Day: 27 February 2020

Element Logic, the first AutoStore partner, has opened an office in France. It is now operational in Chalon sur Saône where Isabelle Bion (left) has been hired as Managing Director responsible for business development and sales.

Pointing to ecommerce growth throughout Europe, Dag-Adler Blakseth (right), CEO of Element Logic, says: “We are very proud to announce the opening of our office in France and with Isabelle’s experience from the E-commerce business and knowledge concerning supply chain and logistics, I am convinced that we will get a strong development and that France will be important for our future growth.”

Bion comes from DS Smith Packaging where she was a Key Account Manager for 5 years in charge of sales and business development and top e-commerce customers in France. Prior to this, she was with LGR packaging.

AutoStore, the leading automated material handling solution, is a central part of Element Logic’s solution portfolio. Element Logic, being the first distributor of AutoStore, has more than 15 years of experience and has developed specific software that further enhances the AutoStore solution.

Element Logic has operations in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Poland, Benelux, UK and now France and has identified approximately 500 potential customers within its priority segments over the next few years.

“We have many customers growing and many customers already curious on automated warehouses. The market is really starting to mature, and we are ready to capitalise on the growth we are already seeing. These are both industrial and manufacturing customers, and typical growth companies that meet the increasing challenges of intralogistics. They should automate warehouse operations to maintain and gain even more competitiveness,” states Dag-Adler Blakseth.

The company will be exhibiting at SITL (March 17-20) in Paris at Stand J100.

With delays and blockages now starting to affect global supply chains due to the coronavirus outbreak, one key UK provider has promised its customers that its stock remains in outstanding shape. AUT Wheels and Castors says it holds circa £1M worth of stock at its Manchester warehouse and circa £6M-worth at its bulk warehousing facility in Germany. The company points out that delays can happen from time to time that require contingency plans to be put in place and says it has stock that can be delivered in a little as 24 hours.

AUT is one of the leading resources and technical authorities in the UK. It provides a full logistics service involving a network of manufacturers, providing customers with access to the most comprehensive range of wheels and castors available in the world.

Contact AUT if you need assistance on 01457 837772 or email sales@aut.co.uk.

 

UK 3PL specialist Hallmark Consumer Services says it is enjoying 40% efficiency increases on some of its fulfilment lines after implementing a best-of-breed warehouse management system (WMS).

SnapFulfil WMS is being used across the three levels of Hallmark’s 40,000 sq.ft in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, but with 80+ clients and space at a premium needed it to be up and running within a month and working in tandem with the existing OrderActive system.

New and extra functionality software was also required immediately to get products sorted and away a lot quicker and onto different types of pallets in all the correct areas of the warehouse.

Hallmark Consumer Services now benefit from bespoke location formats and walk routes, incorporating their new mezzanine level, while SnapFulfil Pack Station functionality caters for all labelling and streamlines the whole process and makes it more efficient and cost effective.

Coupled with Metapack capabilities, it provides carrier rate shipping to ensure the best value carrier is always used, plus with the many different sized products handled, Snapfulfil volumetric functionality drives pallets to the correct locations to maximise loading occupancy – a process which is continually being honed to optimise slot usage.

Hallmark Consumer Services managing director, Phil Hall, explains: ”We have an entry point system in place, but in taking the business to the next level recently – and coinciding with the new mezzanine floor – realised a much more advanced WMS was required with cloud benefits and architecturally robust, so that the hosted solution performs consistently and reliably in real time.

“We required a lot more set up and configurability options as well – but without being cost prohibitive – and apart from the software being forward thinking and progressive, were looking for a support team we could work in tandem with and on a much more proactive and flexible basis.

“SnapFulfil has delivered in every aspect and aside from these much welcome operational improvements, the transition has been fairly seamless and the support service excellent. We had a dedicated in-house team testing the operating procedures with their project management team, through peak demand periods, and they all remarked how easy the new system was to pick up.

“Minimal training was required on the hand held devices and the shift from onerous manual and paper based procedures to digital automation has been a god send – particularly for goods in – where we’ve been able to tangibly improve labour efficiencies straight away.”

Looking to the future, Hallmark Consumer Services is busy working with the SnapFulfil continuous improvement team on advanced inventory management auditing and making their stock integrity even better.
Multi-tier functionality is also improving the staging areas for pallet drop off across a host of different operators.

With SnapFulfil now starting to be firmly embedded with their clients, the old system is beginning to be phased out and the aim is to use its multi-site capabilities to facilitate additional warehouses.

Worldwide technology leader in the media and entertainment sector Technicolor, has signed a deal with imio Software Solutions to support the delivery of a semi-automated pack and despatch solution.

imio-PACK, described as a flexible and smart warehouse packing software platform, will enable the adoption of semi-automated ecommerce fulfilment at Technicolor’s warehouse in Rugby to support staff shortages.

Due to recent growth in its distribution business, Technicolor has chosen to introduce imio-PACK as it prepares for a significant increase in its order volumes in 2020. As part of the project, Technicolor expects that order productivity levels will treble.

In order to deliver during peak periods and answer labour shortages within the sector, a combination of automation and intelligent software will be implemented. In collaboration with Automated Packaging Systems (APS), the project will see the delivery of five Autobag PS125 machines, semi-automating the process of packing, label printing and application, concluding with order sealing.

imio-PACK’s simple user interface (UI) manages packing and labelling processes, delivering efficiencies for ecommerce order fulfilment. Launched to market at the beginning of 2019, imio-PACK offers an integrated solution for automated, semi-automated and manual packing fulfilment processes.

Marcus Uprichard Sales and Marketing Director at imio says: “imio-PACK will create a streamlined packing process, improving packing rates, reducing errors and staff training times – perfect for businesses looking to maximise existing staff productivity during peak times.”

Once implemented Technicolor will be capable of fulfilling all UK ecommerce orders during peak periods at five work stations, using one operative per station, per shift.