Case Studies

Construction Materials

Alumil is one of the top European production groups and systems integrators for aluminum profile systemsand components. The group is the biggest private industrial unit in Europe in terms of aluminum production capacity. Production sites include 13 factories in 4 national cities and 6 international. These are spread in Kilkis, Serres, Xanthi, Komotini (Northern Greece) and internationally in Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia (2), Bosnia and Albania.

In summary the group is producing:

• Aluminum systems for all construction purposes (doors, windows, panels, etc.) designed, developed and tested by the R&D department of the group and certified by most well-known international institutes (IFT Rosenheim, etc.).
• Industrial profiles of special requirements (for automotive, ship building industries etc.) offering specialized solution in a variety of different sectors.
• Interior, security and fire proof doors.
• Composite aluminum panels (j-bonds).
• Polycarbonic sheets.

With its 26 subsidiaries and 2,300 employees in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, and with a sales network present in 45 countries, Alumil has been established as one of the biggest and most credible aluminum extrusion industries.

Alumil’s project objectives

Alumil‘s objectives from selecting and implementing Mantis‘ Logistics Vision Suite (LVS) are summarized below:

• Improvement of shipments accuracy and elimination of shipment errors (both in codes and in quantities / weight).
• Productivity improvement in the distribution center for rods and consequently for downstream products.
• Accuracy and efficiency in identifying location of (raw material and finished goods) stock in the distribution centers.
• Improved customer service for special treatment products and special packaging that the group is providing for specific customers.
• Automatic data and information flow from the distribution centers to Alumil‘s commercial system (Oracle ERP) and vice versa, in order to avoid multiple data entry, improve productivity and ensure data accuracy.

Challenges and Solutions

The main challenges for such a project were due to the special nature of the product and the lay-out of the warehouses in combination with Alumil‘s demanding requirements to optimize the utilization of the warehouse space / racks and increase the productivity of its warehousing resources. The fact is that it is extremely difficult (if possible at all) to implement any form of coding on such products at the item level. Also the codes of the different products are not easily recognizable since in some cases they can differ by only a few millimeters in certain dimensions of the aluminum profiles.

Hence, the receiving process of un-coded items (or collections of rods packed together) in the warehouse is extremely difficult. The rolls of rods and boxes are coded by Alumil‘s production system and the label carries all the useful information in electronic form that is in turn automatically utilized by LVS.

Furthermore in cases of make-to-order products, the relevant order code / numbers are also included in the labels, thus allowing LVS to support customer order cross-docking for immediate packing and printing of the respective shipping labels.

Similarly, in case of receipts from a different plant of the group where there is no product coding, the distribution center relies on LVS to first perform the required labeling of the received products before initiating the put-away process. LVs’ put-away algorithms are in principle dictated by the nature of the product (fast or slow movers) as well as by the specific item and stock attributes.

The group is now in a position to fulfill faster and more accurately any special treatment requirements from specific customers, a business that is gradually increasing in volume. In order to do so, Alumil relies on LVS‘ ability to identify the stock that is ready for further processing separately from the stock that is characterized as final product.

Order fulfillment is one of the most complicated procedures in Alumil because it requires that the fulfilled orders should cover customer’s special requirements to the highest possible degree without at the same time interrupting the production process. As a result in case a special customer order cannot be fulfilled due to shortage of available stock then the shipment is blocked.

Alumil is also optimizing shipment routing and loading of the delivery vehicles and provides that as input to the everyday work load of the distribution center. The distribution center’s loading plan is flexible and is optimized accordingly. When the picking process of a specific order is starting, then this order is allocated in the specific daily loading plan and the proper stock is locked to that order. The picking procedures are mainly based on orders with different algorithms for fast and slow movers.

LVS has also the flexibility to adjust to low and peak seasons. Finally concerning the handling of rods (typically six meter long), LVS directs the picking per area while the order consolidation is done at the ramps.

The benefits

Thanks to the successful implementation of Mantis‘ LVS, Alumil increased accuracy on stock levels and shipments to 99,3% and increased productivity by 13%. The total improvement on the overall business processes within the distribution center increased by 24%.

This project is viewed by Alumil‘s management as a very successful implementation of technology in the business processes of the Group, allowing many benefits to be materialized and providing the competitive edge to Alumil at an international scale.

3PL Provider

In over 120 years of history, Kuehne+Nagel has evolved from a traditional international freight forwarder to a leading global provider of innovative and fully integrated supply chain solutions. Since 1890, when the business was founded in Bremen, Germany, Kuehne+Nagel has grown into one of the world’s leading logistics providers. Today, the Kuehne+Nagel Group has more than 900 offices in over 100 countries, with over 58,000 employees.

Since 1962 Kuehne+Nagel is operating in the logistics services market in Greece, starting as a joint venture with Proodos S.A. one of the leading forwarding companies in the market. Kuehne+Nagel Greece is also among the leading 3PL providers in Greece with many top multinational clients (depositors) served through a network of 7 distribution centers across the country handling complex logistics operations with extremely high quality and reliability.

The challenge

In the past, Kuehne+Nagel Greece used to rely on a WMS that was designed and developed by its own internal specialized IT and logistics staff. However as more depositors with complex warehousing and distribution requirements were added to K+N‘s 3PL infrastructure, establishing the company as a leading 3PL in Greece, it became apparent that the old in-house WMS was not enough to properly support the high complexity and volumes of the increased depositor base and the company’s sophisticated operational model shown later in the document.

In the above context, K+N Greece did an extensive market search looking for an advanced highly adaptable WMS, which had been designed from the very beginning to cover the demanding needs of a large 3PL provider.

The solution

The company finally selected Mantis‘ Logistics Vision Suite (LVS) due to the following main criteria:

• LVS‘ state-of-the-art adaptability allowing K+N‘s specialized IT and logistics staff to start-up new depositors and adapt the system to the ever changing needs of the existing ones very fast as well as to deploy / support the system by their own internal resources.
• The rich and proven functionality of LVS in a plethora of vertical market branches that would allow K+Nto safely and efficiently support its existing (consumer electronics, electrical appliances, spare parts, FMCG, …) and future depositors.
• The extremely competitive TCO resulted from the above advantages.

K+N Greece incorporated its own know-how and best practices in LVS thus resulting in Palis (Proodos Advanced Logistics Information System – powered by Logistics Vision). The project started in middle 2004 and finished in December 2005 successfully covering all DCs and all types of depositors (3PL, Transit and Groupage).

Spare Parts + Accessories

Sfakianakis Group is one of the major importers and distributors of cars, motorcycles and spare parts in Greece and is listed in the Athens Stock Exchange. The main operation of the group is the importing and trading of cars, motorcycles and spare parts made by Suzuki and Cadillac, as well as of Daf trucks, Temsa coaches and Landini and Valpadana agricultural machinery. In the retail field, the activities of the Group include the trading of Opel, Ford, Mini, Volvo, Cadillac, Corvette, Hummer, Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Lancia cars, as well as Suzuki and BMW cars and motorcycles. After the acquisition of Mirkat Ltd, exclusive importer of Suzukiproducts in Bulgaria, the group became exclusive importer of Suzuki products for both Fyrom and Albania.

The challenge

Sfakainakis Group operates its own distribution center in Athens, Greece. It includes 2 main storage areas, one for the large – special size parts and one for the rest of spare parts. The large – special size parts are stored on Back – to -Back shelves while the rest of the parts are stored on a series of mezzanine levels / floors. The allocation of spare parts to the various mezzanine floors is based on their velocity starting from the fastest moving parts that are located on the ground floor up to the slowest moving parts that are located on the top mezzanine floor. The velocity of each part is dynamically updated based on ABC analysis.

The distribution center handles 54,000 active codes that are distributed to about 540 dealers all over Greece. There are around 1,300 lines received from suppliers and 1,700 order lines dispatched daily.

The large number of brand names supplied by the group combined with its extensive dealer network that demands high quality customer service and fast / accurate deliveries made apparent the need for a sophisticated Warehouse Management System (WMS) that would optimize the efficiency of the distribution center.

The solution

Warehouse Vision, the WMS arm of Mantis‘ Logistics Vision Suite, was selected after many months of market research as the logistics information system that would cover all the needs of the Sfakianakis Group.

The decision to select Mantis and Warehouse Vision was due to Mantis‘ extensive experience in successfully implementing logistics systems in the market sector of spare parts in many countries as well as due to the rich functionality and flexibility of Warehouse Vision in covering the sophisticated requirements of a spare parts distribution center. The analysis and implementation was done by a joint team of Mantis‘ consultants and Sfakianakis‘ key staff. The system, combined with several Radio Frequency terminals, went successfully live in 2008.

The benefits

In summary, spare parts, present a lot of special requirements. The benefits from the use of Warehouse Visionwere:

• Real time tracking of spare parts using barcodes and scanners resulting in increase of stock accuracy
• Improved productivity and customer service via real time accurate management of the physical stock
• Significant reduction of back orders and obsolete stock
• Significant reduction in receiving and picking errors (in codes and quantities)
• Drastic reduction of the time required for receiving
• Optimization in storage location handling and capacity
• Automation of procedures
• Reduction of the time required for order handling
• A plethora of statistical data and report for decision support
• Resource productivity monitoring, evaluation and improvement

Tobacco Products

JTI – Japan Tobacco International, with about 25,000 employees in 90 offices, 24 factories, 6 research & development centers and 5 tobacco processing facilities around the world, is a member of the Japan Tobacco Group of Companies (JT), a leading international tobacco product company.

In order to tackle illicit trade at its sources of origin, JTI signed an agreement with the European Commission (and its Anti-Fraud Office – OLAF) in 2007. As part of its efforts to fight this large-scale issue, JTI committed to implement a state-of-the-art Track & Trace system and processes which would allow to track its products. JTIis gradually implementing such systems throughout its relevant operations.

JTI‘s partner in Greece is Athanassiou S.A., founded in 1928 as a small tobacco wholesale store based in the center of Athens and which is now the reference on the Greek tobacco market. Today the company exclusively represents JTI and six other multinational companies for the importation, storage, promotion and distribution of 160 different tobacco products and other fast-moving consumer goods in Greece. Fuelled by the dedicated contribution of a 265-person network spread throughout the country, Athanassiou serves approximately 34,000 points of sale.

To implement an efficient track & trace solution that met their needs, JTI and Athanassiou selected Mantis‘ state-of-the-art Warehouse & Distribution Management System (Logistics Vision Suite – LVS). The system was deployed at Athanassiou‘s modern distribution center (DC) of about 100,000 square feet in Acharnes, Athens. The DC features VNA (Very Narrow Aisle) trucks, climate control, special conditions (humidor), extended fire safety/protection and 24//7 security. Products are based on a five-level pack type hierarchy (pallet, master case, carton, pack, cigarettes).

At this stage, tracking & tracing has been implemented for master cases (a master case contains about 50 cartons, i.e. 500 packs and 10,000 cigarettes). In the future, it could be provided for cartons (about 10 packs of approximately 20 cigarettes each, i.e. 200 cigarettes) and in the longer term, for cigarettes packs. The system currently covers the distribution of all products up to the delivery point and meets the sophisticated needs of the reverse logistics/returns.

“The approach to implement the track & trace system and processes through an advanced Warehouse & Distribution Management System enabled us to achieve our tracking/tracing objectives while at the same time further improving our already high quality customer service and enjoying the plethora of benefits of Mantis‘ sophisticated logistics information system.”
Hara Kalantzi, Logistics & Supply Chain Manager, Athanassiou

“The track and trace project is part of JTI‘s ongoing effort to implement state-of-the-art systems and procedures throughout all of its operations and partner networks. The success of this project proves that together with Athanassiou, we have made the right choice in selecting Mantis as our logistics technology partner in this challenging endeavor.”
Kevork Bogossian, IT & Business Support Director, JTI Hellas

“This was a sophisticated project and a challenge for Mantis. The rich functionality of LVS and the experience of our consultants in similar projects along with the commitment and support of both Athanassiou and JTI were the decisive factors in the success of the initiative.”
Fedon Daskopoulos, International Business Development Manager, Mantis

Apparel + Footwear Logistics

NoLimit company (40,000 m2 area of distribution center, 4 warehouses, 15 depositors, 4,500 orders per day, 70,000 lines per day, 165 users) is a rapidly expanding logistics operator, offering comprehensive services in the field of transport, shipping and warehousing. It supports the most demanding clients from various industries, including:

• apparel and footwear,
• telecommunications,
• automotive,
• electronic,
• industrial,
• sports products,
• marketing products.

NoLimit operates in the European market since 1990. Services are directed to those companies, for whom quality and timeliness are a priority. Regardless of whether they are – contract logistics services, supplies to retail chains, transportation or additional Value Added Services, entrusted tasks are always performed with the greatest care. Involved, knowledgeable and various team, consisting of both experienced professionals, and also with the young innovators, is the largest goodwill.

With pride and commitment NoLimit provides services for the most demanding customers, among them many international leaders in their industries. In portfolio of the company can find well-known companies such as Pepsico, Procter & Gamble, Rossignol, Sunlight Poland, Makro Cash & Carry.

Logistics needs of NoLimit and Mantis Polska solutions

NoLimit has a modern warehouse complexes built in A-class with a total usable area of over 40,000 m2, destined for operations and office work.

In 2011 it was decided to implement the WMS system (Warehouse Management System) provided by Mantis. The system had to meet the following requirements:

• The ability to integrate many clients,
• Possibility of integration with courier companies,
• To apply various types of goods allocation algorithms, definable depending on the customer needs,
• Adaptation of warehouse processes to the requirements of customers,
• Improve the accuracy of goods location,
• Better control of the flow of goods between the warehouse areas,
• Automated movement of goods required in completion,
• Real time work progress monitoring,
• The ability to integrate with warehouse automation “Push Tray Unit sorter”,
• The possibility of settling workers from performed tasks.

Benefits from implementation

NoLimit finally decided to implement the Logistics Vision Suite of Mantis. In addition to more optimal and efficient supply chain management, on special attention deserve the following benefits:

• The ability to run new depositors and very quickly adapting the system to the changing needs of existing ones, thanks to high-tech adaptability.
• Effective support existing and future depositors with the help of proven functionalities supporting various branches of the market.
• Ability to handle orders with more than 2,000 lines.
• Servicing several thousand e-commerce releases per day.

Summary

NoLimit company provides comprehensive logistics solutions matched to customer needs with the highest standards of quality and safety, in an economically optimal way, maintaining concern for employee and environmental protection. To meet these challenges, the company decided to implement Mantis‘s LVS, which is highly adaptable system, allowing to make necessary changes and adjustments by trained personnel of the company.

Every year Mantis strengthening its position in the markets of Central and Eastern Europe, Russia/CIS and the Middle East. Logistics Vision Suite platform, consists of modern systems combine unique knowledge of logistics and the latest achievements of technology. The integrated next-generation software products help companies planning of throughout supply chain, optimization and management of all its processes. Logistics Vision Suite package has been developed for demanding and complex distribution and logistics market, and then was enhanced by the best practices from the leading international corporation from various business areas.

LVS implementation process in NoLimit warehouses proceeded in stages. Implementation of the first location was time-limited, that’s why after an analysis of the logistics process, the first step was finalized after less than a month. So fast implementation was possible thanks to the unique design of the Warehouse Vision, enabling on the stage of implementation the effective implementation of the logistics operator needs, through proper configuration and selection of parameters.

Except the standard functionalities, Warehouse Vision supports the NoLimit large-size products. To meet customer demands was used putaway algorithm, which performs the automatic allocation of storage locations, taking into account the size of the slots, the maximum weight, storage area and package type. Because of the diversity of assortment, WMS supports multiple package types. Warehouse Vision also reports warehouse processes to the supported by NoLimit client by messages.

3PL Provider

NarvaLogistics is a full-featured logistics operator in Estonia, offering a full range of services for secure storage, handling, customs clearance and e-fulfillment services. The company, since its establishment in 2010, has grown into a major logistics services provider in the region offering its services through its own fleet of trucks and an “A” class warehouse complex located in the city of Narva, in the largest industrial park in North-Eastern Estonia (Narva Production and Logistics Park).

The warehouse location is 1.5 kilometer from the highway Tallinn – St. Petersburg and two kilometers from the road crossing the border between the Russian Federation and the EU. The total warehouse area is 27,000 sq.m. including 12 loading / unloading docks equipped with levelers and dock shelters. A well-organized parking area for 30 heavy trucks equipped with electronic scales for heavy vehicles complements the warehouse.

In order to efficiently manage its warehousing resources and employees throughout all major warehousing inbound and outbound activities, the company selected Mantis‘ Logistics Vision Suite (LVS). The project was implemented in 2014 by the WMS / logistics specialists of ant Technologies, a leading logistics turn-key solutions provider and Mantis‘ partner in the region. LVS was selected among several other local and international systems due to its outstanding flexibility that allows Mantis‘ partners or even the customers themselves to configure and adapt the system to meet their sophisticated and continuously evolving needs.

NarvaLogistics‘ warehouse is divided into two parts, one for the customs and the other to support its retail customers. The customs warehouse is organized on a pallet storage basis whereas the retail warehouse features specialized racking systems for cartons and pieces. The individual characteristics of the processing and storage needs of each customer were taken into account during the system setup. A special search algorithm was developed for the handling of non-full pallets in the customs warehouse in order to minimize the fragmentation and optimize the usage of the storage space. Concerning the retail warehouse, the system maintains pre-defined inventory levels per product and (based on product velocity and user-configurable rules and scenarios) optimizes the utilization of the available storage locations while at the same time increases the order processing speed and generally the productivity of the warehousing resources. Zone picking along with various stock rotation rules (FIFO, LIFO, FEFO, LEFO, S/N, etc.) are utilized to support the needs of the customers.

NarvalLogistics provides its customers with unique advantages:

• Storage of goods and assets out of reach of regulatory bodies. The scheme is valid for any import – export operations in Russia and EU.
• Delivery of goods coming from Europe and Asia to Russia, keeping inventory in the territory of EU, a couple of kilometers away from the border of Russia, 120 kilometers from Saint-Petersburg.
• Solving any problem in foreign economic activity and customs documents through its own customs clearance agency.
• Provide an integrated warehousing and transportation services covering the EU and the Russian Federation through its own fleet of trucks.
• Support all logistics aspects of internet e-Commerce activities.

An indicative list of NarvaLogistics‘ clients:

• NarvaLogistics (Febest GmbH) – administrative and warehouse complex for car parts,
• Estin Warehousing (Redmond) – logistic center for consumer electronics,
• Westaqua-Invest (Aquaphor) – manufacturing of water filters,
• Eesti-Emlak – manufacturing of paints and varnishes,
• Frilajt – manufacturing of lighting equipment for urban, industrial and warehouse facilities.

Frilajt chose the customs clearance services from NarvaLogistics because of its capability to supply its customers in the EU and beyond as well as because of the proximity with the border of the Russian Federationand the ability to provide full customs clearance services.

Febest‘s production is located in European Union countries. A special storage solution has been implemented in the modern retail warehouse for the optimization of the storage and picking of Febest‘s products resulting in timely delivery to almost all countries of the world, at minimal cost.

The recent implementation of an advanced e-fulfillment platform based on Mantis‘ LVS allows NarvaLogisticsto support the e-Commerce activities of its customers. The rapid progress of e-Commerce dramatically increased the need to handle a much larger number of orders with smaller quantities per order such as pieces and smaller cartons.

LVS was adapted to support all e–Commerce activities at a separate small customs warehouse:

• Replenishment of the small customs warehouse from the main customs warehouse.
• Processing of the returns from the branches.
• Good labeling, put-away, picking, checking and packing at a piece level.
• Optimization of the put-away and picking processes.

The result of this project is the reduction of the time required to process the online orders and the increase of the customer service.

Among the plans for the near future, is to install equipment that automates and facilitates the measuring of the weight and dimensional characteristics of the goods and the implementation of workstations for product labeling.

“Today we are focused on the formation of the most effective organization of the processes of accounting, control and warehouse management. After analyzing the presented solutions in the market, we chose Logistics Vision Suite, an international system offering broad functionality and the ability to customize the system to individual needs. The extended experience and now-how of ant Technologies‘ specialists were also critical factors in choosing the solution.”
Sergei Kudryavtsev, Project Manager, NarvaLogistics