Staples decided on Savoye’s LM7 warehouse management system when it centralised distribution operation at its Tongeren site in Belgium for three countries: Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany
LM7 had already been implemented at Staple’s sites in France (JPG), Italy (Mondoffice) and the UK (Neat Ideas) and as the requirements for Tongeren were similar to the British site a copy of the existing LM7 application was installed. In Belgium and The Netherlands, Staples trades as the Office Centre, a cash and carry shop aimed at business customers on a membership card basis.
With a total of 10,500 SKUs ranging from rubbers to office furniture the Tongeren site processes some 20,000 order lines a day dispatching an average of 8,500 orders in a variety of formats – full case, split case and uglies.
A key consideration when deciding on the WMS was the fact that LM7 not only integrates and manages the automatic control of Savoye’s mechanised conveyor but also manages the two automatic labelling machines located at the beginning and end of the conveyor.
Among the constraints that LM7 had to contend with was the carrying out a systematic check on all orders by weight and customer credit rating as well as managing the printing of specific delivery documentation in a special colour for their “Gold Customers” Staples and JPG.
Following installation of LM7, the company has seen increased speed of processing, greater quality control and flexibility and improved delivery performance with 24 hour deliveries to Germany and the Benelux countries.
It is anticipated it will enable the Tongeren site to increase the volume of orders processed by 50 per cent in three years and also, like the British site, improve the processing of the very small orders which are packed and dispatched in Jiffy bags by managing the collation on the preparation conveyor.
Raf Breuls, distribution centre manager Staples/JPG Tongeren says: ” LM7 has made great improvements in the efficiency of the operation not only helping us to improve our “next day delivery” promise but also improving quality control through the weight check functionality.”
