Deli XL Gets Taste For Supply Chain Perfection With Manhattan Associates
By Anuja Abraham
The Dutch foodservice wholesaler Deli XL, part of The Bidvest Group, has successfully implemented Manhattan Associates’ supply chain solutions in six of its distribution centers (DCs) in the Netherlands as part of a business-wide initiative to optimize its supply chain operations. Manhattan’s Warehouse Management, Slotting Optimisation and Supply Chain Intelligence solutions, all components of the Manhattan SCOPE® solution portfolio, are already live at the company’s DCs in Ede, Helmond, Hengelo, Groningen, Emmen and Meppel, and will be implemented in Deli XL’s ten other DCs across the country in the coming months.
Deli XL supplies a broad range of ambient, fresh and frozen food items to hospitals, hotels, company canteens and other institutions as well as contract caterers and restaurants. The company has a national distribution center (NDC) for ambient goods and a separate, temperature-controlled NDC for long life chilled products. Furthermore, the company has four regional DCs located across the Netherlands and ten smaller, satellite DCs to support local customers. The Dutch foodservice wholesaler offers a broad assortment of 60,000 SKUs to customers throughout the country. It has approximately 2,000 employees and a fleet of 350 trucks.
“The market that we are operating in is changing rapidly,” says Tom Berk, supply chain development manager at Deli XL. “Decreasing margins and very short lead times mean we have to execute our operations absolutely perfectly. To be able to cope with current and future market requirements, we had to change our processes and operations. We have changed the mind-set of our organization and have transitioned from a silo-ed, departmental way of thinking to a cross-functional, process-based approach to running the business. To support this new philosophy, we needed a new distribution management capability.”
In conjunction with Manhattan Associates’ team of supply chain experts, Deli XL has successfully implemented Manhattan’s Warehouse Management, Slotting Optimization and Supply Chain Intelligence solutions across a significant part of Deli XL’s distribution network. The solutions foster an environment of improved collaboration across Deli XL’s extended supply chain and improve the entire order fulfillment process.
“Manhattan’s supply chain solution components have allowed us to improve the efficiency of product delivery and helped us raise the bar on service quality. This has been facilitated by improved visibility of our inventory, an ability to connect and automate all process steps within our distribution operation and being able to fulfill orders accurately, on time, every time,” says Erwin Bommerson, manager, National Fresh Centre at Deli XL. “We know which goods are coming in, where these goods are and how we are going to deliver them to our customers. We scan everything and use voice picking. With the scalability and flexibility that Manhattan’s solutions offer us, we are confident that these key solutions will help us to grow in the years ahead.”
Pieter Van den Broecke, Managing Director, Central Europe, at Manhattan Associates, commented, “Our service capability in the Netherlands coupled with our advanced technology means Deli XL is now able to operate its distribution network in a very efficient manner and has the tools at its disposal to continue growing the business in the years ahead. We’re delighted that our solutions have played such a key role in facilitating Deli XL’s supply chain transformation to date and we look forward to supporting the business’s continued success.”
