Rydale improves e-commerce efficiency

British clothing brand Rydale has expanded and improved its e-commerce offering thanks to the deployment of Despatch Cloud’s software technology.

Rydale is a brand that has moved to the forefront of the country clothing industry in recent years. It was a love for the great outdoors that drove the founder, John Nichols, to create this iconic brand, and the company prides itself on creating quality, reliable clothing that stands up against the unexpected weather and rugged terrain of the great British countryside.

Since its founding 68 years ago, as a small business creating items for local outdoor enthusiasts, Rydale has grown into an internationally recognised and established brand.

Alex Moore, e-commerce Manager at Rydale, speaks about the rise of the business: “Rydale is proud to be from Yorkshire. We couldn’t think of a better place to test and develop our clothing range. We’ve always been eager to grow the brand by attending events all over the country, but the rise of e-commerce presented an opportunity to expand our operation rapidly.

“However, just as for any traditional retailer, the birth of e-commerce also changed everything. We had to adapt to a whole new way of running a business and work out how to manage it, and that’s where Despatch Cloud came in.”

After an acquaintance suggested getting in touch, Moore and the team were immediately impressed with what Despatch Cloud had to offer, stating: “It was really great to speak to people who actually knew what operating a busy warehouse was like. We shared many qualities and we jumped at the chance to adopt their software.”

Full warehouse package

Rydale took on Despatch Cloud’s full Warehouse package, and the results were immediate. Moore  explains: “Many of our orders are for multiple items. For example, people will buy a shirt and jacket together. A lot of the time these items are racked on opposite ends of the warehouse, which makes picking a real chore, and time consuming. When the team at Despatch Cloud introduced us to the bulk and sort picking method, we couldn’t believe the difference it made.”

The toting functionality involves collecting all products allocated to a sale, and placing them in a pick bin. This is then taken to a sorting wall, where all the totes are assigned to orders, waiting to be filled.

Moore explains: “Each of our pickers could pick 12 orders at once with our previous system. So on a day where we had, let’s say, 144 orders, that meant either we used 12 members of staff to pick, or a picker walked around the warehouse 12 times. Bulk and sort was a revelation. It now only takes one picker to collect all 144 orders. Our warehouse efficiency went through the roof and the number of orders we could fulfil increased tenfold.”

It wasn’t just the new picking method that improved the fulfilment process, Despatch Cloud’s end-to-end barcode verification software was another feature that seemed tailor-made for Rydale’s needs. Moore elaborates: “When selling clothing, many products are similar. For example, you may have a royal blue shirt next to a navy shirt. It’s easy for a picker to collect the wrong one, but it can be really damaging to customer relationships when they do. Since adopting a triple barcode checking system, every item is scanned at the point of picking, when it is being sorted, and when it is being packed. Our rate of human error in picking is now less than 0.001%.”

This wasn’t just beneficial for eliminating errors: “This system made finding products in the warehouse simpler. All we now have to do is search on the system and we can see if an order has been picked, if it’s waiting to be sorted, or if it’s already been packed. It’s made life so much easier and means we can respond to customers quickly in relation to queries regarding their purchase, which is always a positive.”

Another customer-based benefit was Despatch Cloud’s integrated helpdesk solution. The system is linked to the warehouse management software, which means orders and customer correspondence can be linked. Moore comments: “We found our former system wasn’t optimal for us, so when Despatch Cloud showcased their software, we jumped at the chance to adopt it. Having the order linking technology means that if a customer gets in touch via email, they will be automatically linked to their order, and their full order history. This saves us a lot of time, and the positive customer reaction to our quick responses has been a real pleasure to see.”

Returns system

Another feature that has proved invaluable for Rydale is the Despatch Cloud Returns System. Moore speaks about the way the returns portal has helped Rydale: “It used to be a huge operation to get returns processed and back into stock. We did it the traditional way of placing returns together and then gradually returning them to their shelves, which could take days.

“With the new system, all that has changed. We now have 100 small bins near our returns area, into which we put any returned parcels. These returns are processed and stay in the bins where they can be picked for orders. Basically, if they pass quality control they are immediately placed back into the system.

“We prioritise picking from these bins, which saves the time and effort of returning items to their warehouse inventory location before they are picked for a new order. We call it direct-to-pick. As orders come in for items in the return bins, that product is taken out, and the bin is empty again. It’s working well for us so far and has really sped up not just our returns, but our entire order processing.”

The expansion of e-commerce shows no signs of slowing down, and it’s now more important than ever that businesses retail their products across multiple sales channels. This comes with some difficulty though, as Rydale experienced. Moore states: “Our previous system wasn’t the best for handling stock across multiple channels. We had to manually split our stock, so we would assign 50 products to one channel, 50 to another, and we had to constantly check them to make sure we had enough. This was a nightmare. Big sales events are important to us and often result in high order volumes. Trying to juggle our stock when it was selling quickly across different channels was getting tricky and we were always running the risk of overselling.”

Moore describes how Despatch Cloud helped solve this issue: “The whole team was blown away at the speed of stock updates with Despatch Cloud. We organised big sales events with huge reductions on items that meant our stock levels were in a constant state of flux, and the Despatch Cloud technology handled it with ease. The feeling of having a system you trust can’t be understated. It allows us the freedom to launch sales and promotional events without a nagging fear at the back of our minds of overselling. It’s provided us with the freedom to grow, knowing we have a system to back us up.”

Matthew Dunne, founder and CTO of Despatch Cloud, speaks fondly of his relationship with the team at Rydale, saying: “It has been a pleasure working with Rydale. To see another business from our region making such huge progress in their industry is really positive. From the start, the team at Despatch Cloud has enjoyed seeing how our technology has improved their logistic operations and we look forward to seeing what the future holds.”

Rydale continues to expand its collections of country clothing, footwear, gifts and accessories and reach new customers. Still working with Despatch Cloud, the future certainly looks bright for this British country clothing brand.

 

Linde presents concentrated expertise at LogiMAT

Linde Material Handling (MH) will be presenting its concentrated expertise to visitors at LogiMAT 2022 in several exhibition areas covering a total area of around 1,000 sq m. A special focus will be on Linde’s pioneering electric counterbalanced trucks, a wide variety of order picking concepts, and digital solutions for operational safety and efficient energy management.

Visitors coming to the trade fair with the goal of bringing themselves up to speed about industrial truck technologies of the future will more than find what they are looking for at Linde MH’s exhibition areas (Stand B21 in Hall 10, as well as the outdoor grounds between Hall 8 and Hall 10).

One example is the latest generation of IC engine-powered and electric counterbalanced trucks in the 2.0 to 3.5t load capacity range. These trucks are designed to accommodate all available digital applications and offer impressive performance, economical energy consumption and a high level of operator comfort as well as excellent visibility.

The highlight among the electric forklifts is the X series, which is unique in the industry. It combines the advantages of the Linde hydrostat with the benefits of a battery-powered vehicles. This means that the electric forklifts are just as productive as their IC counterparts, insensitive to dust and dirt and suitable for continuous operation at the payload limit and on gradients. At the same time, they operate quietly, emission-free and enable completely carbon-neutral energy consumption.

“The additional outdoor area on the exhibition grounds is the perfect place to show in action the numerous improvements and advantages of these new shooting stars from Linde MH featuring different drive types,” says Stefan Prokosch, SVP Brand Management Linde Material Handling.

Another focus of the trade fair presentation will be on the wide range of order picking solutions from Linde MH, which help users achieve greater efficiency in their picking processes. Both manual and semi-automatic equipment options will be on display, as well as automated industrial trucks such as the Linde R-MATIC reach truck.

A large amount of attention will also be devoted to the company’s growing number of software and consulting solutions. These include the extensive functions of the “Linde connect” fleet management system, assistance systems designed to protect people, infrastructure and goods, and smart, AI-based energy management, which can be used to smooth out peaks in electricity demand and improve energy consumption planning overall.

“This helps our customers keep energy costs under control and safeguard the availability of their electric industrial truck fleet at all times,” the Linde Brand Manager explains.

 

Linde presents concentrated expertise at LogiMAT

Linde Material Handling (MH) will be presenting its concentrated expertise to visitors at LogiMAT 2022 in several exhibition areas covering a total area of around 1,000 sq m. A special focus will be on Linde’s pioneering electric counterbalanced trucks, a wide variety of order picking concepts, and digital solutions for operational safety and efficient energy management.

Visitors coming to the trade fair with the goal of bringing themselves up to speed about industrial truck technologies of the future will more than find what they are looking for at Linde MH’s exhibition areas (Stand B21 in Hall 10, as well as the outdoor grounds between Hall 8 and Hall 10).

One example is the latest generation of IC engine-powered and electric counterbalanced trucks in the 2.0 to 3.5t load capacity range. These trucks are designed to accommodate all available digital applications and offer impressive performance, economical energy consumption and a high level of operator comfort as well as excellent visibility.

The highlight among the electric forklifts is the X series, which is unique in the industry. It combines the advantages of the Linde hydrostat with the benefits of a battery-powered vehicles. This means that the electric forklifts are just as productive as their IC counterparts, insensitive to dust and dirt and suitable for continuous operation at the payload limit and on gradients. At the same time, they operate quietly, emission-free and enable completely carbon-neutral energy consumption.

“The additional outdoor area on the exhibition grounds is the perfect place to show in action the numerous improvements and advantages of these new shooting stars from Linde MH featuring different drive types,” says Stefan Prokosch, SVP Brand Management Linde Material Handling.

Another focus of the trade fair presentation will be on the wide range of order picking solutions from Linde MH, which help users achieve greater efficiency in their picking processes. Both manual and semi-automatic equipment options will be on display, as well as automated industrial trucks such as the Linde R-MATIC reach truck.

A large amount of attention will also be devoted to the company’s growing number of software and consulting solutions. These include the extensive functions of the “Linde connect” fleet management system, assistance systems designed to protect people, infrastructure and goods, and smart, AI-based energy management, which can be used to smooth out peaks in electricity demand and improve energy consumption planning overall.

“This helps our customers keep energy costs under control and safeguard the availability of their electric industrial truck fleet at all times,” the Linde Brand Manager explains.

 

GEODIS to open Dresden logistics centre

GEODIS plans to open a new multi-user logistics facility in Coswig. The new facility meets the latest environmental and safety standards and is scheduled to be ready for occupancy in October of this year. The new logistics centre in the Dresden area is an example of the global transport and logistics service provider’s continued expansion in Germany.

The new logistics centre offers customers a wide range of services. These include inbound and outbound logistics, value-added services, after-sales, and return logistics, as well as high-tech services, for example, the repair and refurbishment of information technology products, as well as the assembly and software configuration of devices, right through to installation at the customer’s site. Value-added services, such as flow and transport management via the Control Tower and e-logistics and e-fulfilment services, complete the range of services at the new Coswig site.

In terms of traffic, the new logistics centre is directly connected to the A4 – Bad Hersfeld – Görlitz highway via the S84 and B6. The new building, developed by Garbe Industrial Real Estate, a specialist in logistics and corporate real estate will meet safety and environmental standards. For example, it is planned to line the floors of the two large halls with WGK (water hazard class) foil. With a photovoltaic system on the roof, GEODIS will be able to cover a large part of its electricity requirements.

Further sustainable measures such as greening the façade and planting 110 trees and 547 shrubs in the outdoor space will be an additional contribution to improving the carbon footprint, as are e-charging stations for cars and bicycles. Certification to the gold standard of the German Sustainable Building Association (Deutschen Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen, DGNB) is planned for the entire property.

“The new multi-user facility in Coswig is another step in our growth strategy. As a central multimodal transport hub, the Dresden metropolitan area has ideal conditions for fast and environmentally friendly transport routes within Germany, as well as to Poland and the Czech Republic,” stresses Thomas Kraus, GEODIS President & CEO North, East and Central Europe, underlining the location’s advantages.

“The establishment of innovative companies from the high-tech, greentech, and robotics sectors in this region also offers interesting market potential to expand our customer portfolio in those growth sectors that are important to us,” says Antje Lochmann, Managing Director of GEODIS’ Contract Logistics activity in Germany.

“As mayor of Coswig, I can say, on behalf of the city council that I’m pleased our efforts in recent years to develop commercial areas have been successful. This large and modern logistics facility is a new location in Coswig that not only meets today’s customer requirements but also sets standards in environmental protection with a comprehensive PV system and green façades,” says Thomas Schubert, Mayor of Coswig.

 

GEODIS to open Dresden logistics centre

GEODIS plans to open a new multi-user logistics facility in Coswig. The new facility meets the latest environmental and safety standards and is scheduled to be ready for occupancy in October of this year. The new logistics centre in the Dresden area is an example of the global transport and logistics service provider’s continued expansion in Germany.

The new logistics centre offers customers a wide range of services. These include inbound and outbound logistics, value-added services, after-sales, and return logistics, as well as high-tech services, for example, the repair and refurbishment of information technology products, as well as the assembly and software configuration of devices, right through to installation at the customer’s site. Value-added services, such as flow and transport management via the Control Tower and e-logistics and e-fulfilment services, complete the range of services at the new Coswig site.

In terms of traffic, the new logistics centre is directly connected to the A4 – Bad Hersfeld – Görlitz highway via the S84 and B6. The new building, developed by Garbe Industrial Real Estate, a specialist in logistics and corporate real estate will meet safety and environmental standards. For example, it is planned to line the floors of the two large halls with WGK (water hazard class) foil. With a photovoltaic system on the roof, GEODIS will be able to cover a large part of its electricity requirements.

Further sustainable measures such as greening the façade and planting 110 trees and 547 shrubs in the outdoor space will be an additional contribution to improving the carbon footprint, as are e-charging stations for cars and bicycles. Certification to the gold standard of the German Sustainable Building Association (Deutschen Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen, DGNB) is planned for the entire property.

“The new multi-user facility in Coswig is another step in our growth strategy. As a central multimodal transport hub, the Dresden metropolitan area has ideal conditions for fast and environmentally friendly transport routes within Germany, as well as to Poland and the Czech Republic,” stresses Thomas Kraus, GEODIS President & CEO North, East and Central Europe, underlining the location’s advantages.

“The establishment of innovative companies from the high-tech, greentech, and robotics sectors in this region also offers interesting market potential to expand our customer portfolio in those growth sectors that are important to us,” says Antje Lochmann, Managing Director of GEODIS’ Contract Logistics activity in Germany.

“As mayor of Coswig, I can say, on behalf of the city council that I’m pleased our efforts in recent years to develop commercial areas have been successful. This large and modern logistics facility is a new location in Coswig that not only meets today’s customer requirements but also sets standards in environmental protection with a comprehensive PV system and green façades,” says Thomas Schubert, Mayor of Coswig.

 

Dematic hosts live customer service broadcast

Intelligent automation specialist Dematic is inviting customers and journalists to a live broadcast on 10th March featuring Dematic Customer Service and the benefits of analytic solutions.

Dematic Customer Service offers a wide variety of innovative service solutions such as advanced predictive maintenance capabilities for keeping your equipment, software, and systems operating at peak performance. At the event, experts from the Dematic Customer Service and Global Software Analytics teams will showcase their analytic solutions and provide information about Dematic InSights, a cloud-based analytics platform for optimising warehouse operations and condition monitoring.

Alberto Rostagno, VP Customer Service EMEA, adds: “Dematic Customer Service plays a vital role in maintaining and optimizing warehouse efficiency, ensuring facilities are operating with minimum unplanned downtime and managing risks across one or multiple sites. Traditional customer maintenance services are enhanced by Dematic InSights and its remote support capabilities.”

Customers benefit from the increased control of their warehouse operation systems – and from a greater ability to master growth, handle peak season demands, and accommodate new technology. “With our analytics tool, customers have better access to their data and better visibility into their systems so they can enact action plans to improve their operations. This way, Dematic InSights allows customers to be more proactive in addressing potential issues before they become truly disruptive,” explains Andy Bruinsma, Director Digital Solutions at Dematic, who will be one of the speakers.

During the live broadcast, experts will present the current Dematic InSights dashboard modules. These range from drill-down views of system and subsystem availability tracking to elaborate visualisations of operator performance, subsystem throughput, and equipment fault analysis. The presentation will also include a demonstration of specific case stories of customers who have significantly optimised their operational or maintenance processes with Dematic InSights.

The live sessions starting at 10:00 GMT will be held in English and translated into French, Italian, and Spanish. Participants will receive live support from Dematic experts during the presentations and will be able to address specific questions at dedicated Q&A sessions. To see the full agenda and to register free of charge, visit https://www.dematic.com/peak-performance/.

Dematic hosts live customer service broadcast

Intelligent automation specialist Dematic is inviting customers and journalists to a live broadcast on 10th March featuring Dematic Customer Service and the benefits of analytic solutions.

Dematic Customer Service offers a wide variety of innovative service solutions such as advanced predictive maintenance capabilities for keeping your equipment, software, and systems operating at peak performance. At the event, experts from the Dematic Customer Service and Global Software Analytics teams will showcase their analytic solutions and provide information about Dematic InSights, a cloud-based analytics platform for optimising warehouse operations and condition monitoring.

Alberto Rostagno, VP Customer Service EMEA, adds: “Dematic Customer Service plays a vital role in maintaining and optimizing warehouse efficiency, ensuring facilities are operating with minimum unplanned downtime and managing risks across one or multiple sites. Traditional customer maintenance services are enhanced by Dematic InSights and its remote support capabilities.”

Customers benefit from the increased control of their warehouse operation systems – and from a greater ability to master growth, handle peak season demands, and accommodate new technology. “With our analytics tool, customers have better access to their data and better visibility into their systems so they can enact action plans to improve their operations. This way, Dematic InSights allows customers to be more proactive in addressing potential issues before they become truly disruptive,” explains Andy Bruinsma, Director Digital Solutions at Dematic, who will be one of the speakers.

During the live broadcast, experts will present the current Dematic InSights dashboard modules. These range from drill-down views of system and subsystem availability tracking to elaborate visualisations of operator performance, subsystem throughput, and equipment fault analysis. The presentation will also include a demonstration of specific case stories of customers who have significantly optimised their operational or maintenance processes with Dematic InSights.

The live sessions starting at 10:00 GMT will be held in English and translated into French, Italian, and Spanish. Participants will receive live support from Dematic experts during the presentations and will be able to address specific questions at dedicated Q&A sessions. To see the full agenda and to register free of charge, visit https://www.dematic.com/peak-performance/.

Quicker, slicker multi-site implementation

A leading online farmer-to-farmer and ag tech company has been able to fast-track its expansion plans thanks to a tailored ‘Self Implementation’ programme from WMS provider, SnapFulfil, that enables customers to onboard the solution themselves.

With demand for their products and services soaring, Farmers Business Network (FBN) needed to quickly increase its warehouse capacity with the opening of 14 new DCs across the American Midwest in 2021, whilst retaining greater cost, labour and inventory efficiencies.

The ability to remotely implement and self-configure the WMS was essential to overcome the challenges of the global pandemic, decrease rollout time, and provide FBN with greater control, more independence and internal system expertise.

The first DC to be onboarded, in Newton, Iowa, and 186,000 sq ft, quickly delivered vastly improved picking efficiencies. The automated approach also eliminated the number of people manually involved and – with an eye to the future – delivered a standardised and more professional process that workers across all subsequent sites could easily follow.

FBN’s System Engineer, Darci Fluit, was initially schooled in both project control and project execution, including the likes of bespoke order transfer, stock management functionality, implementing the environment set up, rules engine configuration and all the staff training required via web conferencing.

Fluit said: “The SnapFulfil team are strong partners who provide clear instruction and advised me on how best to interview our operational staff about their specific order volume and storage requirements; then map out the intricacies of the processes needed and phased implementation from the very beginning.

“With each Go Live we saw increased speed and ease of implementation and by DC 5 we’d moved on to three simultaneous sites coming on stream, just a week apart. The robust programme we have in place makes it possible and the economies of scale implications are obvious. We’ve also been able to handle more complex integrations.”

SnapFulfil’s new Self Implementation documentation covers everything from data gathering, configuring the technical infrastructure, user preparation and verification to data migration, stock take and validation, plus go live support.

With a proven and ever improving onboarding programme now firmly entrenched in the process at FBN, the California-based company has begun expanding their fulfilment operations to Canada and Australia.

Quicker, slicker multi-site implementation

A leading online farmer-to-farmer and ag tech company has been able to fast-track its expansion plans thanks to a tailored ‘Self Implementation’ programme from WMS provider, SnapFulfil, that enables customers to onboard the solution themselves.

With demand for their products and services soaring, Farmers Business Network (FBN) needed to quickly increase its warehouse capacity with the opening of 14 new DCs across the American Midwest in 2021, whilst retaining greater cost, labour and inventory efficiencies.

The ability to remotely implement and self-configure the WMS was essential to overcome the challenges of the global pandemic, decrease rollout time, and provide FBN with greater control, more independence and internal system expertise.

The first DC to be onboarded, in Newton, Iowa, and 186,000 sq ft, quickly delivered vastly improved picking efficiencies. The automated approach also eliminated the number of people manually involved and – with an eye to the future – delivered a standardised and more professional process that workers across all subsequent sites could easily follow.

FBN’s System Engineer, Darci Fluit, was initially schooled in both project control and project execution, including the likes of bespoke order transfer, stock management functionality, implementing the environment set up, rules engine configuration and all the staff training required via web conferencing.

Fluit said: “The SnapFulfil team are strong partners who provide clear instruction and advised me on how best to interview our operational staff about their specific order volume and storage requirements; then map out the intricacies of the processes needed and phased implementation from the very beginning.

“With each Go Live we saw increased speed and ease of implementation and by DC 5 we’d moved on to three simultaneous sites coming on stream, just a week apart. The robust programme we have in place makes it possible and the economies of scale implications are obvious. We’ve also been able to handle more complex integrations.”

SnapFulfil’s new Self Implementation documentation covers everything from data gathering, configuring the technical infrastructure, user preparation and verification to data migration, stock take and validation, plus go live support.

With a proven and ever improving onboarding programme now firmly entrenched in the process at FBN, the California-based company has begun expanding their fulfilment operations to Canada and Australia.

Prologis helps trainees find logistics jobs

A Northamptonshire-based training facility is helping to upskill the next generation of logistics workers. The Hub, based at Prologis RFI DIRFT in Daventry, is a purpose-built facility, which is home to Prologis UK’s Warehousing and Logistics Training Programme (PWLTP).

After launching in 2021, the PWLTP is helping young and unemployed people in the Northamptonshire and wider SEMLEP area gain the skills, knowledge and competencies to find a job and build a career in logistics. In 2021, 96 local people completed the training programme and secured employment with local logistics employers, delivering a social value of £1.54m.

Among those taking advantage of the training programme, backed by Prologis UK and delivered by Goodwill Solutions, is Rachel Priest, a 28-year-old from Northampton. Rachel is using the programme to sharpen her CV and practise her interview skills, as well as gain important workplace qualifications, such as a forklift truck driving licence. She is supported by Right Resolution CIC, an organisation which supports young people in Northamptonshire and Peterborough leaving care.

Speaking about the PWLTP, Rachel said: “I’ve always been a hands-on person and the range of jobs available in logistics really appeals to me. The courses so far have been great and I’ve really found it useful talking about my CV and my skills. It’s given me a lot more confidence and I feel much more comfortable about applying for jobs now. Achieving my forklift licence is very exciting too!”

After progressing though the programme, where courses cover resilience and employability skills including workplace relationships, inner drive, CV writing and self-presentation at interviews, attendees are put in contact with local logistics businesses that are currently recruiting skilled workers. Many of these businesses are long-term customers at nearby Prologis Parks, allowing course participants to find sustainable employment, close to where they live.

Robin Woodbridge (pictured left, alongside Rachel Priest centre, and Prologis UK’s Sally Duggleby right), head of capital deployment at Prologis UK, said: “Seeing people progress through the courses and find employment is exactly why we set up the PWLTP. Businesses on our Prologis Parks need access to an employment pool of skilled workers and we know there’s an appetite in the region for jobs which offer security and progression. The Programme has had a very strong start and we’re looking forward to helping many more people build a career in the fast-paced world of logistics.”

As a sector, logistics offers a broad range of job opportunities; from warehouse and forklift truck operatives, through to customer service advisors, automation engineers and data analysts. Across the UK, the sector supports 2.6 million jobs and is actively recruiting. During the pandemic, logistics employees were given key worker status, due to the importance of their roles and recent research conducted by Prologis UK shows that 1 in 2 people believe that logistics workers are perceived more positively now than before the pandemic.

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