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This year marks Kaiserslautern Cold Storage’s 50th anniversary serving commissaries and customers within the U.S. military European theater.
The momentous anniversary was commemorated March 20 with a ceremony and reception, as well as guided tours of the state-of-the-art facility. KCS stores frozen foods and goods to be distributed to and sold in commissaries throughout Europe. It is currently the primary cold storage facility for 42 commissaries spanning 10 countries and delivers to customers in more than 35 countries.
KCS is located just outside of Ramstein’s East Gate and is conveniently connected to the public road system, the autobahn and the German railways.
The Defense Commissary Agency purchased the operation in 1997 and spent a considerable amount of money and man-hours streamlining operations, increasing items stocked and upgrading the facility.
“When DeCA took over KCS 12 years ago, it needed a lot of money and time to bring it up to standard,” said Thomas E. Milks, DeCA Europe director. “We invested in everything from new computers and warehousing systems to upgrades to the loading docks and transportation.”
KCS has nearly 150 employees, of which 90 percent are local nationals. Many of the DeCA team members have been employed at the KCS for several years and have been a part of the facility’s evolution.
Manfred Young, a 22 year employee of KCS, commented on one way in which his job had improved.
“The storage grid for the items in the warehouse and the location of new items used to be only on paper and we had to go to the control office every time we had to move an item to get the location paperwork,” he said. “Today, everything is computerized and has replaced a lot of the unnecessary paperwork. We have headsets for communicating with the control office; we can call in location requests and get an answer immediately. This system saves a lot of time and allows us to keep working.”
And indeed the KCS team has worked diligently over the years, vastly contributing to the facility’s success.
“I regularly challenge the management and staff to find more ways to save costs and satisfy customers, and they deliver every time.” Mr. Milks said.
KCS is not only a vital part of the U.S. military community in Europe, but it has also become an economic asset to the local German community.
“This anniversary means an extraordinary cooperation of numerous organizations. From purchasing (and) stock administration, to transport companies, drivers, mechanics, food inspectors, … technicians, as well as administrators and managers of the different branches are all included in this process up to the delivery to the U.S. forces – the final customer,” said Dr. Klaus Weichel, lord mayor of Kaiserslautern.
“You can be assured that Kaiserslautern Cold Storage serves as an illustrious signboard to Kaiserslautern and the region. It is in any aspect a flagship organization and an impressive example of an utmost successfully managed American establishment.”
