Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/288975
128 / the tasting panel / april 2014 I n the fall of 2013, the town of Tracy, in California's Central Valley, became the pilot location for a new kind of distribution center operated by Southern Wine & Spirits of America, Inc. (Southern). The new facility, called the Southern Supply Center (SSC), is the first of several planned distribution hubs that will dramatically advance Southern's supply chain network and economics—great news for both suppliers and customers who will benefit from improved efficiencies and inventory availability as product stor- age and delivery is optimized through the new SSC. As a first in the wine and spirits industry, the SSC applies the regional distribution center (RDC) concept used in most other industries. The SSC is the brainchild of Bobby Burg, Senior Vice President of Supply Chain Strategy for Southern. Sitting around a conference table at the warehouse in Tracy, smack in the middle of farm country, Burg explains to a room of visiting Southern employees how this new warehouse is reshaping the way product goes to market. "Traditionally, suppliers have to send their product to every single state," he said, "but this facility allows us to buy for all of our states collectively, into one building, instead of into 15 buildings throughout 15 states. From this one center we re-distribute PHOTO: JONATHAN CRISTALDI A First for the Wine and Spirits Industry SOUTHERN WINE & SPIRITS PIONEERS A NEW ERA IN DISTRIBUTION by Jonathan Cristaldi At the Southern Supply Center in Tracy, CA: Mel Velez, VP of Purchasing and Logistics; Bobby Burg, SVP of Supply Chain Strategy; and Stephanie Silvestre, Senior Director, Supply Chain Transformation. TP0414_102-132.indd 128 3/21/14 2:54 PM