European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 10, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                I and in Imhee Sargant Colbert a Tea ional bean employee during Ruth period. An most sophisticated warehouses Are empires of mechanized Racks and robotic carts ruled by computers the Job of machines at bean is to lend human beings a helping hand. My preference is to use the computer much More in work planning control and direction of the manual Effort and not to invest much in machinery said Thomas c. Day vice president for fulfilment operations. Computer keep track of the location of merchandise that has arrived from suppliers. That Means workers in receiving do not have to put like boxes of merchandise in the same place in the warehouse. They can put them on the nearest available shelf. Computers also organize similar orders into batches so workers can pick the required merchandise from the shelves in the most efficient manner. The computer suggests the shortest route through the warehouse and where on the cart to place each order. The computer also prints out the shipping Label and decides the cheapest Way to Send each order which is important because bean not its customers pays for shipping and handling. All this May sound fairly sophisticated but it is not. Relative to what we think of As a modern warehouse they Are not modern Kinney said. But bean s executives believe that an All out attempt jw10,1986 to automate its distribution centers would simply be a waste of Money. For one thing. Bean s business is highly seasonal the number of orders it handles jumps from 7,000 a Day during the slow summer months to a Peak of 58,000 before Christmas. That Means automated equipment would go underutilized much of the year. In addition highly automated storage and retrieval systems May work line when the products in question Are All roughly the same size shape and weight. But when the products Are As different As a flannel shirt and a fishing Rod no machine is a match for a human being. Day said. The work ethic still thrives in Maine and that certainly has something to do with Why the pickers and packers work so hard Lor the $5 to $6.60 an hour they earn relatively High wages there. Bean has enhanced that ethic with an atmosphere in which employees even seasonal workers feel a deep loyally to the company and its values. Old . Might not have approved of bean s computers at All. But his heart would undoubtedly have soared to hear Vertie Pettengill a 24-year-old picker say that customers always come first  the company will Exchange anything for any reason Pettengill said. . Bean inc. Is a master communicator. All employees even seasonal workers who might work Only a total of 80 hours receive up to one week of training. This indoctrination includes a film on the history of bean whose origins Date to the Early 1900s. When . Came up with the idea of a Boot that would keep his feet dry on Hunting trips. Lest the film not make a lasting impression posters with some of . 5 favorite sayings such As a customer is not dependent on us we Are dependent on him Are plastered All Over the premises. Bulletin boards also Are an important part of the bean culture. Customer letters both complaints and Praise Are pinned under a Section called messages from the  while Quality circles have been nothing More than a fad at Many corporations listening to workers suggestions is just Good business at bean. Bean also believes in letting workers know How they Are performing. Vital statistics such As How often customers Are sent what they order Are posted and updated daily. Productivity and accuracy records for each picker and Packer also Are maintained. Bean uses them to decide How much each worker should be paid. The wage that bean pays May not sound like much when compared with the earnings of steel worker s or Auto workers. But even though the Portland area has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country bean has had no trouble recruiting seasonal workers like Margaret Colbert whose husband is stationed at a naval base at nearby Brunswick. One reason is that bean hires most of its permanent employees from its Crew of temporaries. Another is that most of bean s hourly employees Are women who Are often not their families main breadwinners. The Money comes in Handy for Christmas  said Colbert who has four children and a grandson. Also attractive is the 33 percent discount on employee purchases. Judging from the smiling laces employees also heartily approve of bean s old fashioned custom of giving them a Little something extra for Christmas. Workers who have been at bean Foi it least three months find $100 in their stockings. Others find $20. And for those who work 1,000 hours or More a year there is a profit sharing payment which varies from 10 percent to 20 percent of salary in the Spring. Bean does have some additional plans for automation confessed Day who wears one of bean s Maroon Duck print ties and has a Watercolour of the famous Maine Hunting shoes on his office Wall. For instance the company is installing a computerized scale for automatically checking whether a package contains what it is supposed to. But this system will Only complement the human auditors. Do not worry about bean succumbing to High tech Rudlay said. To a certain extent some of us hate equipment he said. Why people Don t break  the stars and stripes Page 15