To serve its nationwide customers through 2200+ stores across North America, Home Depot has implemented a highly efficient system to ensure that its stores always remain stocked.
If you’ve been interested in how Home Depot operates, you may be curious to know what RLC and SDC are. I’ve done the research, and here is what I’ve found out about this!
Home Depot RLC & SDC
RLC (Rapid Deployment Center) and SDC (Stocking Distribution Center) are part of Home Depot’s stocking system to ensure it can provide goods to customers. The RLC deals with returning items to the vendor and processing items quickly, whereas the SDC sends products to the store based on real-time demand.
If you want to learn more about how RLC and SDC fit into Home Depot’s supply chain, what is the difference between the two, and much more, keep on reading!
What Is Home Depot RLC?
RLC in the Home Depot chain stands for the Rapid Deployment Center, where workers primarily work in warehouses to help expedite supply chain processing.
Home Depot has 18 RLCs in North America to help with this process, supplying over 2200 stores throughout the region.
What Does Home Depot RLC Do?
Suppliers of Home Depot products will send the items to the RLC, where they are sorted.
The RLC helps to deal with online orders, which eases the burden of Home Depot stores and makes the process easier.
Additionally, Home Depot RLCs also deal with returning items to their original vendors. It has been reported that an item that goes to an RLC takes just one day to process.
Note that the items within the RLC are often smaller items that are floor-loaded onto delivery trucks.
What Is Home Depot SDC?
SDC in the Home Depot supply chain is the Stocking Distribution Center.
Over 90 SDC centers in North America supply the 2200 Home Depot stores.
What Does Home Depot SDC Do?
Like the RLC, the Home Depot SDC deals with imported goods and pallets to help send items to the store.
The items at the Home Depot SDC are allocated to stores based on real-time demand.
However, the SDC at the Home Depot is not designed for efficient processing, meaning orders may take 1 to 3 days to process, compared to the faster time of 1 day at the RLC.
The Home Depot SDC often deals with larger items that require stocking onto pallets.
Products stocked at the Home Depot SDC may include flooring, toilets, vanities, patio furniture, and other larger items.
What Is The Difference Between Home Depot RLC and SDC?
Both the Home Depot RLC and SDC work as part of the supply chain at Home Depot, working on ordering, replenishing, and managing inventory.
Previously, dealing with stock in Home Depot used to take as much as 60% of store labor.
By implementing the Home Depot RLC and SDC, Home Depot has relieved stores from processing orders and made it easier to get the required products into stores.
Some of the central differences between the RLC and SDC are the stocking methods of the Home Depot products.
Home Depot SDC’s usually consists entirely of larger pallets for bulkier products, whereas RLC trucks are loaded from the floor and contain a mixed inventory.
Additionally, products in the Home Depot RLC pallets are often stacked on top of each other from bottom to top, front to back.
Online workers at Home Depot RLC and SDC have stated that it is more physically demanding to load an RLC truck than an SDC truck due to the bulk of the items involved.
If you want to learn more about Home Depot’s systems, make sure to check out if Home Depot gives free moving boxes, what Home Depot does with returns, and what Home Depot uses for shipping.
Conclusion
Home Depot RLC and SDC warehouses are part of the supply chain to ensure there is enough product in Home Depot stores.
Due to varying processing rates and design, the SDC can take longer to process items than the RLC and have generally larger pallets of product.