Print.IT Reseller
VOW Managing Director Adrian Butler
said: “It’s important that resellers
understand the value of wholesale
from VOW.”
Knowing that a wholesaler is continually
innovating, reducing cost and introducing
new technologies and services into its
distribution infrastructure is critical for
resellers that want to stay ahead of the
curve. Having confidence in a wholesale
partner’s ability to meet individual business
needs extends beyond the basic assurance
that end-users will receive the right product
at the right time.
“One of the ways we deliver value is
through investment in the most up-to-date
technology in our warehouse and transport
fleets to accommodate an ever changing
market. This has included an investment of
£600,000 in pick to light and voice picking
to handle an increase in volume of smaller
order picks. Our investment in IT has ensured
the delivery of tailored order presentations
such as Pick Wrap & Label in different
flavours, direct to the consumer or delivery
into resellers’ premises at, in many cases,
bespoke timed deliveries to suit resellers
operational shift patterns. Overall our
investment in new technologies has enabled
the lowest cost per pick for efficiency and
supply chain costs,” said Butler.
Improved accuracy
Changes to VOW’s system, the equipment
used in picking, the implementation of voice
picking at one of its distribution centres and
a pack station with weigh check capability
have allowed the wholesaler to consolidate
all items ordered in one customer delivery
into one box, improving accuracy and
reducing transport costs by approximately
two-thirds on these lines.
Because labels are no longer applied
to the product directly, the return of stock
from customers to the pick face is more
straightforward. The product is also now
shipped in a recyclable cardboard outer,
further protecting against damage in transit.
Among the other initiatives that VOW’s
parent company Vasanta has identified and
successfully delivered is the use of pallet
collars on product moved in trailer cubes to
ensure a decrease in damage. This has also
delivered an annual reduction in shrink wrap
of 20 tonnes.
The pallet collars are from a sustainable
source, are re-usable in the company’s closed
loop and have saved over 170,000 miles
annually from a reduction in the number
of trips needed. Vasanta also identified
heat wrapping as an answer to providing
additional protection for the significant
volume of A4 paper it carries. By wrapping
A4 boxes and envelopes together in twos,
the wholesaler both reduced instances of
damage, while simultaneously keeping the
transportation costs for these products to a
minimum.
Excellence in logistics
Improvements made to Vasanta sites in the
South East have seen the company’s in-
house cross dock operation, third-party cross
dock operation and third-party transport
provider be consolidated, so that the
transport provider now manages the radial
sites. The change has seen the two sites
deliver exceptional service levels, including a
change to hours of work to allow continued
service to customers during the London 2012
Olympics and Paralympics.
VOW’s Normanton facility, which opened
in 2011 to replace a smaller operation, was
initially focussed on supplying two specific
channels to market that had historically
Distribution excellence
from VOW
been serviced from that area. The site was
further developed in 2012 with capability
expanded to pick orders for all of Scotland,
the North East and Yorkshire, reducing the
stem distance that trunk vehicles ran, thus
enabling further operational efficiencies.
More recent developments include the
start of work to create a mezzanine floor
over the goods-in area at VOW’s Arrow
Distribution Centre in Lutterworth. This is the
first stage of a significant project to install an
A-frame and four Sortmasters – moves that
will further improve customer service, site
throughput capacity and efficiency as well as
lessen environmental impact.
According to Vasanta Group Logistics
Director John Burkill, these recent
improvements are part of a strategy to make
the Arrow Distribution Centre a ‘small pick
centre of excellence’.
“Continual innovation is key to
everything we do across the business,”
he said. “A combination of studying best
practice across Europe and the US, which
included visiting logistics operations where
we felt we could share and learn a number
of things with those businesses, has helped
to ensure our infrastructure is up there with
the best.
“These ongoing improvements within
our logistics and distribution operation have
delivered a real step change in the quality
and level of service we offer to resellers,”
said Burkill.
Taking the lead in logistics
and distribution has become
everyday practice for
wholesaler VOW.
eseller
.co.uk
19
VOW
This has also
delivered
an annual
reduction in
shrink wrap
of 20 tonnes.
Technology and EOS resellers interested in
opening an account with VOW or who already have
an account but want to learn more can contact the
NES team at VOW on 0844 980 8220.
Adrian Butler,
Managing Director, VOW
