Supply Chain Planning UK Limited Logistics Consultancy
SCP-UK Logistics Consultancy

Case Study - King UK

   
   
 
Warehouse Management System (WMS) Selection
   
 
 
Supply Chain Consultancy Client

Warehouse Management System (WMS) Selection

Interface with Corporate System

   
 

King UK - supplies non-food consumables and equipment to catering organisations such as Pizza Hut, Burger King and Harvester. The support service involves daily deliveries of everything from crockery to cleaning materials. King UK is a subsidiary of the Autobar Group and also operates as the distributor of Autobar products.

 
 

the brief - Autobar Group were replacing their corporate and operational Legacy IT system, throughout the group companies, with BPCS. The Legacy system was very comprehensive and provided functionality for many activities which are not available within BPCS. One of these areas was Warehouse Management (WMS) where the BPCS module could not support the King UK requirements. As a result, it was necessary to review the whole of their logistics operations and processes in order to establish the WMS system requirements and then identify a suitable stand-alone WMS package which would interface with BPCS.

 
 

the approach - King UK use a method of operation which consists of several forward distribution depots holding fast moving stock items supported by a central depot which holds slow moving stock. We commenced the project by visiting the Rugby depot in order to gain an understanding of the operations and facilities. Coincidentally, this depot was one designed by our Managing Director, Roger Gutteridge, for Matchbox Toys several years ago and it was interesting to see that the facilities were sufficiently flexible to allow King UK to operate the existing equipment for a totally different product range and type of operation.

 
     
 

During our site visits we had discussions with King UK's IT Managers to get an understanding of the functionality and capability of the Legacy WMS module. Then we reviewed the suitability of the Legacy WMS and the WMS module offering of BPCS but found that neither could be modified to provide the required functionality. We developed a user requirements specification and against this, reviewed the proprietary WMS systems available to produce a short-list of possible suppliers that could provide the required functionality and interface with BPCS. We organised site reference visits for King UK Management and a preferred supplier was agreed without the need for a formal tender process. In parallel with this we suggested various changes to the operations and facilities at the Central and Forward Depots.

 
 
 
 

the result - the suggested operational changes were introduced, and after further negotiation, agreement was reached with the WMS supplier. The WMS package was then implemented and is operating successfully.

 
     
 

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