McLane Southern will soon be increasing its output aftercompleting a $7 million facility improvement project, according tobusiness officials.

Jim Trent, president, said the company is in the process ofinstalling a “mechanized sortation and distribution system” intheir Industrial Park distribution center.

“It’s designed to give us additional capacity, reduce expenses,increase efficiency and prepare us for future growth,” he said.

The system is similar to one at the Wal-Mart DistributionCenter, he said. A mechanized track will snake its way through thefacility carrying goods from one part of the distribution center toanother.

“It’s going in right now,” Trent said. “It’s scheduled forcompletion in the first part of April.”

Construction on the track is not affecting the present output,he said, but should increase that output once finished.

“There was a lot of planning around how to make it so itwouldn’t disrupt our normal operations while completely changingthe way we do business,” he said.

Most of the construction on the track is being done at night andduring the weekend when the working shifts are home.

“While the daily crews are leaving, the work crews are comingin,” he said.

The track will serve to increase the company’s output andefficiency without having to create more jobs, he said.

“As we continue to grow, we believe that system will notnecessitate us creating additional jobs,” Trent said. “The linewill absorb continued growth without the need to hire additionalemployees or add more storage facilities.”