TheCo-opis rolling out a new supply
chain system to smooth deliveries to its stores.
The Co-op has successfully deployed the Warehouse Management
component of
Manhattan Associates' supply chain platform in its new regional
distribution centre (RDC) at Thurrock, Essex. This is the first
phase of a UK-wide implementation.
The Co-op says the South Eastern region of its business, served
by the Thurrock RDC, has already enjoyed a marked increase in
on-shelf availability, greater delivery efficiencies and the
benefits of a new distribution network capable of supporting future
growth.
The company anticipates that the supply chain system will have
paid for itself through cost savings in less than three years.
The South East is the first region to benefit from the full
working model of the Co-op's new system. It will now be extended to
the organisation's RDC in Nottingham, before being implemented at
the national distribution centre in Coventry .
Trevor Ashworth, director of food retail logistics at the Co-op,
said, "We are outperforming the market in terms of like for like
sales growth and make more than 38,000 deliveries a week to our
stores.
"We could never have maintained these levels with our old system
as we were suffering from too many orders, too many trucks, too
much admin and too much hassle."
He said, "On-shelf availability has increased significantly
since we rolled out the new software and the entire region is
running far more efficiently. The South East used to be our
worst-performing region, now it is our best."