To facilitate and centralize the overburdened hospital support service facilities (Receiving, Materials & Waste Management, Patient and Retail Food & Nutrition Services, Central Services, and Textile Services) at the Cleveland Clinic’s main campus, the Clinic made the decision to create a centrally located Service Center capable of supporting its entire expanding campus in downtown Cleveland.

After detailed and extensive site location studies, the decision was made to locate the Service Center underground and beneath a planned 4,000 car garage, connecting to the existing campus facilities via a tunnel system. The Schachinger Group, working with the Clinic User Groups and design team, envisioned and designed a fully integrated operation consisting of an Automated Guided Vehicle System (AGVS), a state of the art Order Fulfillment System (OFS) and a Warehouse Management System (WMS) that interfaces with the AGVS. This remote Service Center represents the largest and most sophisticated healthcare based Distribution Center in the USA and possibly the world, utilizing the latest proven technologies.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

1. The Planning Process: Master Planning and Functional and Space Programming including the materials handling and the support service functions.

2. The Design Process Challenges: A review of the design process and the challenges met and resolved during the process.

3. The Implementation Process including systems debugging and training including integration issues and lessons learned.