24 SCS:THE EUROPEAN SUPPLY CHAIN EXCELLENCE AWARDS 2008 DECEMBER 2008 SUPPLY CHAIN STANDARD
www.supplychainstandard.com
Shortlisted
Belron
Homebase
Tesco Direct
TJX Europe
Electrocomponents
Ralph Hosker, Belron’s
supply chain director,
Markus Schmidt (centre
left), director of supply
chain development, and
Mike Corrigan (centre right),
purchasing director, step up
to receive the Retail &
Distribution Award from
Sam Coles, (far right) sales
director, Toyota Material
Handling. Also pictured is
Jeremy Vine (far left).
Retail & Distribution Sponsored by Toyota Material Handling
Winner
Belron
Once again the Retail & Distribution category drew
plenty of entries and brought past contestants back
into competition with each other. Homebase and
Tesco Direct were both in the finals last year, with Tesco
Direct taking the 2007 Retail & Distribution trophy. Would it
win again this year?
Driven by the simple philosophy of big labels at small
prices, TJX Europe has built a highly successful retail
operation. In the UK, Ireland and Germany, the company
has over 200 TK Maxx and HomeSense stores, selling a
range of designer fashion, accessories, homewares and
gifts. For the past two years TJX Europe has been working to
take cost out of the supply chain and enhance customer
service through more frequent store deliveries. This has led
to a combination of centralised processing operations and
regional cross-docking facilities, bringing into play
sophisticated warehousing technology.
Electrocomponents is a distributor within the technology
and industrial sector. It has 11 operating companies in
Europe providing next-day delivery. The company has
recently completed the re-engineering of its supply chain
planning systems to create a single, transparent operation
offering business benefits which include: improved service
levels to customers through lead-time compression,
inventory optimisation, transparency of demand and a
capability to rebalance inventory holding and freight to give
a reduced carbon footprint.
Then there was Tesco Direct, last year’s category
winner. This non-food, multi-channel retailer is a new
operation, only trading since September 2006. The
company greatly impressed the judges last year with its
tremendous growth from a standing start and the way it
was able to leverage everything the company could from
existing supply chains and people. But this year the race
was between two other contestants.
The judges viewed Belron and Homebase as the two
closest competitors in this category. Both were very strong
in their presentations, both were equally passionate.
Homebase, a close runner for last year’s Retail &
Distribution Award, won the 2007 Innovation trophy with
its ingenious means of optimising its supply chain despite
tough financial constraints. This year the company unveiled
an optimised DC structure. Project “Harry and Molly”
involved the change of location of two distribution centres
simultaneously without causing disruption or disturbance
to the customer. It managed this complex task and
maintained a 92 per cent service level throughout.
However, it was Belron that came out top. With all the
complexity associated with a 10,000 SKU range and a sameday
or next-day service offering across every postcode in
Europe, the emergency windscreen service company has
transformed its operations and now achieves a 98 per cent
service level.
They have an extensive range of
windscreens – there are issues
around transportability, around
availability – and they have a need
to get to the scene very quickly.
The judges say, “no one has done what they have in the
industry in managing glass in this way. They have an
extensive range of windscreens – there are issues around
transportability, around availability – and they have a need
to get to the scene very quickly. The way they manage, store
and secure glass and offer the product variety that they do,
without actually carrying lots of inventory, is pretty clever.”
Prior to the supply chain transformation Belron had
concerns over breakages, parts availability, delivery and
high SKUs. So it set up its own internal supply chain
development team to drive improvements in the business
– the judges saw this as “a real commitment” to delivering
the strategy.
Availability is key to Belron’s business. The company
redesigned its demand-driven networks and its processes,
rolling out an indirect purchasing programme over the last
12 months. But what really decided it for the judges was its
attitude that, “this is the strategy, this is what we are going
to do. We are going to change the way we are operating – we
need to hit this level – we need to change the way we work
to get cost structures down.”
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