Rhenus Logistics case

Customer challenge

With the opening of a new 60,000 m2 site in Tilburg at a prominent location on the A58, Rhenus is taking important strategic steps.

The opening of the new site sets a new standard for sustainable DCs in the Netherlands. The appearance attracts qualified staff and the facilities contribute to the attractiveness of Rhenus for customers. Sufficient space has been provided for the latter to grow.

Rhenus turned to UC Group to provide support in the DC's go-live.

Goal: a move without inconvenience to existing customers as well as support with the installation and start-up of Autostore incl. Lightgoods Conveyor System and migration to a new WMS

Results

• Resource and S&OP model. The application of this model has already resulted in 60% savings in the project on moving staff to be deployed;
• Introduction of the mechanization solution achieved a 10% resource reduction;
• Continuity in service to Rhenus customers.

Our solution

From a clear assessment of the situation, we initially looked at the necessary structure and approach to make the start-up successful.

Based on that assessment, an approach was chosen where the Rhenus team was temporarily strengthened on those elements for which they were unable to free up capacity and knowledge at that time. A program manager with solid relocation experience has integrated the various workflows, set up a solid project and consultation structure and included all stakeholders throughout the project and motivated them towards the common goal.

One of the elements that turned out to be crucial in this start-up is how we dealt with the planning of expected volumes and the associated capacity of employees. To implement this, a specific resource and S&OP model was built for Rhenus. By modeling various data files and the complex relationships between them, an accurate assessment of the required capacity was made during the project, this capacity could be adjusted daily and it was possible to quickly compare different scenarios.