405: Route Deliveries Lean Improvement

The four members of engineering senior design team 405 stand together on the third floor breezeway at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering.

Second Harvest of the Big Bend (SHBB), a nonprofit food bank, faced challenges in its distribution process, including high idle times during product pickups and inconsistent operational practices. To understand these challenges, we conducted truck ride-alongs, interviewed drivers and toured facilities to gather important preliminary information about the logistics. We then performed a quantitative analysis, using software tools such as Verizon Connect to extract the top 10 retail stores with the highest idle times. Our utilization study revealed that SHBB’s fleet operated 20-30% below industry standards in idle time/movement time ratios, indicating significant room for improvement. We calculated cost metrics, highlighting idle time as the primary area for potential savings.

To address this, we implemented three solutions: a standardized package for day-to-day trucking operations to minimize non-value-added idle time, management visibility tools such as automated dashboards and route optimization to ensure that high-idle stores received pickups consistently at the same time. These measures aimed to streamline operations, improve internal and external communications, reduce costs and enhance overall efficiency.

Emily Samantha Stout, Luis Eduardo Mastellari, Julia Werner, Michael Javier Dominguez, Katie Hien Vu

Ernesto Garcia, Ph.D.

Second Harvest

Spring