Situation Analysis

Our client, European Transport Solutions, based in the South East of England is a major supplier of truck parts to the UK and European markets. They originally held all of their stock at a partner’s warehouse in Northern Ireland however this was creating a number of issues and they needed a supply chain management solution:

  • Long lead time to process picks and finalise orders
  • No online visibility of inventory or order status
  • Delays and short deliveries to market

When TCB Group initially considered the problem we focused on inventory visibility, reducing pick times and eliminating pick errors. We moved all of the stock to our Belfast warehouse and put in place an action plan that included:

  • Online visibility of inventory and order status
  • Elimination of pick errors
  • Quicker order lead time

It became apparent over time that the entire system could be improved again of we moved the inventory to our Liverpool facility. In carrying out the work it became apparent that the principle suppling companies were both based in the NW of England and we could significantly decrease cost to our client without affecting delivery or inventory management if we moved everything to our Liverpool depot.

TCB Group Solution

TCB Group designed an integrated supply chain management solution using their online warehouse management platform to support a remote stock holding for the client in the TCB Group Liverpool Hub. Suppliers were now happy to deliver directly to our facility at their own cost, eliminating these costs to our client and TCB Group was able to offer our client next day delivery to all of their UK based customers and daily departures to the European based customers.

Outcome

Through this process, we were able to deliver:

  • Shorter lead times to the end user
  • Reduced cost to our client
  • Online inventory management including tracking of orders and 24/7 visibility of stock holding
  • A more agile and flexible supply chain
  • Online documentation including photographs of incoming receipts and picked pallets
  • Elimination of pick errors
  • Stock management including weekly cycle counts and monthly physical inventory counts

We have managed a stock holding for our client in Liverpool for almost 3 years and during that time several factors have contributed to this successful collaboration. Most importantly was understanding our clients supply chain and building a solution that not only fitted their purposes but was also sufficiently flexible to change with their requirements and business growth.

It was important to recognise that our first solution – whilst reaching some of the objectives – was not the best solution and that we were able to re-consider ETS’s entire supply chain to identify more opportunities and make changes to realise these for the benefit of our client.

Testimonial

“Your handling of our freight needs is perfectly aligned to our business profile with access to PODs and tracking online for European deliveries.

The stock control is as close to perfect as possible. The online access to live stock levels and ability to place orders online at our convenience is appreciated. Overall, the service I receive from TCB has been above and beyond what I expected when we began the relationship.”

For more information on the services provided by TCB please contact us here.