Software engineer to work on programming and customer support team

HILLIARD, Ohio (October 11, 2017) — VARGO^®, a leading provider of material-handling system integration, warehouse execution software and equipment solutions for major fulfillment and distribution centers, has hired Mike Peters as a quality assurance and support professional.

Peters, who works out of VARGO^®’s headquarters in Hilliard, Ohio, was hired to provide technical support to customers, provide quality assurance on existing and upcoming products, and to manage and update code.

“In addition to a customer-support driving mindset, Mike has the technical skills and educational background we look for in a VARGO^® associate,” said Bart Cera, COO and CFO at VARGO^®. “We’re pleased to welcome him to our team.”

A native of Xenia, Ohio, Peters has a Bachelor of Science in biology from The Ohio State University and a Bachelor of Science in computer science from Oregon State University.

Peters lives in Galloway, Ohio, with his wife, Meaggie. (ZIP Code 43119).

Software engineer to work on programming and customer support team

HILLIARD, Ohio (October 11, 2017) — VARGO^®, a leading provider of material-handling system integration, warehouse execution software and equipment solutions for major fulfillment and distribution centers, has hired Mike Peters as a quality assurance and support professional.

Peters, who works out of VARGO^®’s headquarters in Hilliard, Ohio, was hired to provide technical support to customers, provide quality assurance on existing and upcoming products, and to manage and update code.

“In addition to a customer-support driving mindset, Mike has the technical skills and educational background we look for in a VARGO^® associate,” said Bart Cera, COO and CFO at VARGO^®. “We’re pleased to welcome him to our team.”

A native of Xenia, Ohio, Peters has a Bachelor of Science in biology from The Ohio State University and a Bachelor of Science in computer science from Oregon State University.

Peters lives in Galloway, Ohio, with his wife, Meaggie. (ZIP Code 43119).

Software engineer to work on programming and customer support team

HILLIARD, Ohio (October 10, 2017) — VARGO^®, a leading provider of material-handling system integration, warehouse execution software and equipment solutions for major fulfillment and distribution centers, has hired Abid Al-ikashi as a software quality assurance and support professional.

Al-ikashi, who works out of VARGO^®’s headquarters in Hilliard, Ohio, was hired to provide technical support to customers, provide quality assurance on existing and upcoming products, and manage and update code.

“Abid’s deep technical knowledge and his ability to translate that knowledge to assist our customers makes him a great fit for the VARGO^® team,” said Bart Cera, COO and CFO at VARGO^®.

Before joining VARGO^®, Al-ikashi worked as an application developer at Taylor Communications in Grove City, Ohio. In that role, he wrote and maintained Unix/C applications to generate and sort mail. Prior to that, he was an IT manager and programmer at DataControl in Baghdad, Iraq, where he designed and developed marketing applications with C#, a programing language.

Al-ikashi has a Bachelor of Science in software engineering from Al-Mansour University College in Iraq. He holds the Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) levels one and two certifications from Cisco and is a member of COGG, the Central Ohio GameDev Group for aspiring video game developers.

A native of Baghdad, Iraq, Al-ikashi lives in Westerville, Ohio, with his wife, Mareh. (ZIP Code 43081).

Call to work on documentation and customer support team

HILLIARD, Ohio (June 15, 2017) — VARGO^®, a leading provider of material-handling system integration, warehouse execution software and equipment solutions for major fulfillment and distribution centers, has hired Rebecca Call as a Product Delivery Specialist.

Call, who works out of VARGO^®’s headquarters in Hilliard, Ohio, was hired to document VARGO^®’s end-user and internal procedures and provide customer training for VARGO^®’s Continuous Order Fulfillment Engine (COFE^®), its Warehouse Execution System software.

“Rebecca brings a deep knowledge of e-commerce systems and a passion for the warehouse and distribution industry, and we are excited to welcome her to our team,” said Bart Cera, COO and CFO at VARGO^®.

Before joining VARGO^®, Call worked as director of technology for Unique Vintage, which is based in Burbank, Calif. She led a small team while developing and supporting a custom e-commerce platform for the online retailer of vintage-inspired fashion. Call also worked as a principal architect and senior developer for WebCart Consulting in Saratoga Springs, Utah. Prior to that, she was president and web development manager for Croppin’ Paradise.

Before moving to Ohio in 2016, Call was active in local government, boards and associations in Utah. She served as a city council member in Saratoga Springs from 2011 to 2016.

“I grew up in the distribution world, with my father being one of the pioneers of distribution automation,” Call said. “Throughout my professional career, I have had glimpses back into that world as I have developed e-commerce systems. I feel passionate about fully incorporating my in-depth knowledge of e-commerce, from marketing through conversion, back into my roots in distribution to understand and meet the needs of each VARGO^® customer.”

Call lives with her husband and two children in Dublin (ZIP Code 43017).

Eissa to work on systems integration team

HILLIARD, Ohio (June 15, 2017) — VARGO^®, a leading provider of material-handling system integration, warehouse execution software and equipment solutions for major fulfillment and distribution centers, has hired Omar Eissa as an Engineering Project Manager.

Eissa, who works out of VARGO^®’s office near Grand Rapids, Mich., was hired to support project management and new business development efforts. In this role, Eissa will oversee and manage projects from the sales phase to completion, and will act as a liaison between VARGO^®, its customers and vendors.

“Omar’s project management experience strengthens the depth of knowledge in our systems integration group, and we are pleased to welcome him to our team,” said Bart Cera, COO and CFO at VARGO^®.

Before joining VARGO^®, Eissa worked as engineering project manager at TGW Systems Inc., in Grand Rapids. In that capacity, he provided project management, technical direction and design-build leadership on complex, multi-phase projects. Prior to that, he was system controls engineer at Dematic, Inc., where he took projects from the sales phase to acceptance testing, ensuring rates and functionality were met.

Eissa has a Bachelor of Science in engineering from Grand Valley State University and a Master of Business Administration from Western Michigan University. He earned the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification from the Project Management Institute and is a Certified General Contractor in the state of California.

Eissa lives in Grand Rapids (ZIP Code 49546).

New wine e-commerce fulfillment center slated to open in summer

HILLIARD, Ohio (June 6, 2017) — VARGO^®, a leading provider of material-handling system integration, warehouse execution software and equipment solutions for major fulfillment and distribution centers, is proud to announce that it has been chosen to design and build a waveless material handling system for WineDirect’s new fulfillment center in the Napa Valley region of California.

WineDirect, headquartered in Napa Valley, is the leader in direct-to-consumer services for wineries and is the only company that offers a complete end-to-end platform to support direct sales. More than 1,300 wineries and wine retailers use WineDirect’s services to support their e-commerce and order-fulfillment needs. In addition to its California fulfillment centers, WineDirect also has a fulfillment center in Glenwillow, Ohio, in northeast Ohio.

“VARGO^® is excited to be an integral part of WineDirect’s growing direct-to-consumer platform and proud that COFE® can help them fulfill their goal of exceeding customers’ expectations to be able to place an order one day and have it delivered within two days,” said Michael Vargo, President of VARGO® Companies. “What’s most impressive is that the new facility will help WineDirect ship three times the volume in half the time.”
The new 268,000-square-foot, high-tech fulfillment center in American Canyon, Calif., is slated to go live in late summer 2017. The facility has three times the floor space of WineDirect’s existing American Canyon fulfillment center. The ever-growing direct-to-consumer (DTC) wine business drove the company to the point of needing another facility.

“The direct-to-consumer wine channel grew 17% in 2016 and is poised for explosive growth in the next few years,” said Joe Waechter, President and CEO of WineDirect. “At the same time, consumer expectations for fast, easy shipping are rising quickly. Our new fulfillment center is designed to enable wineries to deliver an incredible customer experience so that they can take full advantage of the DTC growth opportunity.”

The new fulfillment center will be driven by VARGO^®’s Continuous Order Fulfillment Engine (COFE®) warehouse execution system. COFE^®’s real-time warehouse execution system synchronizes and sequences
activities across all work resources — the material handling equipment, devices, people and processes. With COFE®, WineDirect will be able to fulfill orders in an expedient manner, allowing fulfillment center employees to pick and fill orders in the shortest amount of time to get them out the door before a shipping cutoff time.

“We absolutely love working with VARGO^® and we could not have selected a better partner,” said Karin Ballestrazze, Senior Vice President, Fulfillment Operations at WineDirect. “The new material handling system will bring incredible benefit to our winery clients — especially as we head into the busy holiday shipping season. Our whole team is very much looking forward to launch.”

Ground broke on the new facility last fall and work is expected to continue through the summer. The center is scheduled to begin operations in August.