Magic Madhouse is one of the UK’s biggest online retailer of trading cards, board-games and accessories. They are the leading online retailer of official Pokemon trading cards and hold a massive range of other specialist products. With such a highly diverse range of stock items, the need for efficient storage and picking is paramount to ensure the speed of delivery to the customer.
Magic Madhouse was experiencing significant growth as an SME and believed they had outgrown their existing facility. With the storage system layout being ineffective, the required growth was being curtailed, and they were struggling to increase new product ranges, and the subsequent operational inefficiencies prevented optimum performance.
They approached SEC Storage initially in search of a traditional multi-tier racking and pallet racking solution, to fill a much larger footprint than they currently occupied! However, as part of their customer and product-focused approach, SEC Storage gathered the necessary data and undertook a detailed analysis of their whole operation and clearly demonstrated that this was not the correct solution for their business.
Through the use of advanced data analysis tools, SEC was able to show that using standard componentry in a bespoke way; they would be able to provide an innovative storage structure that would simultaneously increase their overall capacity and improve efficiency within a far smaller footprint than initially was thought needed.
With close to 100,000 stock keeping units (SKUs) in the warehouse, the key to the solution was to offer a balance between the level of selectivity and the need to handle other aspects of the range such as board games and larger items which are dispatched more quickly. The SEC solution provided both the physical storage volume required, as well as 100% selectivity for every SKU.
The SEC solution came in the form of a bespoke rack-supported multi-tier, where the ground level is shelving tailored to specific sizes as required, with a specially designed over-sailing floor that allowed for a hugely flexible shelving layout that could be quickly reconfigured to support business growth. The customer can store any item on the upper level as the bespoke shelving system enables 100% selectivity of the cards (their smallest SKU) while maintaining near 100% space utilisation.
Magic Madhouse experiences significant peaks in their business due to events such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday, where the increase in pick requirement is between 400-500% higher. The SEC Storage solution is designed to flex up during these hectic periods as required, yet flex back down when regular distribution periods resume.
Picking takes place on multiple levels, where items are manually picked, placed in a trolley and then transported from the floor down to the packing area via a specially engineered spiral chute.
The customer also benefits from a bulk storage facility for fast-moving SKUs, as pallet racking runs alongside the multi-tier storage; however, the vast majority of stock is kept within the multi-tier, rather than in bulk storage.
Ultimately the system allows Magic Madhouse to pick quicker and more accurately, be more operationally efficient and effective. In addition, there are security considerations to factor into the facility and the system is designed to implement security measures in the future to ensure high net worth items can be stored securely.
By using the space more efficiently, Magic Madhouse has been able to reduce the footprint requirements considerably and only use two-thirds of the area within the new unit, which allows for their planned future growth. The solution is modular and will flex as they grow, keeping them in the building up to 50% longer by having this all-important additional capacity.
SEC Storage was able to support Magic Madhouse further in implementing their solution by providing a leasing package that allowed the customer to pay via a monthly plan rather than through capital expenditure.
Considering the operational savings offered by SEC’s design, this represented a cost-neutral or even cost-negative solution to the business. Ultimately, Magic Madhouse can continue to grow, in a more efficient, larger facility with no upfront cost, resulting in an almost immediate return on investment.
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