Panduro increases picking capacity by 20%

Panduro, a market leader in hobby materials in Europe, has successfully implemented ZetesMedea Warehouse Execution System to help improve market responsiveness and agility, whilst ensuring that sales are maximised, and delays minimised. The new system was fully operational in less than three months, and speed was a critical requirement as growing surge in demand was putting a mounting pressure on the retailer to fulfil more orders efficiently.

Panduro has 96 stores distributed throughout six European countries. With a total assortment of 10,000 items, distributed through a hybrid retail model, the rapidly expanding organisation was seeking to replace existing outdated voice picking system with a next generation solution to meet rapidly growing market demands.

Ensuring capacity matches demand

Panduro has faced a significant growth in demand in recent years, which the pandemic accelerated. To stretch and align capacity to meet customer demand, it needed to ensure maximum utilisation of its  warehouse operations, without expanding warehouse space. But operating on a legacy system, based on outdated technology, it was not possible to increase efficiency levels.

Panduro was therefore looking for a new solution that needed to meet certain specific requirements; it had to be a next-generation cloud-based solution, capable of being properly integrated into modern structures, and able to reduce operators’ workload whilst increasing productivity. It was also crucial that productivity would not decrease during the implementation stage. Panduro found all this in ZetesMedea’s voice picking solution.

Implementation in less than three months

The new cutting-edge technology from Zetes has allowed Panduro to increase the number of orders executed every day, reaching up to 18,000 order lines per day. A critical factor to meet increasing order volumes and support the company’s continued growth.

User acceptance and uninterrupted productivity was a key reason in implementing the ZetesMedea voice system. Smooth, efficient onboarding of both permanent and seasonal associates is critical to consistently fulfilling order demand throughout the year. This is enabled through the intuitive ‘untrained’ features of the new voice picking technology, ensuring rapid system familiarity and productivity. In addition, less management attention is required to manage onboarding, releasing time for more added value operational focus.

Finally, the speed of implementation was also of significant importance. From first discussion to implementation, the solution was fully operational in less than three months.

Cutting-edge technology

Many companies face the need to upgrade outdated equipment in order to keep up with logistics advancements and avoid risks. In conjunction with ZetesMedea software, Panduro opted to equip its warehouse pickers with cutting-edge Android technology from Panasonic Toughbook. Operating on the FZ-N1 handheld device and headset, the system simply instructs warehouse operators in their tasks and picked items are registered immediately. Panduro can easily access real-time order status updates, performance intelligence reports and track critical operational KPI’s to gain full visibility into operations.

“Thanks to ZetesMedea, we have increased our picking productivity by nearly 20%, reaching up to 18,000 order lines per day. In less than three months from start to finish, we are now processing more order per picker and day than ever before,” said Fia Collin, Warehouse and Production Manager at Panduro.