Customer focus: POS logistics

A distributor entrusted us with the supply of its 800 points of sale with large monthly push flows completed by pull flows at the initiative of the points of sale. The push flows consist in preparing about 3 to 4 packages for each point of sale from a reference base of 60 to 80 references to be declined on variable quantities from one point to another.

The former service provider began by receiving the 200 incoming pallets of the monthly flow, checked them and put them away, the receptions being spread over several days from 3 to 4 suppliers. At the last reception, often late, his teams would start to work to prepare the packages and ship them.

To manage this flow, we have deployed our "progressive preparation" technique. We start by assigning 800 empty floor spaces to each of the points of sale. Each time we receive a POS, the products are immediately dispatched to the slots. The operations of counting receipt and counting distribution are thus grouped together and we divide their time by two. To certify the reception, we only need to check the remainders after distribution. Our working hours are smoothed out and easier to plan. The required areas are smaller. A delay in the last acceptance can be easily made up, since 90% of the production has already been completed.

For pull flows between two pushes, we created an online order space accessible to each point of sale with quota management. But above all, we have analyzed the pulled orders to help the customer better calculate the potential of each point of sale so that the pushed flows, more massive and therefore more economical, are sufficient in most cases without the need for the point of sale to restock before the next pushed flow.