Siggins blog

Case study: With systems integrators, bigger isn’t better. Why?

By his own description, William Burke’s job is to put out fires. Not the kind that requires a hose and flame-retardant. They’ll still burn you, though.

Burke’s managed distribution centers for a long time. A poor decision means extended downtime or a crippling, wrong-headed investment.

And even though Burke’s made major progress in his career, the work is still tricky. “It’s a balancing act,” he said, “between investment for the future vs. cost control for the current.”

But he hasn’t done it alone. Burke’s partnered with Siggins for brownfields and greenfields several times over the years. And these days, he hops on the phone with Siggins to shoot around ideas for DC expansion informally, too.

​​​But there was a time when Burke looked elsewhere for systems integration support. He had his reasons. Then he came back to Siggins. He had his reasons for that, too.

It’s a good story. Here’s how it all went down.

2010: First impressions

DCs were different back then. Burke had just moved into a role in operations for a fast-growing sporting goods retailer — and at the time, the organization was still taking orders over the phone and through the mail. The retailer had just contracted Siggins for some retrofit work. It wasn’t their first time.

But it was Burke’s first experience watching Siggins at work. And what he noticed was Siggins’ commitment to the project — ​​Siggins engineers were on-site, constantly responsive, willing to come in on weekends if something seemed off. They knew that the stakes of downtime for the DC were high. Any delays and a horde of customer fingers would be dialing their phone lines, demanding answers, sinking their reputation. So they didn’t let delays happen.

​​​It was choreography. Siggins planned schedules for all the installation crews, knockdown crews, electricians and operational teams to work in alignment. Everything came together at the right moment and Burke’s DC stayed on schedule. Within months, Burke was ready to meet increased demand.

Real success. But fast forward a decade later, and Burke’s team did not end up initially going with Siggins for their biggest project yet. ​​Why?

2020: “I was flat-out wrong.”

A greenfield located just off of the interstate. Perfectly positioned to send packages out east and west. 340,000 square feet — and the sporting goods retailer wanted to use every square inch of it.

Burke now had 10 years of experience in DC operations. And the new greenfield was a distribution center, yes. But it was also something much larger.

Burke’s senior leadership wanted to build a new campus that would last 500 years.

That’s not a typical project for a run-of-the-mill systems integrator. Which is what Burke thought Siggins was. He figured this work was too big for a mid-sized integrator based in Kansas City.

So Burke brought in another, larger systems integrator. He thought it was the perfect fit — they were “the Cadillac” of systems integrators. But things went downhill.

“Honestly,” said Burke, “they drove me crazy.”

Work was moving slowly. Months into the project, the design proposal still wasn’t complete. And Burke was getting suspicious. The keystone element that the larger integrator was constantly pushing for didn’t make full use of the DC’s height. Why? Every time Burke questioned their thinking, he was told there was no other option.

So Burke and the rest of his leadership team decided that it was time to talk to Siggins again. And Siggins moved fast. As Burke recalled it:

“They brought their A-game to the table, and I mean it was a night-and-day difference. They put a full DC together in a few weeks […] It’d been three months with [the larger integrator] and all I had was the building and the corner, and we were still struggling to figure out that keystone piece.” 

Over a 4 hour meeting, Siggins presented the full solution to the retailer’s leadership team. Burke remembers that Siggins listened more than they spoke. But by the end of the meeting, their design was approved. And it was a mammoth, well-suited to carry a 500-year campus. It included features like:

• ​​​An OPEX Perfect Pick for storage and retrieval
• A Packsize system to streamline shipping
• Extensive automated conveyors to reduce walking
• Robotic fork trucks for material handling
• Multiple mezzanines for seamless movement within the facility

“I thought Siggins was too small for some projects,” Burke said, “And I was wrong, was flat out wrong.”

It’s true: Siggins isn’t the biggest systems integrator in the business. But that’s because we don’t need to be. 

Any systems integrator will tell you that you don’t need 100 people in your warehouse when 50, working smartly, will do the job better. But the big systems integrators won’t tell you that the same logic applies to systems integrators themselves.

A systems integrator that’s agile and wholly committed to you, not to manufacturers, will always be the stronger option. Burke finally came to that realization himself.

2021: Whiteboards and career moves

The implementation needed to happen fast (they often do) but wasn’t problem-free (they never are). To Burke, what’s important is how those problems are handled.

For the 500-year campus, early testing revealed that his packaging machine was swiftly turning into a package-crushing machine. That’s the kind of problem that needs to be fixed quickly.

And it was. Siggins leverages their relationships (not financial ties) with lots of manufacturers to source smart technology for tailored, distinct designs. But when there’s a problem with one of those designs, their engineering team jumps into action, fast:

“Having seen it firsthand, it’s watching them get in a room, have this problem scoped out and then try and figure out how to do it. So it’s drawing on a whiteboard, it’s saying it’s very easy to go this direction vs. that direction […] And so it’s just nice to watch. Everybody talks, which isn’t typically the case, even junior engineers speak up and offer opinions.”

The project was completed in July 2022. And aside from being a visually arresting feat of design, it’s set the retailer up for flexible, scalable growth. Technology is always going to look different 5 years down the line. So Siggins builds facilities that accommodate that advancement — offering stable, structured ROI.

Burke is no longer with the sporting goods retailer. He’s now the Global Director of Engineering for a major outerwear brand, one you can find in any mall in the country. So the DC systems he’s now responsible for are even larger than the 500-year campus.

He brought Siggins with him. Siggins isn’t big enough to show up on the Gartner Quadrants. So getting his new colleagues to understand the value Siggins offered wasn’t easy. But Burke did just that.

Per Burke: “They go a little bit further and try and understand who we are as a company. That lets them dig a little bit deeper and propose not only creative solutions, but solutions tailored to the ROI targets that we have for ourselves.”

​​​Burke has invited Siggins engineers to come visit his new DCs across the country a few times now. He’s got plans. He’s excited to see where they’ll go.

It’s your turn

Siggins is there for DCs as they grow. That’s straightforward enough. But we’re also helping you, specifically, bring value to your company.

You don’t need to build a 500-year campus to get value out of a Siggins engagement. We’re happy to talk about DCs at any scale.

Get a site survey now. We can be at your facility within days.