Feed and pet food manufacturers benefit from flexible, state-of-the-art facilities
D&D Ingredient Distributors, Inc. is in the process of wrapping up a busy construction season, with two major capital expansion projects nearing completion, including a new warehouse and expanded transloading facilities.
On completion, the new 62,500 sq. ft. warehouse at the main Delphos, Ohio manufacturing campus will include a highly automated inventory management system, which will be able to accommodate up to 6,500 pallet positions. In operation, the new warehouse management system will integrate with the existing system currently tracking more than 750 products, complete with their traceability, supplier, and quality assurance data.
D&D also is expanding bulk rail and truck transloading capacity with new bin volume (two bins of 1,000-ton each). These and other capital improvements significantly increase available storage and handling capacity for even faster and more flexible bulk ingredient conversion services — rail-to-truck and bulk package-to-truck.
Expanded transloading locations
The Delphos campus features three transloading locations, served by the CFE (Chicago, Ft. Wayne and Eastern Railroad), with rail facilities expanded last year for increased capacity of up to 20 more rail cars. These facilities handle a wide range of bulk ingredients for feed and pet food products in a safe and efficient manner, loading into both hopper and pneumatic bulk trailers.
“Our expanded, state-of-the-art warehouse and transloading facilities,” says D&D President Arnie Miller, “offer animal feed and pet food manufacturers extraordinary speed and flexibility in short and long term storage as well as bulk ingredient conversion.”
Logistical flexibility
For example, D&D Director of Operations & Business Development, points to the wide array of pet foods and treats now available online, in pet stores, and covering whole supermarket aisles.
Pet food manufacturers — and a growing number of commercial feed manufacturers — now require superior logistical flexibility and technical expertise to help source, convert, and deliver these traceable ingredients, including “ancient grains” and grain-free proteins, as well as organic, non-GMO, and many more types of products that echo human food market trends.
Supply chain rethink
D&D helps manufacturers optimize opportunities in key ingredient components and products by:
• Bridging the gap between ingredient source and manufacturer
• Offering cost-efficient multi-modal logistics
• Providing safe bulk conversion, handling, and storage
• Delivering product on-time