Weetabix swallow stage one of supply chain progect easily

IDG News Service — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 10:50:23 -0400

Weetabix has completed the first stage of a supply chain systems rollout, improving the accuracy of stock control.

It has moved to the Manhattan Associates Warehouse Management software at its site in Northamptonshire. The software takes data from RFID tags to track goods.

The new system also delegates tasks to pickers according to where they are in the warehouse, avoiding forklifts being unused for long periods of time.

There is only a 0.1 per cent error margin in stock tracking and picking compared to 10 per cent a year and a half ago, when the company relied on legacy systems and paper-based processes.

George Perry, head of Supply Chain at Weetabix, said the two warehouses at the Northamptonshire site "hold a total of 35,000 pallets and serve clients throughout the UK".

Knowing the exact location of the goods was "impossible with the previous legacy system which Weetabix had simply out-grown", Perry said.

The next stage of the rollout will involve a third warehouse, dedicated to goods for export, at the same site.