Food logistics: Store friendly delivery with lowest cost per case
Consumers today demand fresh, high-quality products, a high service level and a wide selection of products. As a result, food retailers and manufacturers are facing significant challenges in their warehouse logistics:
- Short lead times triggered by point of sale information (Efficient Consumer Response)
- More frequent deliveries of generally smaller orders
- High delivery reliability
- The ability to handle peaks in the stores and the DCs efficiently
Low margins make it necessary to reduce cost per case handled and improve downstream efficiency. Store friendly delivery can significantly reduce supply chain costs and enhance service levels to stores.
We can help you to optimise your warehouse logistics. We have already designed and implemented automated warehouses for well-known food manufacturers and retailers, such as Tesco, EDEKA, Kaufland, Asda/WalMart, LeClerc, Micarna, PLUS Retail, Bart’s Retail, Casaventa and Colruyt. To give you an impression of what we can do for food retailers:
Asda, one of the top supermarket retailers in the UK and owned by US giant WalMart, have seen strong growth in business generated from its on-line shopping operation. Up until 2010 all internet orders were satisfied from the retail supermarket stores. In some areas of the country store capacity was maximised so Asda piloted a dedicated centre in the Leeds area. Internet orders are picked on two levels before being consolidated at ground level then being loaded onto delivery vans. Vanderlande was selected to supply the materials handling system not only at a competitive price but, also having significant experience with similar e-commerce solutions for another major UK retailer.
One of the most modern and efficient meat-processing facilities in Europe is currently being set up in Rheinstetten (Baden Württemberg). At the facility, owned by EDEKA Südwest Fleisch GmbH, top quality sausage and meat products will be produced and then delivered to over 1,250 outlets of EDEKA from mid-2011 onwards. From goods in to delivery to stores, a logistics system has been created here that intelligently coordinates storage, order picking, handling, consolidation, sortation and sequencing tasks, interconnects them and thus enables products to be processed efficiently.
Kaufland has equipped its Logistics Centre in Germany with a new order fulfilment system for the smaller, slow-moving products in its product range. The project partners focused on the entire goods flow in the process, from Receiving up to shelf replenishment in the retail outlets. This will improve efficiency, storage density and store-friendly delivery.
Tesco, one of the UK's leading food retailers, has taken a major step forward in handling the picking and delivery of groceries ordered via the Tesco.com website by building a dedicated Dot Com facility. A material handling system was implemented to handle the order consolidation process and the release and sortation of the consolidated orders to the delivery vans. It is proving to have a quick payback time in freeing up expensive retail sales space in existing superstores and enabling faster growth of Dotcom sales. Other benefits include improved accuracy, traceability and a reduction in product damage.
LeClerc, one of the largest retail chains in France, handles fresh products such as fruit, vegetables, dairy products and meat in a temperature controlled environment. LeClerc uses a cross-docking system, which implies products are not held in stock, but are transshipped directly to shops. This gets products to customers faster, reduces manual labour by 50%, ensures 100% correct deliveries and triples the throughput per m2 in the warehouse.
Micarna, part of Migros, supplies all Migros stores in Switzerland with fresh meat and meat products. The warehouse is highly automated. Automatic picking of full totes with 8 QUICKSTORE AS/RS ensures a highly efficient process. Partially full totes are picked manually according to a goods-to-man concept and joined with the full totes for shipping to stores. Micarna is very pleased with 35% lower manual work, highly efficient use of space and much more pleasant working conditions for its employees.
PLUS Retail is a prominent food retailer in the Netherlands. For the order fulfilment in their national DC (delivering to 278 stores) they selected two order picking strategies for the slower moving items (goods-to-man and zone picking), which are combined into a single, integrated system. This has improved accuracy (99,99%) and reduced costs. Family grouping has improved service level to shops.
