Bathrooms and fittings manufacturer Twyford Bathrooms has put all of its warehousing and distribution needs in the UK in the hands of Kuehne + Nagel (K+N). Building on the partnership created through KNW – the joint venture between K+N and Wincanton – nationwide distribution is being carried out by Wincanton.
Sanitec subsidiary Twyford sought to provide a better platform for growth through the further outsourcing of its logistics. The contract was awarded following a lengthy benchmarking process during which K+N impressed Twyford Bathrooms with its knowledge and experience in the contract logistics industry, while also offering the most effective service.
At the same time Wincanton demonstrated that by transferring from a dedicated fleet to shared-user transport, the necessary efficiency and flexibility could be achieved, whilst maintaining the high delivery standards expected by Twyford’s customer base.
Under the contract, Twyford’s national distribution centre in Alsager, Stoke on Trent is now managed by K+N, as are the 64 members of staff working in the centre. This includes 20,000sq m of warehousing with an annual throughput of around four million items. Also, K+N offers value added services such as quality inspections on third-party products, a pick, pack and despatch service, and product conversions. It can also provide the necessary speciality casing and bespoke pallets required by some of Twyford’s more fragile products.
Richard Downes, Twyford’s supply chain director, comments “We wanted to gain focus in our business by concentrating on our core competences, whilst engaging with logistics partners who could provide the specialist knowledge and experience. This approach will allow us to grow our business, confident in the knowledge that our service delivery offer will remain competitive and flexible. With Kuehne + Nagel and Wincanton we are sure that we will achieve these aims.”
