Reflex is the cornerstone of our new strategy, underpinning how we’ll use digital technology to stand out in a fiercely competitive market. Flawless logistics execution is vital to our ability to deliver on our customer promise, especially as the number of items we sell continues to grow.
Summary
Mr Bricolage in Réunion has chosen Reflex WMS and Reflex In-Store Logistics in a drive to optimize its logistics flows and to gain granular stock management capability across its logistics hub, four stores (25,000 m2 of sales floor) and 6,000 m2 of stockroom space that adjoins its retail outlets. The two applications deliver improvements across all the retailer’s logistics processes and pave the way for other projects, including operational implementation of the brand’s omnichannel sales strategy and the mechanization of a future centralized logistics hub.
Context and objectives
Mr Bricolage, a brand specializing in home and garden renovations and decoration, has four stores on the island of Réunion and sells 34,000 different items.
To ensure sufficient stock between two deliveries to the island, the retailer has to place bulk orders from suppliers in Europe and Asia. Orders are managed via a logistics hub that includes 2 cross-docking warehouses totaling 4,000 m². In addition, limited shelf capacity means the brand cannot always put all its products out on the sale floor or meet demand during busy periods. Because of this, the company needs storage facilities close to its stores: 6,000 m² of stockroom adjoin 25,000 m² of sales floor.
After reflecting on launching an e-commerce business and noting that the ERP was not able to offer granular stock management on the sales floor and in the stockrooms of the brand’s stores, Mr Bricolage in Réunion decided to opt for an application to optimize the flow management of its logistics hub and its stock for retail outlets.
The solution
The project kicked off in 2019, after the brand mapped the logistic flows, carried out a feasibility study and established its target logistic strategy with support from Avenir Logistic Conseil, Hardis Group’s partner integrator in Réunion. In late June, the logistics hub went live, as did the company’s biggest store, located in Saint-Pierre and spanning 11,000 m2.
Under the new system, all incoming goods (2,465 TEU, equivalent to a twenty-foot container every year) are handled via cross-docking, using Reflex WMS at the logistics hub. At a store level, Reflex In-Store Logistics helps to manage receipts, the distribution of goods between store shelves (60-70%) and the adjoining stockroom (2,000 m2), in addition to the restocking of the sales floor using the previous or current day’s checkouts to prevent on-shelf stock shortages.
Following this successful initial roll-out, other stores will begin using the solution over the next two years.
- Optimization of all logistics processes
- Complete visibility of stock: warehouses, sales floor and stockrooms
- Automation of the restocking process for the sales floor to prevent on-shelf stock shortages
- Optimized order preparation (restocking and e-commerce orders)
- Ability to deliver on the brand’s customer promise as the number of items sold continues to grow
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