KEY TO SUCCESS Project partners
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Vice President (VP) of Asda Logistics Services (ALS), Jon Parry, explains the key elements involved in driving efficiency, quality of service and culture in line with the company’s strategic expectations. Written by Anna McMahon • Produced by Jennifer Davies
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ALS provides logistics looking after all import secondary distrib Asda’s Service Cen for the George Jon explains, “Our core purpose is to serve our customers better than anyone else at the lowest possible cost, driving efficiency and value back to our business. Our strategic vision is built on innovation, thinking differently and creating an environment where colleagues feel empowered to simplify the way they work.� Jon describes two accelerators that enable Asda Logistics Services to achieve this goal, driving profit while offsetting costs which, in turn, allow the company to invest in its own strategy. Firstly, Jon talks about leveraging data, technology, infrastructure,
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s for Asda end-to-end, ts, primary distribution, bution, transport, ntres and fulfilment e.com business. Watch Asda toyou’s Flex Journey
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The ideal match for ASDA’s brief was Vanderlande’s automated case picking (ACP) solution. The process on site begins with the receiving of goods on pallets, which subsequently enter racking system uses nine cranes to store pallets in one of
Products are retrieved according to the orders received from in trays to the high-density storage (HDS) area, where two Vanderlande POSISORTERs perform a key role. Pallet high-bay
Once pulled from the HDS system, products are sent to the picking workstations, where new pallets are built in line with the requests from individual stores. In addition to hardware support engineers.
With the building of the new DC in Warrington, ASDA was looking to increase and maintain the high availability of products in store. The intention was to put more volume through a single depot in a smaller footprint. To become accuracy. The wellbeing of its employees was also a very important consideration. They should be able to do their job safely and ergonomically.
Posisorter and High density storage (HDS)
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Palletising workstation
“A project of this magnitude and complexity is not without its challenges. We recognise that between ASDA and Vanderlande it is a partnership, and we can only move forward together.” David Marshall
Senior Manager Engineering ASDA
Moving forward together
“As a company, we need to trust that the ACP solution can deliver cases every minute of every day,” says ASDA’s Senior Manager Engineering David Marshall. “Thanks to the automation, we have the highest pick accuracy in the ASDA network. He adds: “A project of this magnitude and complexity is not without its challenges. We recognise that between ASDA and Vanderlande it is a partnership, and we can only move forward together.” Gary Stubbs, Managing Director Warehouse & Parcel Vanderlande UK: “Our partnership with ASDA is a special relationship. We achieve our targets together, always looking for continuous improvements and celebrating our joint successes. We are proud of NWADC, working endlessly to support delivering outstanding service and availability to stores and customers every day” Want to have more information? Please watch the video on Vanderlande.com or contact us at info@vanderlande.com.
Senior Management Meeting Vanderlande and ASDA
Depalletising
David Marshall
Head of Automation
MOVING YOUR BUSINESS FORWARD
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Jon with Senior Directors in ALS Sharon Hammond (left) and Nathan Bower (right) equipment and relationships, while the second strategic accelerator is automation and technology. Jon says, “We are working hard to find new and innovative ways of working, but also implementing solutions where payback is strong or the capacity need is at its greatest. The accelerators drive an operating model across the logistics network, which ultimately drives value in service and cost.” Compliance is also hugely important for Asda Logistics Services. Jon adds, “Compliance is a key focus of ours alongside quality of service. Being the most compliant logistics provider in the industry alongside delivering 99.99 per cent of orders accurately is what we aspire to achieve.” 8
We are about to launch our first Autonomous Guided Vehicles (AGV) solution in our Warrington depot, supported by Vanderlande and their parent Toyota Jon Parry, Vice President (VP) of ALS A highly-engaged team is the driving force behind the company’s aim for continuous improvement, and it has been on a long journey of engagement and leadership.
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Innovation has always been the driving force behind Scania. Since our first truck rolled off the production line in 1911, our relentless commitment to efficiency and environmental responsibility has kept us out in front. Now, over 100 years later, we already offer the widest range of ready-to-go alternative fuel solutions on the market. Combined with the connectivity of our automated tachograph reporting, remote diagnostics and driver coaching, Scania is proud to bring the future closer. www.scania.co.uk
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Jon adds, “We benchmark incredibly well in the industry – 20 per cent ahead on colleague engagement, and 27 per cent ahead from a leadership index perspective. We are very proud of that. It is about driving ideas bottom-up, engaging with our 12,500 colleagues to find smarter ways of working to drive improvement and value at a customer and cost level for
our business. It is rewarding for a colleague to have an idea that gets rolled out across the entire logistics network.� As part of the two accelerators, Asda Logistics Services collaborates with third parties to allow external customers to use spare warehouse space, benefitting both the company and its partners.
invested in automation and technology in the last five years.
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We are looking to leverage our transport solutions, and in terms of automation and technology, we are working on numerous opportunities through the introduction of more AGVs, more AMRs, and more innovative solutions Jon Parry, Vice President (VP) of ALS
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Working in partnership with ASDA
Designing and building a material handling system is not the work of a moment. It starts with understanding. Understanding the needs. Understanding the challenges. Understanding the goals. AMH Material Handling are proud to be strategic partners with Asda. From a material handling project concept and design, through to installation and ongoing asset
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management, AMH work closely as a team to ensure a fast-paced and robust solution within challenging financial and ever changing business requirements. Contact us today to experience a new way of delivering a successful material handling solution.
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Jon says, “We have done this by driving efficiencies and reducing our footprint, enabling us to generate revenue from the additional space. “We drive innovation hard in our warehouses and transport operations, automating process in a methodical but fast-following way. This is where we have built relationships with companies such as Vanderlande, Dematic and AMH Material Handling, investing around £250million in automation and technology in the last five years. We have built new automated warehouses, one of which is in Warrington with our partner Vanderlande, and will continue to automate as many processes as we can within our exisiting operations. “We are about to launch our first Autonomous Guided Vehicles (AGV)
It is thanks to our third party partners that we are able to enhance the logistics function within the Asda business Jon Parry, Vice President (VP) of ALS solution in our Warrington depot, supported by Vanderlande and their parent Toyota, and have plans to scale and implement them across our entire logistics network, supporting our strategy of automation and technology.” 15
Dematic has a longstanding relationship with ASDA of almost 20 years, delivering automated solutions in the Food and Clothing logistics networks. More recently, Dematic are also assisting in potential new innovation alongside their sister company, Linde. Jon says, “Linde-Sterling provide a number of our sites’ mechanical handling equipment and are also helping in a very important part of our future on AGVs. AMH Material Handling (AMH) assists in delivering the business’ material handling, providing automated solutions through a number of processes within the Clothing logistics network. They also provide support
functions to a number of our logistics and fulfilment centres.” Jon adds, “We are also working with Clipper Logistics in a number of our sites, implementing solutions that allow us to automate process in our fulfilment centres through the use of
Linde-Sterling provide a number of our sites’ mechanical handling equipment and are also helping in a very important part of our future on AGVs Jon Parry, Vice President (VP) of ALS
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The impact of Automation on Logistics. “At Clipper, we’re now moving faster than ever, modernising and evolving to meet the expectations of retailers and their consumers” Peter Louden, Business Solutions Director s the world of digital continues to transform, the way consumers shop continues to evolve. 51% of consumers expect that companies will anticipate their needs and make relevant suggestions before they even make contact by 2020. However, this puts real pressure on logistics companies in the supply chain to react quickly to those offers. In retail, the speed of change can be daunting, and the issues retailers face means that they need an agile, multi-channel partner who can keep them ahead of the retail curve, whilst driving performance. Clipper knows that retail brands benefit from an understanding of their customers, and with more shoppers looking for retailers to anticipate their needs, it’s time to invest in technologies that allow access to this information and enable the use of it to build products that meet customer needs. “What we do at Clipper is designed to be robust – we act as the execution arm for the promises retailers make to their consumers. Improvements that we make are built on solid foundations, so that we can continue to carry out tasks 24/7.” Says Peter Louden, Business Solutions Director at Clipper. “In retail logistics, there are two fundamental requirements: speed and variety. To cope with this, automation in picking, packing and sorting seems like a logical investment, but getting to this will require a new generation
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of warehouse managers, who have the data analysis skills to work alongside artificial intelligence”, he adds. Automation improvements have the potential to change lead times and increase delivery satisfaction, and automated warehousing can support with improved space utilisation, improved productivity, increased reliability and better ROI. The future for logistics is data-driven. Clipper is committed to investing in new products and service offerings that are value-enhancing, and is starting to reap the rewards of the introduction of returns portals. Clipper is heavily invested in creating shared user operations, which localise critical mass of fulfilment activities to apply best practices to even the smallest of customers. This enables every Clipper customer to get the same experience and have access to the same services. To achieve this, Clipper is migrating to a flexible cloud-based system which will provide a scalable platform that is able to react quickly to the challenges of growing customers.
Automated Mobile Robots (AMR), in addition to working with us on our logistics network of the future, in support of our online business.” In the same way, Asda Logistics Services are collaborating with their partners to continue to look for new and innovative transport solutions. Jon says, “We have a longstanding relationship with Scania, having been partners for over 25 years. We are focused on driving safety on the roads, increasing sustainability by reducing miles, and finding more efficient ways of doing things through investing in next generation solutions. We have worked together on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) trucks and vehicle maintenance units, both of which have delivered cost and efficiency benefits across all regions in the UK in which we operate.”
We have a longstanding relationship with Scania, having been partners for over 25 years On the subject of future fleet innovation, Asda Logistics Services and Scania are already in talks about further on-board telematics capabilities, in a bid to enhance uptime and improve costs and overall performance. Jon adds, “We are working on driver apps, which allow real-time understanding of performance and coaching on how to improve, as well as understanding how to take advantage of the outputs
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We are also starting the journey of what Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and AI can offer us, working closely with Tata Consultancy Services Jon Parry, Vice President (VP) of ALS
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of connected vehicles. If you look at the expansion of alternative fuels, Scania has done a huge amount in that space and now have proven capabilities in gas trucks, which we are implementing in partnership with them. Alongside this, we are also in discussions with Scania about how we move forward with autonomous vehicles.” For their warehouse management systems, Asda Logistics Services are partnering with Manhattan Associates. Jon explains, “We have a relationship with Manhattan Associates, which goes back about 10 years. The
flexibility and innovation that their warehouse management systems bring to our fulfilment centres and our Asda toyou service are a very important part of our business. We are also starting the journey of what Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and AI can offer us, working closely with Tata Consultancy Services, where we will use self-learning robots to do administrative tasks, so our colleagues can focus on more important work.” Speaking of Asda toyou, it is the fastest growing Pick-Up and DropOff (PUDO) service in the UK and has been in operation for around four years. Jon explains, “Asda toyou
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allows us to monetise our logistics and technology capability to sell our parcel services to third party clients. We now have 150 clients, mainly pure play retailers who don’t have physical assets to allow customers to collect or return a parcel. It is inspired by customers’ lifestyles, providing a convenient solution for picking up or dropping off a parcel in one of our 630 stores. This drives traffic to our stores and generates revenue and profit to offset our costs. It has simple tracking on
the go, providing text alerts when the parcel is ready to collect, ensuring the parcels are waiting for our customers and not the other way round. Complementing this service, we offer free parking, over 300 drivethroughs and extended opening hours. In order to ensure we hit the proposition, we monitor all movements centrally and make interventions across the network to drive our performance. It is the first of its kind from an end-to-end perspective in the UK.�
Asda toyou, it is the fastest growing Pick-Up and Drop-Off (PUDO) service in the UK and has been in operation for around four years Jon Parry, Vice President (VP) of ALS
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Dematic Is Powering the Future of Commerce. Today. Distribution Centres | Dark Stores | Micro-Fulfillment Dematic has been designing and building distribution centres for our retail partners for decades. We’ve also been implementing dark store operations to leverage underperforming stores or third-party locations in dense, urban areas to create efficiency for online orders. So, it’s natural extension global innovation and chain Dematic has been designing and a building distribution centres forto ourbring retail partners for decades. We've also beensupply implementing leadership to micro-fulfillment. dark store operations to leveragethought underperforming stores or third-party locations in dense, urban areas to create efficiency for online orders. So, it's a natural extension to bring global innovation and supply chain thought leadership to micro-fulfillment.
Supply chain mega-trends Businesses are being challenged by a number of mega-trends that stand to radically alter the commercial landscape including mass urbanisation, climate change, and digitalisation.
smart fridges, freezers and washing machines. Combine this with big data, deep analytics and artificial intelligence, then new insights and opportunities can be instantly identified and acted upon by technologically enabled businesses.
Nowhere is this more real than in the supply chain. Digitalisation especially will have a profound impact on supply chains. The Internet of Things, where 50bn items have an individual IP address, will radically change the way goods are ordered – such as from
Jason de Kauwe, Marketing Director Northern Europe for Dematic, says Businesses will need to re-think how they serve a growing urban population that holds high expectations for fast delivery and service.
www.dematic.com
“As a business, Dematic makes sure that we understand the client’s pain points and, critically, we ask where the business wants to be in the future and how we can help them in reaching that destination.”
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Saving customers’ time with smart parcel robots
> The click and collect process is easy and convenient. The journey begins with the customer placing an order online and choosing to pick up their parcel from the in-store parcel robot. When the order is ready, the customer receives an order code. They enter or scan the code at the robot’s touch screen, and the machine issues a parcel through the user console within seconds. > The parcel robots have a smart storing system which maximises the use of retail space. The robot measures all parcels during loading and stores them on trays according to their height. To save even more time, the robots have a fast loading mode – during loading, the parcels are placed near the console and after completion, the robot automatically readjusts the inserted parcels to save as much space as possible. > The innovative technology is provided by an Estonian company Cleveron which offers click and collect solutions to the world’s leading retailers. Asda’s clients can use the parcel tower Cleveron 401 and the scalable parcel solution Cleveron 402 to pick up and return their online orders.
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DISCOVER MORE / cleveron.com
> Asda’s customers can pick up their orders from innovative parcel robots in a couple of stores across the UK. The automated parcel solutions act as a self-service pickup point, so the customers do not need any additional help in getting their parcel. The entire pickup process takes only about 15–20 seconds.
Furthermore, Asda Logistics Services continue to innovate with their partner, Cleveron, having been the first UK parcel service to introduce automation into the retail experience. Jon says, “In collaboration with Cleveron, we now have automated parcel towers across a number of our stores, and we have introduced a new type of parcel automation called Flex, which can cater for bulkier parcel sizes.” As for the future direction of Asda Logistics Services, the plan is to accelerate collaboration with partners to drive win-win solutions, bringing further value for both parties. Jon concludes, “We are looking to leverage our transport solutions, and in terms of automation and technology, we are working on numerous opportunities through the introduction of more AGVs, more AMRs, and more innovative solutions. We will be scaling these
Asda Logistics Services continue to innovate with their partner, Cleveron, having been the first UK parcel service to introduce automation into the retail experience solutions fast across our entire network over the coming months and years. It is thanks to our third party partners that we are able to enhance the logistics function within the Asda business.” For further information on Asda’s products and services, visit www.asda.com www.george.com www.toyou.co.uk 25
www.asda.com www.george.com www.toyou.co.uk