Pictured in Virginia ABC ’ s 310,000 square foot distribution center — Back row : Joe Sattelmaier , Customer and End User Support Manager ; Frank Monahan , Special Agent in Charge , Bureau of Law Enforcement ; Pat Kane , Public Relations Specialist ; and Tim Hugo , Chairman . Front row : Kristina Yager , Licensee Education and Prevention Coordinator ; Tyler Moore , Senior Distribution Center Manager ; and Travis Hill , Chief Executive Officer .

The 2023 Overall Best Practices Award Winner

BEST PRACTICES

team , and headquarters , and has consistently demonstrated its commitment to innovation and continuous improvement . It comes as no surprise that , for the third time in less than a decade , Virginia ABC is the winner of our Overall Best Practices Award for 2023 .

OPTIMIZING WAREHOUSE OPERATIONS In April 2021 , Virginia ABC began a multi-phase process of transitioning to a new state-of-the art distribution center , which is approximately 37 % larger than the agency ’ s previous warehouse and is expandable to 399,000 square feet .

“ The move to the new distribution center was a monumental endeavor and was central to so many of the things we were looking to do to improve efficiencies , incorporate more sophisticated technology , and achieve a higher ROI ,” said Tim Hugo , Chairman of the Virginia ABC Board .

The move was further complicated by challenges posed by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic , including supply chain issues , employee turnover , and IT system integration issues . All these factors resulted in a difficult 2021 holiday season for the agency .

“ COVID impacted everything , including our holiday success during our first year in the new building ,” said Tyler Moore , Senior Distribution Center Manager . “ We knew we needed to focus on how to better prepare ourselves for the upcoming year , still dealing with the effects of the pandemic but maximizing the new technology and operational processes afforded to us by the new facility .”

The following spring , a working group of employees from many different areas of the agency was formed and tasked with building innovative and effective solutions that would better prepare Virginia ABC and its customers for a successful 2022 OND ( October , November , December ). Team W . O . W . ( Warehouse Optimization Workgroup ) partnered with change management and retail leaders across Virginia ABC to identify ways of enhancing operations and logistics ; people , performance , and culture ; safety and enforcement ; and communications and training .

In just a few months , Team W . O . W . produced 54 separate deliverables while also enhancing team morale . ( Distribution center employees came up with their own team slogan , “ Sleighin ’ It ,” and the authority ’ s communications staff created a holiday sleigh logo that was proudly displayed on t-shirts and hats and widely adopted internally .)

Ultimately , Team W . O . W . is credited with implementing a number of new processes and best practices that enhanced warehouse safety : Virginia ABC set a record of 146 continuous days without a reportable distribution-related injury . The work of the team also improved employee engagement by creating additional training opportunities , operational structure , and role clarification .

As a result , the agency experienced a 32 % decrease in part-time employee turnover and a 5 % decrease in full-time turnover in 2022 compared to 2021 . Additionally , 2022 OND re-

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