Boscov’s regained speed by modernizing the sorter, not the building

Modern Materials Handling’s system report on Boscov’s, published 10 September 2026, describes a modernization that did not enlarge the 395,000-square-foot distribution center. The project replaced automation hardware and controls, added sortation capacity, added storage in a new order-processing area, and brought in warehouse-execution functionality from DLN.

The reported operating result is specific. The building can ship 65,000 cartons in 10 hours. Previously it struggled to ship more than 50,000 in less than 16 hours. Camera-based barcode readers and tighter gaps between cartons are part of the account, along with retirement of a large three-to-one merge.

The maintenance implication is the same one a newer technician meets on any rebuilt line. The controls are new, the mechanical path is partly old, and the fault still has to be named before a part is changed.