LEWISTON – It will be an automated shoe nirvana.
Local manufacturer Diamond Phoenix is building the largest carousel system in the world for e-tailer Zappos.com, big enough to hold 1.5 million pairs of shoes in a new Louisville warehouse.
The system will have 120 horizontal carousels, each about 7 feet high, stacked with shelves of shoes, and each on its own oval track, said President Larry Slayhorn. It’s designed to move shoes to the front after customers order them online.
Workers will be alerted to the orders through signals over special wristwatches. Shoes will be pulled and sent on their way down a conveyor belt, for packing and shipping.
Slayhorn said his company has built similar carousels in the past, just not so many working together this way at once.
“It’s the first time anyone’s taken carousels to this level,” he said. “Convincing a client to take that step was pretty daunting.”
It’ll more than double Zappos.com’s current storage area. That company bills itself as “the Web’s most popular shoe store.” It’s got 300 brand names and uses wide selection as a selling point.
It sells everything from sneakers to stilettos.
Slayhorn said this multimillion-dollar contract is Diamond Phoenix’s first with Zappos.com. The carousels will be delivered in January, and will take two to three months to install.
Diamond Phoenix has built carousel systems for other retailers, food and hardware stores and pharmacies. Past customers include Elizabeth Arden, Boeing, Hallmark, Goodyear and Duracell.
Diamond Phoenix has about 95 employees and is hiring eight more professionals, Slayhorn said. The new jobs are indirectly related to the Zappos.com contract.
“The company has had tough times the last three, four years,” Slayhorn said. “This contract has really helped us solidify the company,” and prepare it for growth.
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