ACS&T - is one of the UK's market leaders in providing dedicated and shared user temperature controlled solutions for storage and distribution.

the brief - ACS&T client McCain had become so successful that they needed to move to a new level of cold storage and distribution. They asked ACS&T as their 3rd party logistics contractor to propose a strategy that would provide sufficient cold-chain capacity to handle the predicted throughput.

the approach - as we had assisted ACS&T in responding to similar requests from their major clients on other occasions, we were invited to work with them on this response. We commenced by analysing the previous twelve months movement data from McCain and gaining a thorough understanding of the products, facilities and resources. Having modelled the current distribution system using our distribution planning software (Dips) we were able to consider alternative strategies such as single or multiple hubs and the assignment of product groups to the different factories. Another consideration was the design and equipment of the hub(s) and the degree of automation. The various options were modelled, facilities designed and resources calculated to provide budget costings.

the results - together with ACS&T, we made a formal presentation to the McCain Board, which presented the proposals for a totally revised cold storage and distribution operation which involved direct delivery of full loads from factory cold stores to customers with a new hub to process part loads.

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