The European arm of BouMatic, the world’s third-largest producer of milking and barn equipment, now delivers on time and knows exactly where each individual item is located. A Danish company specialising in warehousing and freight acted as an adviser and provided hands-on support with implementation.
By Joan Rask, jr@joanrask.dk
Among the world’s best – that is what they are at the Danish company BouMatic A/S, which manufactures and supplies milking equipment and barn fittings to the entire European market. The group is American, and when the Danish branch of the company last year was given responsibility for purchasing, production and logistics across Europe, it was because they scored highly on quality, delivery reliability and values. That was not the case everywhere in Europe. In particular, the central warehouse in Emmeloord in the Netherlands initially caused major challenges.
The Danish Managing Director, Carsten Hoffenzits Nielsen, acknowledges that it was a big undertaking.
“I was aware that our central warehouse had problems, but it never occurred to me that the potential for saving money was so great,” he says.
The Managing Director quickly had to accept that the flow he was used to at the Danish plant was not in place. The individual barn installations are often large in physical terms – both in weight and dimensions. With 40,000–50,000 shipments dispatched each year and an average of 22 item numbers per order, this requires control, planning and a highly competent understanding of physical locations, so that each product can be found, picked from shelves and boxes, and packed together with the other products for the same shipment. Of course, everything must happen on time and without unnecessary hassle. That was not the case. In fact, in the beginning there were times when BouMatic could not deliver even though the goods were physically in the new central warehouse in Emmeloord.
“It was absolutely essential to get the warehouse under control quickly. The goods were getting in each other’s way, and we couldn’t tell whether the items recorded in our warehouse system were physically there, or whether the goods in stock were reserved or available,” says Carsten Hoffenzits Nielsen.
Warehouse expert
LogistikPartner steps in. A small Danish company headquartered in Kolding with offices in Germany, specialising in optimising warehousing and freight for companies with a high degree of variation and complexity in their warehouse operations. Within two months, LogistikPartner had identified the challenges in the warehouse and implemented the changes.
“It’s not magic. Anyone can work out the solutions, if there’s enough time. The advantage is that LogistikPartner have done it so many times that they quickly see the solutions and have experience with processes, employees and training management. They know what requirements can be set internationally in the industry, and in relation to the software we use for warehouse management,” says Carsten Hoffenzits Nielsen.
Warehouse management delivered a turnover record.
“The dialogue with LogistikPartner helped us take concrete action. It made a big difference, and we actually can’t put a figure on the additional efficiency we’ve gained on top of that.” — Carsten Hoffenzits Nielsen
It was about training people and planning the warehouse flow. That is how the Danish Managing Director briefly describes the solution to the challenges they faced. Once employees had been trained and the changes to procedures had been implemented, something happened.
“We set a turnover record in the very first month after implementation. In June 2014 – that was a good feeling,” says Carsten Hoffenzits Nielsen.
He knows there was a kind of ketchup effect because there were orders that had built up, but that is not the whole explanation.
“The dialogue with LogistikPartner helped us take concrete action. It made a big difference, and we actually can’t put a figure on the additional efficiency we’ve gained on top of that,” says the Managing Director.
Today, a new warehouse manager has been hired, the flow at the warehouse in Emmeloord is working, turnover is rising, and the worries and frustrations about goods not arriving have been eliminated.
“It’s difficult to put a value on that part of the profit, but it’s certain that happier employees with less complexity in day-to-day work are better than the opposite,” he says.
FACTS
Contact:
▪ Managing Director Carsten Hoffenzits Nielsen, BouMatic A/S (boumatic.dk and boumatic.com), tel.: +45 21 21 03 21, email: cnielsen@boumatic.com
More: boumatic.com
