New supermarket e-fulfilment centre triples productivity of Maxi’s online deliveries

The challenge

Delhaize Maxi, owned by Ahold Delhaize, has nearly 500 stores across Serbia. In 2020, online deliveries were met from one of Maxi’s supermarkets in Belgrade. Pickers mingled with shoppers as they selected products for online orders. However, with demand growing fast, it was clear fulfilment from a single store would soon become impractical.

Maxi contracted Districon, a company of Royal HaskoningDHV, to advise on the next step.

The solution

Increased profitability and productivity

With demand continuing to grow, we identified that a dedicated e-fulfilment centre offered a future-proof solution which could also deliver significant increases in efficiency and performance. Maxi adopted our proposal and retained our support at each subsequent project stage, from feasibility to go live: “The partnership we developed with Maxi was very strong. We guided the team every step of the way.” explained Veerle Prieckaerts, Senior Consultant at Districon. “The close working relationship contributed to the success of the project. Our client trusted our judgement and recognised the value we brought to each stage.”

In the three years before the opening of the new facility in July 2023, online sales had increased by a factor of six. The new centre meets this growth in demand and can handle more than 1,000 orders daily. Productivity has tripled, order accuracy has increased to almost 100% and there has been a 30% improvement in on-time delivery.

The result

Resources minimised and quality of work improved

Districon led the project scope and timeline and provided advice on design and development of the new operation. This included the development of the facility, processes and equipment, as well as transport, supply chain, IT systems, governance and staffing - including organisational charts and working instructions.

An existing building was selected and retrofitted for the new operation, which minimised the use of new materials that would have been required on a greenfield site. The quality of work has improved significantly.

Other improvements include an application which dictates the optimal placing of products in the warehouse in line with weekly promotions. This minimises the distance of picking routes from week to week. Activities are focused, with separate teams for picking, preparing picking carts, replenishing shelves, and more. Loose-loaded crates have been replaced with transport carts in vans, which require less labour.

Productivity has exceeded business case projections

“When we started the project, our client did not imagine the performance improvement we had identified in the business case was achievable. Now, with the new centre in operation, productivity has exceeded those expectations,” said Veerle.