J Stell and Sons Ltd, a Keighley based cardboard tube manufacturer, discovered ‘on demand’ warehousing – the rapidly growing web-based marketplace for warehouse space – when a storage problem needed an urgent solution. A potential new customer, based in Scotland, required regular deliveries of a handful of pallets but, with a high cube/low cost product, shipping directly to the customer was potentially cost prohibitive.
Sam Stell, a director of J Stell, entered ‘pallet storage Glasgow’ into Google and found Zupplychain at the top of the list. After entering his pallet details in the ‘Search’ page, he was presented with a list of warehouses that best fitted his requirements, including pricing. Based on both location and price, Sam selected a warehouse in Paisley.
‘I was in a hurry to understand likely costs to be able to present a solution to the customer with a fully costed price’, comments Sam. ‘Even before I contacted the warehouse through Zupplychain – I could see their pricing and that of other warehouses in Glasgow’.
It was only after quoting the customer and sending the enquiry that Sam had a chance to explore the website, ‘I realised that not only could Zupplychain find me warehouse space where I wanted it,’ he adds, ‘but that its stock database system could provide me with the perfect solution for managing the stock.’
Over the following week, Sam used the Zupplychain message system to communicate Stell’s requirements to the warehouse, whilst at the same time negotiating the new business, backed up by the local logistics solution. Once the new business was secured, Sam confirmed the storage agreement on the messaging system.
Now with access to Zupplychain’s stock database, Sam ran a trial with the warehouse, going through the cycle of setting up products, printing labels, dispatching to the warehouse, receiving booked-in notifications and requesting a collection of specific pallets.
‘That convinced us how well the stock database could work,’ Sam commented. ’In particular, we have a potential specification change to handle, probably using the same product codes. The unique label for each pallet means that neither we nor the warehouse need worry about picking the right pallet.’
‘We’ve now had a dozen call offs from the customer and have shipped in a second load of stock. My costs are much lower than otherwise by transporting full loads to Scotland, storing them locally with only a short distance for the onward delivery or collection’
In the past, the dynamics of Stell’s process – run lengths, MTO production, low value per cube and limited warehouse space – have made non-local customers with regular small requirements less profitable. Having won this customer with a local logistics solution and robust operating system, Sam can see the Zupplychain ‘on-demand’ warehousing model helping him target similar new business around the country.
‘Without the Zupplychain solutions for finding space and managing the stock, we wouldn’t have been able to quote for this customer, let alone win the business’, concludes Sam.
J Stell and Sons Ltd is a 5th generation family run manufacturer of cardboard tubes and cones, based in Keighley, West Yorkshire. Established in 1872, and having recently moved to a multi-million pound new factory, Stell is one of the leaders in its field, with a turnover of £8m and around 100 employees. Customers include FMCG and industrial sectors, including construction (bolt cones) and textiles. Most products are customer specific specifications and made to order.
Contact: Sam Stell, 01535 281400; www.stells.co.uk info@stells.co.uk
Zupplychain is an on-line marketplace for warehouse space and pallet storage, launched in February 2016. Customers search for available warehouses by detailing their pallet specifications and quantity, and a search location. In addition to giving best fit results showing pricing and availability, Zupplychain provides a full integrated messaging system to start and conclude an enquiry. In addition, Zupplychain users can access its proprietary cloud based system for managing pallet stock in a third party warehouses.
Contact: Martin Elgood 0161 7054326 & 077 6969 6679; martin.elgood@zupplychain.com; www.zupplychain.com
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