Rapid warehouse deployment for Woolworths

Woolworths has completed an implementation of Manhattan Associates’ supply chain platform at its distribution centre in Stoke-on-Trent in just 16 weeks. The distribution centre, run on behalf of Woolworths by Wincanton, is dedicated to Woolworth’s e-commerce operation which offers 200,000 products and includes a wide range of entertainment goods.
A review of Woolworths’ existing distribution network concluded that optimising the fulfilment capability of its e-commerce operation was dependent on having a specific supply chain solutions infrastructure capable of handling large volumes of small orders
“Managing inventory for stores often means fulfilling orders for a small number of items in large quantities. In contrast, an e-commerce operation processes large volumes of orders, each typically consisting of a small number of individual units of either a single or several stock-keeping units. It therefore needs a dedicated system to fulfil demand,” said Tim Owrid, supply chain director at Woolworths.
“The Manhattan Associates system allowed us to make significant improvements in terms of visibility and efficiency in a matter of weeks. Such a rapid implementation capability was a critical factor in our selection process and Manhattan Associates was the obvious choice given that rival solutions would have taken up to a year to deploy. We just couldn’t wait that long to see improvements – especially as Christmas is just around the corner. Getting the right products to the customer on time is our main priority.”