Breakthru Beverage Group Wins Best Warehouse Innovation
As we wrap up our annual Distributor Best Practices, Breakthru Beverage Group stood out in the Best Warehouse Innovation category.
Warehouses are the heart of a wholesaler’s operation ─ making warehouse innovations crucial to a distributor’s success. Warehouse discrepancies can impact efficiency, costs and, most importantly, customer satisfaction.
A wholesaler as large as Breakthru Beverage Group must be regularly implementing warehouse innovation to stay competitive within the industry. That’s why the company launched its SEAL Continuous Improvement Team in October 2023.
Breakthru Delaware launched the SEAL Continuous Improvement Team to unlock operational efficiencies across the organization. Since its inception, the SEAL team has delivered impressive results, including streamlining processes and fostering cross-functional collaboration.
“Since our SEAL Team’s inception, we’ve successfully resolved nearly 90 issues across both Sales and Operations,” says Tim Danning, executive vice president of Breakthru Delaware. “Our focus remains on striking the right balance between maintaining continuity and fostering innovation. We actively invite new stakeholders to join the team, recognizing that fresh perspectives are essential to continuous improvement.”
A Collaborative Warehouse Team
The SEAL Team’s goal is to enhance communication, solve operational challenges and build trust between teams. To ensure all voices are heard and collaboration thrives, the SEAL Team abides by the following set of guiding principles:
Create a safe environment for all to participate
Focus on the future, not the past
Assume positive intent
No overtalking or sidebar conversations
Allow others to talk and share opinions
Turn-taking
Constructive comments only
Each SEAL meeting concludes with clearly defined action items, assigned owners and agreed-upon follow-ups to ensure accountability and progress.
Approximately 25 team members serve on the SEAL Continuous Improvement Team at any given time, with representation from every department. Subject matter experts are brought in to offer insights and solve issues quickly and effectively. Members typically serve for at least one year, and about a dozen have been part of the team since October 2023.
Since launch, the team has addressed more than 25 key opportunity areas across the Breakthru Delaware business, including seven improvements specific to Warehouse Operations.
One standout example of the SEAL team’s success in the implementation of the FIFO (First In, First Out) process in the beer business. This initiative was developed to reduce out-of-code products and improve communication when beer inventory approaches its sell-by date. This program has been one of Breakthru Delaware’s largest operational successes to date.
Starting in January 2024, the warehouse started to track the sell by date for three high velocity beer items. As of December 31, 2024, the warehouse was tracking 26 items and has reduced the percentage of out-of-code cases from 32% to 1.5%.
“Looking ahead, our plans include developing an enhanced communication platform designed to enable genuine information flow, both top-down and bottom-up, throughout our front-line teams,” says Danning. “Through the SEAL Team’s efforts, we’ve already achieved meaningful process improvements and greater efficiency. Our next goal is to refine our communication framework to drive stronger engagement, deeper buy-in and an even more connected culture.”
“Winning the Best Warehouse Innovation award is a tremendous honor and a proud moment for our entire Breakthru Delaware team,” Danning adds. “Our goal has always been to enhance communication, solve operational challenges and build trust between our associates. This recognition reflects the collaborative spirit we’ve worked hard to foster, where innovation comes from truly working together. It’s incredibly rewarding to see that being celebrated.”
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