Fulfilment a focus
December 1st 2011 Palletways Fulfilment offers customers access to a virtual warehouse,providing an
opportunity to manage stock without the need for investment in a fixed asset
As the tough economic climate continues to put pressure
on the supply chain, it has become increasingly
important to find logistics solutions that maximise cost
efficiencies and value at the same time. In a bid to solve these
issues, Palletways launched Palletways Fulfilment,which is
billed as a flexible stock handling, Pick/Pack and distribution
service for palletised freight, providing stock on demand
solutions to customers with either large or small warehousing
requirements.
The stocking facilities are located at the Palletways distribution
hubs in Lichfield, London and Scotland, providing quick access
to an extensive delivery network covering the UK and Ireland, as
well as Continental Europe. The proximity of the 100,000 sq ft
facility to the hub means that orders can be dispatched much
later in the day for next day delivery.
"Over the years we have built a very efficient delivery network
covering the UK, Ireland and mainland Europe, but wanted to go
one step further and maximise this asset," says Andy Turner,
managing director of Palletways Owned Operations.
"Through Palletways Fulfilment, we are able to provide our
customers with a total logistics solution covering collection, stock
holding and delivery via our international networks covering 11
European countries. This is the only integrated supply chain
solution of its type in the pallet network sector enabling us to
take customer service to new heights.More than that, we are able
to provide services tailored to the needs of our customers,
allowing them to make savings, while still meeting the demands
placed on them, to offer new customers increasingly varied
delivery options."
The data solution, Palletways Webstock developed for
Palletways Fulfilment, provides a continual stream of
information, which enables customers to keep in touch with
their products in the warehouse.Webstock allows the customer
to see inbound stock movement from suppliers, accurately
provides information on available stock and allows customers to
monitor stock movements of orders dispatched. Among other
control protocols, stock can also be managed by weight, batch
code, use by date or serial number.
The warehouse management system is also designed to enable
integration with the customer's own data systems or processes,
which means that any updates to stock, will feed through to
Webstock. This seamless transfer of data not only ensures easy
access to accurate stock information, but also reduces the level of
administration required, minimises handling and ultimately
saves time.
Garry Curtis, general manager at Palletways Fulfilment,
believes that the true value of the service lies in the level of
flexibility delivered to the customer. He says: "Access to this
virtual warehouse provides businesses with an opportunity to
manage their stock without the need for investment in a fixed
asset to store goods, which inevitably comes with costs such as
rent and rates. It also eliminates the need for further spend on
full-time staff to take care of the warehousing.
"Flexibility is crucial in meeting the peaks and troughs of the
demand during seasonal periods, such as the upcoming Festive
Season, the Easter holiday period or even where demand is
spiked by weather conditions or special promotions. Through
Palletways Fulfilment, combined with our extensive distribution
network, our customers can accurately manage their response to
such demand giving them a clear market advantage."
The bespoke logistics service offers customers the option to
send full, half or even quarter pallet sized consignment
movements, with access to parcel services and two-man home
delivery services.
Palletways' express delivery service to and from Europe is a
core component of the service delivery for Palletways Fulfilment.
Consignments from Europe are subject to stringent quality
checks before it is palletised, ready for delivery to the end
customer. The service is also supported by multi-lingual
customer support teams, bar coding, online tracking and proof
of delivery.
A company that has been reaping the benefits of Palletways
Fulfilment is Simpson Strong-Tie, leading manufacturer of metal
works for the construction industry. Simpson Strong-Tie has
been working with Palletways for the past six years and has been
using its warehouse solution service in Scotland to maximise its
competitiveness in the north of the UK.
John Phipps, director of manufacturing at Simpson Strong-
Tie, said: "Palletways Fulfilment in Scotland, located adjacent to
its hub in Livingston, offers an easy and flexible value added
storage service for year-round products and is used by Simpson
Strong-Tie to maximise our competitiveness north of the border.
"Furthermore, we will now be taking advantage of Palletways'
Cross Channel delivery service to ship our products between the
UK and our manufacturing sites in Boulstrup, Denmark and La
Rochelle in France."
The investment in the development of Palletways Fulfilment is
regarded by Andy Turner as one of the key developments in the
firm's overall growth strategy.
He concludes: "Palletways has become more than just a pallet
network. Through Palletways Fulfilment we use our specialist
knowledge and skills, supported by our sophisticated warehouse
data management system to provide efficiencies, and add value to
our customers by giving them what
they need, when they need it." More articles from Palletways Europe GmbH: | 
