Logwin improves efficiency of the bellaflora logistics chain

New Logwin cross-docking-concept for decorative articles of the bellaflora garden centre:

Together with the partner Logwin the leading Austrian garden centre chain bellaflora has restructured supply of the stores. The logistics service provider organises cross docking of the different suppliers for decorative articles and garden accessories. The logistics restructuring process will take place step by step from July 2011 to the business year 2010.

bellaflora purchases "hardware“ such as flowerpots, wickerwork and artificial plants from suppliers from the Far East. Other articles come from producers or trading partners from Poland, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands or Germany. All the articles are transported to the Logwin warehouse in Linz. Ex this location, the logistician organises the concentrated distribution to the 24 bellaflora garden centres in seven provinces.

So far domestic and international subcontractors organised a decentralised supply of the bellaflora stores. "Owing to the new concept we are in a position to better organise cargo flows and so we can offer an even higher stock availability to our customers", says Nikolaus Thaller, general manager for bellaflora.

For Logwin this restructuring process results in a completely different delivery structure. "Before that we acted on a more sporadic basis, from order to order", Michael Plakolb, manager sales and key account managment for the Logwin solutions division. For the future the logistician expects one delivery a day. For the supply of the stores Logwin will set up a fixed schedule. In the off-season the stores will be supplied once a week. In the peak season there will be two supply trips per week. Plakolb says the annual volume is about 6.500 pallets in outgoing goods. This volume is handled by about seven full-time employees.

For 2012 the introduction of radio frequency identification (RFID) is in planning. Then the transport boxes will carry a label which unabiguously assigns a specific cargo item to a transport batch and so bellaflora can monitor each shipment and knows where the commodities are.

Logwin and bellaflora have been long-term partners. In 1994 the logistician transported the first containers for the garden specialist. Today about 100 standard containers arrive in Hamburg Port by ship each year. From there the goods are transported to Linz by rail.

Quelle: LogEastics
Portal: www.logistik-express.com