This is a great example of where the Gideon Hillman Consulting Warehouse and Distribution Network Specialist Team can improve and optimise complete Logistics Network Operations.
Crosswater, founded in 1998, is a bathroom furniture, brassware and showers wholesaler and distributor which has been operating across Great Britain out of Lake View House, Dartford since July 2014 in a purpose built headquarters, which includes a 8,735 square metre footprint, 14 metre high, warehouse and distribution centre.
Crosswater particularly focuses on supplying 1,600 independent retailers with circa 3,000 delivery addresses across the UK and has developed a contracts business, serving the house builder/development and hotel markets.
The business has been built up on and has succeeded at providing high levels of customer care, including in most cases next day delivery and exemplary after sales support.
A critical part of the business is the logistics and distribution of a wide range of products to retailers across the country. This is done using an in-house fleet of 25 Mercedes Sprinters and five Cargo 7.5 tonne box vans, a third party provider (3PL) trunking service to the North and Scotland and couriers for smaller items and for deliveries twice a week to Ireland.
Consultant Selection Process
In February 2015, having settled in to the relatively new building, Crosswater was keen to optimise the efficiency and effectiveness of its logistics and distribution functions to secure cost savings, balanced with maintaining or improving levels of customer service.
Crosswater management concluded that the most appropriate way to do this was to engage a Logistics Consultancy to provide specialist advice and guidance on what measures Crosswater could take to achieve this.
After carrying out a tender selection process Crosswater awarded the contract to Logistics Specialists (and Corporate Member of UKWA) Gideon Hillman Consulting (GH) as they best demonstrated the ability to meet the required deliverables i.e. clarifying the methodology used and presenting the key findings and recommendations prioritised for implementation according to anticipated cost reduction, ease of implementation and business benefit.
“At Crosswater, we are keen to continually improve our performance, to maximise the throughput of the operation, control the costs and improve customer service. Insofar as our logistics activities are concerned, we engaged Gideon Hillman to look in depth at the operation, offer ‘out of the box’ thinking and challenge our working models,” said Michael Coughlin, Crosswater Group Managing Director.
Logistics Review Process The consultant team from GH spent time understanding the transport operation, analysed business data and utilised the DPS route optimisation software to develop the solutions and recommendations for the distribution network. Alongside this study the team reviewed the warehouse operation analysing product profiles, sales and stock information, along with speaking to key personnel, to develop solutions and recommendations to improve productivity, service quality and safety in the warehouse.
Measurable and Implementable solutions The result of the project was over 30 recommendations (with an estimated saving of up to 2,000 staff working hours per annum) made by GH for improvement to the logistics network resulting in the following benefits; savings in transport cost; improved delivery service (majority ‘next day’ except the Highlands and Islands); improved customer experience (track and trace, SMS notifications, flexible re-delivery); reduced time to plan, quicker availability of routes to warehouse for picking; smoother workload to simplify shifts and reduce/remove night shift requirements; improved flexibility e.g. easy to prioritise urgent orders; empowering team leaders/managers to manage workload; improved picking productivity; improved productivity and accuracy in packing; improved productivity in inbound area, ensuring products are stowed quicker into stock and available for sale; decreased picker travel distance; reduced fork lift truck movements during picking; reduced management time; increased longevity of the warehouse and released working capital through a revised inventory policy.
“GH engaged with the business at all levels to generate a full and clear basis upon which to offer a good range of helpful opinions, recommendations and options.We would recommend their experience and professionalism to any companies in similar positions with the same requirements” added Michael Coughlin, Crosswater Group Managing Director.
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