Memphis - Capital of the Real World

Smart Trucks

Technology makes even the traditional muscle trades smarter and more efficient. Memphis-based MS Carriers Inc., one of the nation's largest trucking companies, equips each of its 3,300 rigs, whether company- or driver-owned, with a small computer. The computers monitor 130 variables about each truck, checking them every 6 minutes, 24 hours a day. That cascade of data flows into sophisticated decision-making software that helps the company's schedulers figure out which drivers should get which loads.

The computers also improve on-board efficiency: 50% of the time, MS Carriers knows, the engines on its trucks are idling to provide heat or air-conditioning for sleeping drivers. With the new system, each truck's engine turns on and off as needed, reducing engine wear and fuel waste while maintaining the driver's comfort.

MS Carriers calls itself a "time-definite" trucking company. "We operate by appointment only," says CEO Mike Starnes, "for both pick-up and drop-off. We go by the minute. Some people give you 15 minutes' leeway. We don't do that." The company moves 2,000 loads a day, with an on-time delivery rate of 98%.

Pickers & Movers

Mark Lott works a forklift in the back end of one of Williams-Sonoma's three buildings in Memphis. The forklift has ergonomic throttle controls, air-conditioning, a small computer, a laser-driven barcode scanner, and a printer. "This is my office," Lott says. The computer communicates by radio frequency with the main warehouse computer, which tells him where to store incoming merchandise and what to retrieve for the packers. Lott keeps the mother computer up to date by scanning in the products he's moving and the locations to which he's delivering them.

In another area of the complex, staff members called "pickers" wear computers on their wrists. The computers have a screen on which a picker can read radio-transmitted instructions about which products to move. Each glove-style computer also has a scanner in its nose: To track an order, all the picker need do is aim and shoot.

The entire system - all the technology, all the people - is designed to keep Memphis moving. In fact, the people who run these huge facilities know that nothing matters if the product doesn't move. Says Jerry Owens, senior vice president for distribution at Williams-Sonoma: "We hate people to call us a warehouse."

Charles Fishman cnfish@mindspring.com is a Fast Company contributing editor.