Case Study: Fred’s achieves increased throughput and minimal downtime with Honeywell Intelligrated total sorter rebuild

Honeywell Intelligrated Completes Total Sorter Rebuild With Minimal Downtime

Fred’s, a nearly 700‑store discount retailer, relied on its Memphis distribution center to service more than half the chain, but its aging UniSort X sliding‑shoe sorter (installed in 1998) showed excessive wear and threatened peak‑season performance. A full replacement would be costly and risk extended downtime, so Fred’s needed a time‑sensitive solution to restore capacity, uptime and reliability before the holiday rush.

Honeywell Intelligrated performed a certified audit and executed a complete mechanical rebuild—coordinated with Fred’s to minimize disruption and completed over a planned four‑day window with a 10‑technician crew. The retrofit restored capacity and throughput, allowed a wider variety of SKUs, delivered zero downtime during peak season (10 months post‑rebuild), reduced maintenance costs and extended the sorter’s service life at a fraction of the cost of replacement.

Fred's

Reggie Jacobs

Executive Vice President of Distribution