Westfield Stratford City has chosen DHL Supply Chain to provide a consolidation and dock management delivery service for the shopping centre which houses 250 retailers.
Under the five year deal, DHL will have a full time logistics team at the site working with retailers and suppliers to manage deliveries into the centre.
A web-based delivery management system will control the flow and sequence of deliveries. This is designed to reduce back-of-store and loading bay congestion by providing inbound stock visibility for service yard management operations.
DHL will also operate a consolidation platform eight miles from the shopping centre, allowing retailers and suppliers to deliver stock into a warehouse with 24 hour availability and assisted deliveries. This will provide additional flexibility to retailers’ final mile logistics operations and reduce vehicle movements to Westfield Stratford City by up to 80 per cent.
Westfield Stratford director John Burton said: “We have worked closely with DHL over the past 18 months to develop a solution to the logistical challenges facing the capital next summer and see the logistics consolidation offering as key to this. This project also allows us to support our environmental agenda, reducing road traffic movements around the centre while ensuring a seamless end to end supply chain product for participating retailers at Westfield Stratford City.”
The consolidation centre provides retailers with a range of additional services, including pre-agreed preferential delivery windows, secure off-site storage and stock delivered direct to store – allowing retailers to spend less time focusing on back-end processes and more on core retail activity.
DHL reckons that the consolidation centre will reduce pollution emissions by up to 75 per cent for retailers using the platform. More deliveries will be directed into the consolidation centre using main roads, directing lorries away from pedestrianised urban areas, easing congestion around Westfield Stratford City and improving road safety.
