The Challenge
In late 2021, a major retail distribution centre was under pressure heading into peak season. The manual sortation team couldn’t keep up. Throughput fell short, unit costs increased and the labour-hire model had no operating system to stabilise performance or workforce productivity.
The Solution
Young Guns was initially engaged to stabilise labour coverage. Within weeks, proven reliability and measurable uplift enabled a transition to full shift ownership under a fixed rate-per-activity commercial model. This moved the conversation from hours supplied to output delivered.
With trust established, Young Guns deployed our Potential First operating system. This is built on embedded leadership, visible performance measures and team ownership of results.
- Leadership infrastructure. On-site leaders coach performance daily, maintain standards and build clear accountability, so output doesn’t depend on who turns up.
- Productivity pay model. Team-based incentives reward throughput while protecting safety and quality, lifting pace without cutting corners.
- High-performance culture. Clear expectations and recognition create ownership for output, reducing drift, rework and day-to-day variability.
- Performance scoreboard. Real-time visibility makes performance self-managing, so issues are seen early and corrected fast.
- Lean layout restructure. Reduced travel and wasted motion to improve flow, lifting throughput without adding headcount.
- Kaizen Blitz. A structured improvement event with the customer to remove waste, lock in better ways of working and drive further unit-cost reduction.
This wasn’t a headcount solution. It was an operating-system shift. We changed how work was led, measured and owned so performance became predictable.
The Impact
The impact extended well beyond the targeted process area, delivering measurable improvements across cost, productivity and overall site performance. By introducing a more efficient operating model and clearer accountability, the distribution centre achieved sustained gains that continue to deliver value for the client.
- 53% OWR improvement
- 12.7% decrease in cost per unit
- $856K in annual savings delivered through sustained CPU reduction
Improving this one area of the distribution centre delivered a 17% uplift in overall site performance, significantly exceeding the client’s targeted annualised improvement. Since implementation, performance has remained stable, with minimal variation in OWR results. The change also reduced management overhead by freeing client leaders to focus on higher-priority activities, contributing to broader improvements across the DC. In addition, transitioning to a fixed rate-per-activity charging model eliminated cost-per-unit variability, providing greater cost certainty and operational consistency.