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By Sam Jermy | Supply Chain Digital
Following the completion of “Project Forward” the 14 month consolidation of Mondelez WTR’s distribution centres in Europe, retail partners are benefiting from a step change in supply-chain efficiency.
Operations at its Villmergen distribution centre in Zurich, Switzerland and the former Cadbury distribution centre in Veghel, Netherlands have been merged into Villmergen, providing a platform for Mondelez WTR to fulfil its “One Order – One Delivery – One Invoice” promise to partners.
Jens-Ulf Hinze, Manager of Customer Supply Chain & Innovation at Mondelez WTR, said: “To have completed such an extensive consolidation project in such a short timescale and with no reported impact on service levels to our customers is a great testament to everyone involved.
“In order for our ‘Delighting Travellers’ category vision to continue gaining traction, we understand that Mondelez WTR must be a good partner to do business with and this project clearly supports this drive.
“We now have a more reliable and flexible order-fulfilment system and a far more robust platform for supporting growth in our travel retail business moving forward.”
Project Forward represents the biggest logistics and supply chain challenge Mondelez WTR has tackled in its 20 year history. After three years of commercial integration, consolidation of European-sourced products into one distribution centre represents the final step in the integration of the Cadbury business. “One Order, One Delivery, One Invoice” delivers a number of benefits, including:
- Greater order flexibility and improved order frequency per brand, with customers able to ‘mix-and-match’ brands in a single container
- Increased order sizes and optimized container utilization
- Maximised on-shelf availability and reduced stock-holding requirements
- Significant streamlining of administration and paperwork
- Harmonization of delivery terms
Justin Suter, Global Head of Supply Chain at World Duty Free Group, said: “We have been very impressed with the way Mondelez WTR has handled this process and with the quality of service they are now set to deliver.
“We experienced no delivery issues before, during or after the transfer, which is a significant achievement and testament to Mondelez’s detailed planning and collaborative approach.
“With the new simplified systems and improved infrastructure in place we are now working together on an end-to-end supply chain review, with a view to being even more efficient and effective in how we work together.”
Project Forward : The Details
Transition tasks included manual container loading, labeling, co-packing, updating of Import/Export documentation, customer/portfolio specific knowledge transfer, transfer of 1400 pallets of stock within four weeks, and integration of highly complex IT systems and data.
Upgraded Villmergen facility operated by Planzer includes storage capacity of 21,000 pallets, maximum outbound capacity of 10 40ft oversea containers and 40 trucks, maximum inbound capacity of 20 full truck loads from 31 factories across Europe.