A Course to the Top

School Specialty’s plan is to continue along that track each time it makes an acquisition. Says Vander Zanden, “We’ve purchased 45 companies, and brought that down to eight distribution centers, and are looking to consolidate that even further to perhaps five.”

Change also has been taking place inside the DCs. For example, products now are being strategically placed in different warehouse facilities for easier distribution, according to Vander Zanden. “We put our ‘A’ products — the fastest-moving items — in all of the DCs. ‘B’ products are located in some DCs, and ‘C’ products probably only will be located in one or two DCs.”