Optimising home delivery for global food retail company
Project facts
- ClientAnonymous
- LocationEurope
- ChallengeThe challenge the organisation faced was to ensure its picking and delivery operation was sufficiently efficient and productive to make the service viable.
- SolutionThis enabled us to identify and optimise the efficiency drivers and redesign the process to deliver the required productivity improvements.
The challenge
The global retail and wholesaling company possess a family of locally branded supermarkets When the organisation made its first steps to implement online shopping in the Netherlands, it turned to Royal HaskoningDHV supply chain and logistics team to optimise the process. That was more than 10 years ago, and since then the principles and concepts developed have been introduced to operations in many countries globally.
The solution
Significant productivity gains
The challenge the organisation faced was to ensure its picking and delivery operation was sufficiently efficient and productive to make the service viable. The team from Royal HaskoningDHV brought together logistical insight and experience with practical, on-the-ground observations to enable the company to make significant productivity gains. We started 10 years ago with a quick scan, observing the process, and developing hypotheses as to how it might be improved. Every single aspect was analysed, providing data for mathematical modelling. This enabled us to identify and optimise the efficiency drivers and redesign the process to deliver the required productivity improvements.
The support involved consultancy, standardizing processes, implementation, and coordination across many levels of the organisation. We optimised physical processes and identified the ideal racking and crates. We looked at how physical processes were matched with IT systems and what kinds of systems were required for transport management, forecasting, and enterprise resource planning (ERP). One of our solutions alone delivered a 10% productivity gain, so overall the improvements were significant
The result
Concepts and principles introduced and customised all over Europe
From the first fulfilment centre, these practices and principles were rolled out across the Netherlands. Royal HaskoningDHV has continued to support implementation in all other European countries, adapting solutions to local needs. For example, legislative requirements in one country led to the need for two people to travel in delivery vehicles, potentially reducing the efficiency of the transport process. In another location, we looped a store process into the supply chain to add bakery goods which could not be fulfilled from the warehouse. Further flexibility in the supply chain is being introduced to meet demand for instant delivery in some markets.
“Our support, developed in partnership with our client, has proved to be practical and flexible. By balancing commercial, logistical, and practical requirements, we have been able to make a significant difference to the efficiency, which is such a key metric for profitability,” said Jack Pool, Global Business Development Director Supply Chain & Logistics at Royal HaskoningDHV.
