Category: Press Release

Arizona and New Jersey authentication centers get major upgrade

HILLIARD, Ohio — VARGO^®, a leading provider of material-handling systems integration, warehouse execution software and equipment solutions for major fulfillment and distribution centers, will upgrade authentication centers in New Jersey and Arizona to support fulfillment operations for The RealReal, a major national luxury consignment marketplace. The 2022-23 project includes a 500,000-square-foot facility in Perth Amboy, NJ and 600,000 square feet in Phoenix, AZ. VARGO^® state-of-the-art technology systems will help transform the online and brick-and-mortar retailer’s fulfillment network by increasing capacity to support their continued growth.

A three-phased approach has been planned to enhance each site’s performance and throughput capabilities. Phase one of the retrofits, which began in November 2022, will use MHS’s NBS-90 Polysort ship sorter for its unique capabilities to sort polybags more efficiently through traditional sorter techniques. Phase two will retrofit VARGO^® Speedpack matching stations to increase capacity, reduce order cycle times and re-control the e-commerce-specific conveyor system.

In the third and final phase, MHS conveyance will be incorporated throughout the processing area, from pick module through matching and connecting with the new shipping sorter. VARGO^®’s cloud based COFE^® Warehouse Control System (WCS) functionality will be deployed throughout to drive conveyance and put walls.

“We are excited to partner with the RealReal to use our technology to help them provide a faster, more efficient fulfillment system and an improved customer experience,” said Bart Cera, VARGO^® president and COO.

The complete system upgrade is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2023.

With over 16 years with VARGO^®, Cera will continue to lead the company to new heights in 2023

HILLIARD, Ohio (February 1, 2023) — VARGO^®, a leading provider of material-handling systems integration, warehouse execution software and equipment solutions for major fulfillment and distribution centers, has promoted Bart Cera to CEO with over 16 years in leadership roles with the company including COO and President.

Prior to his time at VARGO^®, Cera spent much of his career in the financial sector as a certified public accountant and earned his bachelor’s degree in finance from Bowling Green State University. Cera first joined the VARGO^® team in 2006 as CFO/COO at a time when the company was experiencing exponential growth and looking to hire a seasoned financial and operational mind to help organize the business. While his initial contribution relied largely on his finance expertise, Cera quickly found his footing in the materials handling, automated equipment and systems integration spaces and today, he is a seasoned advocate for VARGO^®’s approach to solving fulfillment challenges and their unique warehouse execution software, COFE^®.

In 2019, after over a decade with VARGO^®, Bart was promoted to President and COO. Since then, the worldwide impact of Covid-19 and overall trends in the retail industry have allowed Cera to lead VARGO^® to unprecedented success with significant industry interest and record-setting peak volumes across clients.

With Bart’s promotion to CEO, current CEO Mike Vargo will step into the role of Chairman of the Board. “I speak for myself and the board when I say that VARGO^® has prospered under Bart’s guidance and we have full confidence he will continue to bring record-breaking growth to us and our world-class clients,” said Vargo. “His background, institutional knowledge and leadership qualities are key to continuing our growth as we look to the future.”

HILLIARD, Ohio (December 22, 2022) — VARGO^®, a leading provider of material-handling systems integration, warehouse execution software and equipment solutions for major fulfillment and distribution centers, has completed work for a leading plus-size apparel retailer, to increase capacity and reduce order cycle times at its 1.1 million-square-foot facility in West Jefferson, Ohio.

VARGO^® installed its exclusive COFE^® warehouse execution software (WES) which will interface with the operation’s existing warehouse management system to enable waveless order fulfillment. VARGO^® will also retrofit the current item sortation systems with VARGO^® Speedpack matching stations to increase capacity, reduce order cycle times and re-control the e-commerce-specific conveyor system.

The conversion took place in two phases with the first phase consisting of both software and hardware modifications that re-control half of the system and will yield the same capacity as the current operations. During the second phase, VARGO^® retrofitted the remainder of the operation which will double the overall capacity.

“Not only will our solution double our client’s capacity,” said Art Eldred, VARGO^®’s vice president & growth officer, “VARGO^® will also implement picking from our COFE^® software which will yield very significant increases in picking efficiency by leveraging an extensive picking feature set for e-commerce. We are very excited to watch the growth with the use of our system.”

This system facilitates the fulfillment process and flows through the brand’s existing MHE with software and MHE modifications that are set to double its e-commerce throughput. Re-control of the e-commerce-specific conveyer directs inbound cartons, empty totes and processed totes. This impacts existing equipment including the inbound sorter and conveyer, pick module conveyor and right-angle transfers, routing sorters and conveyors and a brand-new takeaway conveyor to the ship sorter. A new spiral was installed that will facilitate a more real-time flow by eliminating a since removed tote buffer.

VARGO^® began the retrofit project in May and concluded the project in early July 2022.

HILLIARD, Ohio (December 20, 2022) — VARGO^®, a leading provider of material-handling systems integration, warehouse execution software and automation solutions for major fulfillment and distribution centers, recently completed an expansion project of their office in Mason, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati.

VARGO^® opened its Mason office in the fall of 2019 in the Governor’s Pointe Office Park at 4680 Parkway Drive. Since then, the company has experienced substantial growth. To accommodate this growth, VARGO^® doubled its existing space.

Bart Cera, president of VARGO^®, said “There is a wealth of supply chain, logistics and warehouse automation experience in the Cincinnati-Mason area. With our expanded investment in this market, we can double the size of our already talented staff to support our continued business growth.”

Headquartered in Hilliard, Ohio, VARGO^® also has a Technology Center in Dublin, Ohio, and an office in Austin, Texas.

HILLIARD, Ohio (November 22, 2022) — VARGO^®, a leading provider of material-handling systems integration, warehouse execution software and equipment solutions for major fulfillment and distribution centers, announces the enhancement and expansion of the existing Fresno, CA facility for worldwide clothing and accessories retailer, Gap Inc.

A third completed project for VARGO^® this summer for Gap was commissioned in August, 2022. The enhancement and expansion include the addition of several modules of COFE^®, VARGO^®’s WES Continuous Order Fulfillment Execution software. The distributed architecture included the addition of COFE^® routing, sorting, picking, shipping, sorting and conveyor modules. The expansion increases capacity at the 750,000 square-foot facility from 500,000 peak day units to 1 million peak day units per peak day.

“We are pleased to be a part of Gap’s growth strategy as they plan to double their online business over the next few years,” said Art Eldred, VARGO^®’s vice president & growth officer. “Our state-of-the-art equipment and processes greatly expand Gap’s capacity to deliver more products to more locations. We look forward to watching Gap’s growth.”

HILLIARD, Ohio (November 11, 2022) — VARGO^®, a leading provider of material-handling systems integration, warehouse execution software and equipment solutions for major fulfillment and distribution centers, announces the commissioning of a new greenfield facility in Longview, TX for worldwide clothing and accessories retailer, Gap Inc.

To help Gap speed up inventory delivery and become more efficient with its digital online shopping fulfillment, VARGO® completed a new customer experience center in Longview, TX, including the installation of its COFE^® WES Continuous Order Fulfillment Execution software. Commissioned in July 2022, the new 800,000 square-foot facility was built in seven months from start to finish with installation taking place at the same time the as the facility’s roof was being laid. The new facility is capable of processing up to 1 million peak day units and 325,000 peak day packages to more than 220,000 active locations.

“This was a very exciting and fast-paced project for our team, but we have been working with Gap for sometime, so it came together like clockwork,” said Art Eldred, VARGO^®’s vice president & growth officer. “Our state-of-the-art equipment and processes continue to expand Gap’s capacity to set new records in delivery of merchandise to an increased number of locations.”