The tire market poses some particular challenges. As well as having to manage a huge number of items, we take delivery of large products in bulk from 40 different manufacturers then ship then to customers, usually in pairs. Reflex WMS is flexible enough to cope with the specific features of our market. All it takes is some basic configuration.
France’s number-one tire retailer has opted for Reflex WMS to optimize incoming deliveries and storage of 25,000 items and to automate order-picking and shipping of 5,000-10,000 bulky packages each day at its new 84,000 m2 warehouse. By combining Reflex WMS with a Warehouse Control System (WCS) and a proprietary Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution, the firm has achieved logistics efficiency gains in an increasingly complex market.
Contexte et objectifs
Allopneus.com is a 100% French company founded in 2004, selling more than 25,000 different tire and rim models through its e-commerce site at extremely competitive prices. Allopneus also offers fitting via its network of 6,000 approved centers, as well an exclusive home fitting service. In 2017 the firm sold 3.5 million tires, across all categories, through its website, making it France’s number-one tire retailer.
In 2017, Allopneus took the decision to build a brand-new, 84,000 m2 logistics platform in Valence, south-eastern France. The new site, with storage capacity of 1.25 million tires, was designed to replace its long-standing 41,000 m2 platform in Oignies, north-eastern France, which had reached saturation point. The firm took the decision for three reasons—to cope with the increasingly complex demands of the tire market (storing an ever-growing number of diverse items, from slimline tires, make- and model-specific tires and all-weather tires, to tractor, plant and truck tires), to move its operations closer to areas where snowfall pushed up demand for winter tires, and to absorb business growth, especially in exports. Allopneus also decided to switch to a new, fully computerized WMS to replace its old system, which had reached its limits and was difficult to maintain because of the sheer number of custom developments it contained.
La solution
Allopneus invited bids from three software vendors and ultimately opted for Reflex WMS in March 2017, because its functional coverage aligned perfectly with the firm’s specifications (on RF and voice terminals for order-picking in particular), and because it could be configured to cope with the unique features of the tire market. Other factors behind the decision included Reflex WMS’s flexibility and its interoperability with the firm’s WCS and proprietary ERP solution (pre-packing, shrink-wrapping and automatic conveying of orders to dispatch docks). Allopneus was also impressed by Hardis Group’s promise that the WMS would be deployed in less than six months.
- Improved logistics performance and service levels
- End-to-end logistics process management
- Automated management of carrier labels (interface with TDI’s Exlabel solution)
- Elimination of around a dozen different software programs
- Reduced picking lead times and more next-day deliveries