Use Your Website to
Help Customers Find
What They Need
If you are looking for ways to enhance
your website to more efficiently serve your
customers, Blish-Mize can help.
By adding a simple link to your site, you
can lead customers to a catalog that shows
all Blish-Mize products. The catalog page still
has your store name on it and is part of your
page. And this service is completely free!
If you don’t have a website but are
interested in one, consider trying a website
service offered by Distribution America (DA).
For a small fee, DA can help you build a
website and show you how to maintain it.
To learn more about either of these
services, contact Cindy Kane at 913-367-
1250, ext. 167, or
. Or,
if you’re at the Fall Buying Market, stop by
the sales support booth to get signed up or
get any questions answered.
Wireless Ordering
Are your ordering capabilities at full
speed? All of Blish-Mize’s new ordering
devices are equipped with a full wireless
option. Make sure you’re hooked in!
With the new system, both the prices and
availability of all new items are updated in real
time, rather than having available information
only from your latest update. The Quantity
Available amounts are also current. As a
result, your order totals will be more accurate.
All new items will also be available for
earlier ordering, and you can send your order
directly from the scanning device, rather than
having to cradle it and connect to a computer.
If you don’t have the wireless ordering
system, contact your Blish-Mize sales
representative today. You can also learn more
and order these systems at the Blish-Mize Fall
Buying Market.
New Voice Command
Picking System
Employees who pick orders at the
distribution center were recently trained on
a new voice picking system, making picking
orders faster, easier and more accurate.
This new system, developed by WaveLink,
increases accuracy and efficiency for employ-
ees as they process orders. Team members are
now guided, quickly and easily, by listening
to commands and talking to the system.
This is done through the use of a headset
and microphone. From there, the system
guides the order picker to the correct bin
location, providing the aisle number, item
number and the quantity needing to be
picked. Then the system prompts the order
picker to scan the item’s UPC code for a
100-percent accurate pick.
“It’s a low-cost, highly efficiency voice-
picking system that will improve our already-
high accuracy,” says Blish-Mize Executive
Vice President of Operations Greg Lutz.
The new system was fully implemented
in the Broken Case Pick areas of the
distribution center at the end of July and
should be implemented in the Full Case Pick
area later this fall.
Quality Control
A full-time Quality-Control Auditor
position was established in the spring, with
the goal to ensure the highest accuracy and
efficiency among the production/order-
picking employees at the distribution center.
“The Quality Control Auditor’s main
responsibility is to randomly select 3 to 5
percent of each employee’s work, or orders
picked, and do checks of that portion,”
says Lutz. “We’ve been monitoring the
accuracy of each employee and the group,
and we’re seeing good results from the
auditing process.”
Employees are rewarded for high
accuracy levels. “Accuracy is so important,”
says Lutz. “We want to get the orders right
the first time, and having an auditor spot
check ensures we’re doing just that.”
Partnering With
Variety Distributors
Blish-Mize vendor Variety Distributors,
the largest general merchandise distributor
in the United States serving independent
retailers, will be partnering their market with
Blish-Mize this fall.
“Variety Distributors has been a vendor
of ours for quite some time,” says Blish-
Mize Vice President of Purchasing Wayne
Lueckenhoff. “Since 2000, our customers
have been able to buy from them, and theirs
from us, on a drop-ship basis.”
Variety’s presence at the Market means
you can find party goods, seasonal products,
cleaning supplies and more. Their show will
be in the 25,000-square-foot ballroom area.
“Although we’ve worked with Variety
for some time, it’s our first time doing a
show together, and we’re excited about the
opportunity,” says Lueckenhoff. “They’ll
have customers who can see the hardlines
products we have to offer, and you can see all
the products Variety has available.
“It’s a good way to expose their customers
more thoroughly to our products, and vice
versa,” he says. “It’s a win-win.”
Celebrating 40 Years
of Service
On behalf of Blish-Mize, we recognize and
congratulate truck driver Rex Hines for his
exemplary service behind the wheel for more
than 40 years. Rex has logged over 3,000,000
miles servicing his Blish-Mize customers with
on-time deliveries, courteous service and an
COMPANY NEWS
Rex Hines
32
Fall 2014 •
Hardlines
Strategies
