250 pallets for the storageof pre-printed inserts and mailingmaterials used in production as wellas the temporary storage of palletizedfinished mail prior to shipment.• A two-crane unit-load AS/RS usedas buffer storage between the printingand collating processes.David Fox, Valpak’s vice president ofmanufacturing• A 17-crane mini-load AS/RS with8,900 tray storage locations for thestorage of pre-printed inserts in totesafter sorting and finished mail traysawaiting palletization.• 14 automatic guided vehicles (AGVs)used to transport reels of printedmaterials from the print area to thecollating area.• Seven rail-guided automatic transfervehicles (ATVs) used to move palletsto various points on a transportationloop within the facility.• A conveyor and sliding shoe sortationsystem that transports totesfrom the mini-load AS/RS to the collatingarea.• Four robotic palletizers used to loadfinished mailers onto pallets forshipment.In fact, lift trucks, the only conventionalmaterials handling technology inthe facility, are limited to loading andunloading trucks.Valpak, however, did not includeautomation for automation’s sake. Eachof the systems was chosen to minimizethe number of times printed andpre-printed inserts and promotions arehandled before an envelope leaves thefacility on its way to a consumer.“In our old facility, we might handlean insert 10 to 12 times before we got itout the door,” says David Fox, Valpak’svice president of manufacturing. “Today,the inserts we receive from suppliersare handled just once when we breakdown full pallets of inserts into totes.The inserts that we print in the facilitywon’t be handled until the consumeropens the envelope at home.”Thanks to automation, the facilitycan now turn around an order in four tosix hours, compared to four days in thepast. But the most important benefitfrom all of that technology is that thefacility can accommodate the aggressivegrowth targets Valpak has plannedfor the future—handling up to 54 billioninserts annually—without addingadditional labor or compromising accuracy,quality or efficiency.Meeting growing demandFounded in 1968 with a mailing of14 coupons to 20,000 households inClearwater, Fla., Valpak was purchasedby Atlanta-based Cox Enterprises in1991. After the purchase, the companycreated Cox Target Media, which hasgrown into one of the leading directmarketing companies in North America.The Valpak Web site (www.Valpak.com)is the largest local coupon site on theInternet. The new manufacturing facilityis one of the largest single capitalinvestments in Cox’s 107-year history.Valpak has not always been at theforefront of automated materials handlingtechnology, according to Fox.Prior to building the St. Petersburglocation, Valpak had a nearby plant inFlorida as well as a second facility inNorth Carolina. The last major systemsupgrades had been performed inthe 1960s and 70s. Meanwhile, CoxTarget Media Inc. had seen its businessincrease significantly over the previous10 years, outpacing the growth of thedirect mail industry.“Our two facilities were at capacityin our printing operations and nearcapacity for envelope stuffing,” Foxexplains. “Our processes were verylabor intensive. We were storing producton the floor or in pallet racks, andPHOTOGRAPHY BY CY CYR/Getty Imagesmmh.com MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING / JUNE 2009 15
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