One year after opening a LEED gold certified distribution center in West Grove, PA, Dansko celebrated the first birthday of its innovative facility. Built by Pennsylvania-based construction company W.S. Cumby, the distribution center works to fulfill Dansko's pursuit of the "triple bottom line," which values People, Planet and Profit.
Under the direction of Chief Operating Officer Mimi Curry and Co-Founder Peter Kjellerup, Dansko worked with Bernardon Haber Holloway architects from Kennett Square, Pa., to design the sustainable facility. In order to reduce the building's energy use, Dansko partnered with Dynamic Energy in Chesterbrook, Pa., who developed a PV system comprised of 1,092 solar panels. The modern system produces 30% of the building's energy needs. Dansko also worked with Gilmore & Associates Engineers of Kennett Square, Pa. to maintain local water quality and reduce water consumption. Efforts included porous paving, vegetated swales and rain gardens, and low-flow and waterless plumbing fixtures.
Internally, the distribution center benefits from a state-of-the-art robotics system named Kiva, a series of machines that store and transport goods to workstations throughout the facility. Kiva enables employees to pick items for as many as six orders simultaneously, dramatically reducing previous walking distances of 5-8 miles per day. Since transitioning to the automated Kiva system, employees have reported higher energy levels and greater job satisfaction.
Dansko's modern facility also boasts an Enterprise Resource Planning system, a tool used to manage inventory and order processes, and a Warehouse Control conveyor and sorting system, a machine that reduces physical handling of goods by staff. With these advancements, Dansko has reduced order turnaround from 5-7 business days to 1-2 business days, tripled throughput capacity of at-once orders, and quadrupled staging capacity of future orders.
These innovations enabled the one-year-old facility to earn LEED(Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) gold certification, as awarded by the U.S. Green Building Council. The LEED program provides third-party verification of green buildings, offering certification to building projects that satisfy rigorous environmental prerequisites.
Founded in 1990 by wife and husband team, Mandy Cabot and Peter Kjellerup, Dansko, literally translated as "Danish shoe," leads the comfort footwear market in award-winning design and customer service. Today, we are 185 employee-owners strong, changing the quality of people's lives through our products, our passion, and our commitment to a better tomorrow.
