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New Shipping Facilities of Jehovah’s WitnessesAwake!—1987 | August 22
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New Shipping Facilities of Jehovah’s Witnesses
THIS huge building, just across the harbor from New York’s famous Wall Street financial district, is a prominent feature of the Brooklyn waterfront. Located at 360 Furman Street, within a few blocks of the printing factories of Jehovah’s Witnesses, it is well situated for shipping their Bible literature worldwide.
Originally constructed in 1928, the Furman Street building was purchased by Jehovah’s Witnesses on March 15, 1983. Since then, it has undergone major refurbishing. In January of this year, the last of the building’s former tenants left, so Jehovah’s Witnesses now have use of the entire area.
The building has a million square feet (93,000 sq m) of floor space, or nearly 23 acres (9 ha), almost a third of which is allotted to the new Shipping Department. The huge second floor—373 feet by 345 feet (about the size of 1 1/2 soccer fields)—accommodates the offices and the modern conveyor system that makes it possible to fill literature orders quickly.
Before the Shipping Department was moved to Furman Street in the fall of 1985, it often took six weeks to fill literature orders at the cramped shipping quarters at 30 Columbia Heights. But now, with the computer system, a new conveyor system, and plenty of room in which to function, an order is usually shipped within seven days of receipt. Let’s take a look at the department and its operation.
Here books and booklets in over a hundred different languages are stored. Monthly, about a thousand tons of literature is shipped earth wide, either from this Furman Street location or directly from the nearby printery to the docks for export. Some 2,000 literature orders a week are filled at Furman Street and shipped to the more than 8,400 congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the United States.
The modern conveyor system was purchased to help gather, pack, and ship the literature efficiently. It was installed by Jehovah’s Witnesses. This installation took nearly four months and was completed by the early part of October 1985. There is nearly three quarters of a mile (1 km) of conveyor apparatus that includes 54 motors driving various belts and cables and 30 photoelectric eyes to control the flow of literature.
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New Shipping Facilities of Jehovah’s WitnessesAwake!—1987 | August 22
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The 360 Furman Street building, however, houses more than the Shipping Department. It accommodates a number of other departments.
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Other Activities in Furman Street Building
In this large Carpenter Shop, occupying 56,000 square feet of floor space, furniture is made for the many offices and for the rooms of the headquarters staff
The Braille Department produces over 48 publications, as well as the entire issue of each “Watchtower” for more than 600 subscribers. Braille items are mailed to over 35 countries
Up to 35,000 pounds of ductwork and related sheet-metal items are manufactured here and installed each month in the Society’s buildings in Brooklyn and at Watchtower Farms
The aluminum window frames and thermopane insulated glass units are manufactured here for the Watchtower Society’s buildings at a considerable reduction in cost. Heating costs saved from new windows will pay for this project in a short time
In the past three years, the Tape Duplicating Department has produced over 11 million cassette recordings in English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese
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