📦 Distribution center

A distribution center (DC) is a large warehouse of a retail chain. Goods arrive here from different makers and are then delivered to shops across the region. Milk from the dairy plant often reaches the shop not directly but through such a center.

In a DC, goods are split by storage conditions. There is a section for chilled foods: dairy, meat and ready meals. There is a section for frozen foods, one for fruit and vegetables, and one for “dry” goods. Milk is kept in cold rooms. Workers put together an order for each shop, so many boxes of milk, kefir and cheese, and load it into refrigerated trucks.

Some centers hold almost no stock. Goods arrive, are sorted right away and sent on. This method is called cross-docking. It helps get fresh goods to the shelf quickly. Distribution centers can be huge. For example, at the American chain Walmart, one center supplies from 50 to 125 stores. This way a retail chain can bring fresh milk to hundreds of shops every day.