Customer Testimonies

Pentland

The extension of the Glover warehouse has been an unmitigated success and Ian Sayle considers that there is "little that could now be added to improve the efficiency of the logistics operation. The combination of Belgraviums radio frequency equipment, our own WMS enhancements and the PLC system has produced a highly efficient operation that has also proved to be stable and reliable. In particular, the bulk picking operation has been totally transformed. Previously, drivers concluded a pick or put-away operation by generating paperwork that would be re-keyed into the AS400 at some later point in the day. By automating this process, we're effectively running on a completely error-free basis. Combining this automation with sensible manual load planning undertaken by our Glover management team means that we smooth out any potential peaks and troughs, with the warehouse running at optimum levels almost 100% of the time. We're using the Glover facility as a 'test-bench'; for possible future roll-outs to other Pentland warehouses. That's looking pretty likely as we're highly delighted with the performance of the system to-date".

Lakeland

Lakeland fully understand and appreciate the effectiveness of their RF system and like to source the most up to date systems and radio data terminals to help them continue to providing an outstanding service offering. Commenting on the effectiveness of the system Chris Iveson, Inventory Team leader for Lakeland says, “The benefit of the system means that I have real-time information to hand on every facet of the operation such as allocated tasks, picking rates and stock location. All this information helps provide our customer with a speedy and responsive service which is critical in ensuring complete customer satisfaction and company growth”.

Lakeland is excited by the potential that radio frequency technology offers with regard to further process improvements. This potential has been already been fully realised in key areas of the business and continues to help Lakeland deliver unsurpassable customer service levels and secure tangible operational improvements.

NGF Europe

NGF EUROPE realised the potential impact that RFID could have on their organisation, Peter Lai, Manufacturing Development Technician explains; “NGFE’s main business driver throughout this project was to ensure 100 per cent accuracy in everything we ship to our customers." One of the main challenges that faced NGFE was incorrect labelling. When the bobbins containing the manufactured glass cord were packed for shipping, normal barcodes were rendered unreadable, potentially resulting in incorrectly labelled products. Peter continues, “RFID technology has allowed us to retain an accurate vision of our product after its protective wrapping has been applied ensuring that we deliver the right item, first time, every time”.

The NGFE organisation was excited by the potential that RFID represented with regard to possible process improvements. That potential has been fully realised and some spectacular operational improvements secured. The implementation of RFID technology has focused to-date on the NGF EUROPE operation. However, further rollouts will be happen during 2008 for both their parent company in Japan and subsidiary company in Canada.

PWS

"I can't deny that there was an element of scepticism that prevailed when we first announced our plans' says Andrew Elenor. 'If we had gone 'live' with an error prone system, I think we would have suffered some significant problems. However, the major thrust underpinning the initiative was the elimination of unnecessary pick errors and a reduction in wasteful paperwork. The benefits of the Belgravium-Lambda-In-house system are very transparent in these areas and all our workers can see how this positively impacts on the service levels enjoyed by our paying customers. The move to a 'paperless' environment has been further cemented by the adoption of a document imaging system. Given the level of automation and optimised processes that we have now, it's becoming increasingly difficult to see where further system development would add value. We're proud of the efficient way in which our warehouse operates and the efforts of both our workforce and external suppliers are to be applauded".

Grattan

Commenting on the new system, Grattan's customer operations and warehousing director , Norman Finnigan says : "The decision to build the extension was in response to our rapidly increasing sales which have applied extra pressure on existing stock holding facilities. The key to the economics of the handling system is the error free, extremely high pick-place rate we can achieve, which typically runs at over 3,300 cycles per hour. Customers should see immediate benefits with regard to improved service and the choice to purchase items further into the season.

The Belgravium equipment has contributed greatly to the smoothness of the operation. As it has been trouble-free, we had no hesitation in utilising further Belgravium terminals in the new extension. The use of wireless terminals, auto guided vehicles, several fully automatic cranes and portable data capture units, has provided us with a real-time capability that we feel is unrivalled within our market sector."

Wincanton / Lever Brothers

There is a dedicated case picking area that again makes heavy use of the Belgravium RDT's. The RDT's are used to queue picking tasks, control picking and replenishment activities, determine marshalling lanes and locations and, ultimately, loading tasks. Stuart McDowall, Systems Team Leader, claims that the RDT's have performed "impeccably" and that picking accuracy within the case pick area is "virtually one hundred per cent".

EMI Distribution

As well as overall cost savings from the re-investment in the Leamington distribution centre, customer service has dramatically increased. Previously at Hayes, the cut off for order processing and picking was 12 noon. At Leamington this is presently at 3.00 pm and management are confident that this will move out to 5.00 pm.

The Leamington operation works to a picking fulfilment rate of 99.9% as oppose to the Hayes operation being at around 90%. Perhaps the most dramatic increase in customer service the increase is next day delivery fulfilment. At Hayes providing orders were placed by 12 noon, 80% of the orders were delivered the next day. At Leamington the next day delivery has increased to 98%.