Dunkin’ Donuts to Open Distribution Center in North Carolina

A Dunkin’ Donuts distribution center will open up early next year in an 80,000-square-foot building near Interstate 40 and Piedmont Triad International Airport.

Dunkin’ Donuts Mid-Atlantic Distribution Center, a Westampton, N.J.-based distribution cooperative, has signed a lease for the building at 8416 Triad Drive, just below West Market Street.

Officials with Dunkin’ Donuts MADC declined to comment. But real estate brokers involved with the deal confirmed the move. The new distribution center will provide supplies and ingredients to stores in Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia and South Carolina, said John Schultz, managing partner at High Point-based Triad Commercial Properties, who represented Dunkin’ Donuts MADC.

Schultz said the cooperative plans to start operations early next year, likely in January.

200 Workers Who Keep Dunkin’ Donuts Running Join Teamsters Local 25

The Massachusetts AFL-CIO reports that Drivers, Helpers Seek Affordable Healthcare, Strong Voice at Work
 
Nearly 200 workers who deliver products to Dunkin’ Donuts stores in New England voted to join Local 25 in Boston.

On August 11 and 12, the drivers and helpers at Northeast DCP in Bellingham, Massachusetts voted 100 to 78 to join Local 25. There are 194 workers in the bargaining unit. The drivers deliver all types of items to the stores, including the donut dough, furniture, coffee and coffee syrup, coffee machines, ad displays and other items.

A representation election at the company on April 1 fell short, but Local 25 filed charges against the company for violating the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) for misleading workers by telling them that their 401(k) retirement plan would end if they chose to join the Teamsters. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) overturned that election, paving the way for the second election.

“The company lost all its credibility by violating the NLRA,” said Sean M. O’Brien, President of Local 25. “This victory for the workers is an example of organizing in our core industry—trucking. Our charter going back more than a century mentions Local 25 being a union made up of drivers and helpers. This election brought us back to our roots.”

The workers are concerned about affordable healthcare, changes to their bonus plan and they want a consistent strong voice in the workplace.

To help make the campaign a success, Local 25 set up a special page on its local union website. The web page featured updates about the campaign, fliers and letters from O’Brien.

“We also coordinated an elite group of member organizers for worker-to-worker organizing,” O’Brien said. “Our members are some of our best organizers and this is just another example of why it is so important to engage our members. All of our agents and officers at Local 25 were also on the ground working this campaign.”

Massachusetts AFL-CIO

Dunkin’ Donuts Event Raises $715,000 for Cancer Research in One Day

Franchise Owners have raised more than $8 Million for the Jimmy Fund to date

Dunkin’ Donuts store owners, employees, suppliers and loyal customers in New England raised more than $715,000 for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s Jimmy Fund through proceeds generated from the 12th Annual Dunkin’ Donuts George Mandell Memorial Golf Tournament and Auction held on August 10, 2009. The event, organized by Dunkin’ Donuts Northeast Distribution Center (NEDCP) and held at The International Golf Club in Bolton, MA, has historically been one of the Jimmy Fund’s highest-grossing fund-raising tournaments nationwide.

Through 2008, Dunkin’ Donuts franchisees and vendors in the Northeast donated more than $7.3 million to specifically fund the work of the “Rising Stars” physicians at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI).

The $715,000 donated in 2009 and all fund-raising activities moving forward will now benefit “The Dunkin’ Donuts ‘Right Cures Rid Cancer’ Research Fund.” This new program supports the Center for Clinical and Translational Research at Dana Farber where doctors lead research and testing to better understand and treat disease based upon each individual’s cancer. The program emphasizes academic / industry collaborations to ensure that the most promising and innovative technologies move rapidly to the medical marketplace and patient care.

This year, canister contributions made by consumers at participating Dunkin’ Donuts shops totaled more than $16,000 and were also included in the total via a check presented from the Dunkin’ Donuts Community Foundation.

“This event is successful every year through the generosity of our franchisees, vendors, Dunkin’ Brands and DCP employees,” said David Liguori, Tournament Chairman and Chief Operating Officer of Dunkin’ Donuts National DCP. “The addition of generous consumer contributions in 2009 marks the start of an integrated opportunity for future fund-raising growth. Despite challenging economic times, there is a distinct passion for the Jimmy Fund and the cause it represents. The tragedy of cancer is pervasive and we want to contribute in any way that we can to help Dana Farber Cancer Institute find a cure for this horrible disease.”

Nancy Rowe, Director of the Jimmy Fund Golf Program adds, “The commitment by Dunkin’ Donuts is extraordinary and vitally important to the work of Dana Farber. We are grateful for their continued devotion to the Jimmy Fund.”

The Dunkin’ Donuts George Mandell Memorial Golf Tournament began in 1998 in honor of George Mandell, a Dunkin’ Donuts franchisee who died of cancer. Today, the tournament continues with terrific momentum paying tribute to members of the Dunkin’ Donuts community who have since lost their lives to cancer and celebrating those who have been treated and are now on their way to being cancer-free.

QSR

Best Practices: Voice-directed picking

To improve picking operations, Dunkin’ Donuts leapfrogged bar code scanning, jumping from a paper-based solution to voice-directed picking.

Modern Materials Handling

What’s been the hottest automatic identification technology used to improve the productivity of order pickers in warehouses over the last few years?

If you guessed voice, you’re right. The advantage of hands-free picking can lead to significant efficiencies over traditional RF-directed picking, especially in carton and each picking operations.

That’s one of the reasons Dunkin’Donuts replaced a paper-based system with a voice-directed order picking system (Voxware) at its Mid-Atlantic distribution center in Westhampton, N.J. In fact, Dunkin’ bypassed bar code scanning altogether. The result: Double-digit productivity gains and increased accuracy. But beyond that, the donut maker has also seen a better, safer work environment, and a 50% drop in turnover.

In the initial stages, voice was used for three major tasks, in addition to order picking:

1. The voice system directs order pickers through required safety inspections of lift trucks at the beginning of each shift.
2. The voice system directs the in-sequence loading of completed pallet loads into over-the-road trucks.
3. The system directs truck loaders through trailer inspections that must be completed before a truck is loaded.

The next stage included plans to voice-enable inventory putaway and replenishment. The idea: Just as voice enables hands-free picking, Dunkin’s lift truck operators saw an advantage in being able to drive with one hand, operate hydraulics with the other hand and just talk instead of scanning. Eventually, the facility managers would like to use voice technology to direct cycle counting and receiving, and to integrate the voice system with a yard management system.

But in addition to productivity improvements, voice is keeping turnover low by helping workers achieve the accuracy rates Dunkin’ Donuts demands. Training new employees is easier with the voice system than it was with the paper-based system.

Safety has been another key benefit of voice. Order pickers are no longer looking down at paper lists as they’re driving their pallet jacks, and that has dramatically reduced lift truck accidents and injuries, which has led to Dunkin having better workers’ compensation coverage.

Following the success of voice in the New Jersey facility, Dunkin’ rolled it out to three more DCs.

Modern Materials Handling