EXERTIS NDC
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“This is a seven-day operation, so we’re shipping out here for next day service seven days a week, five of which is a 24-hours operation.” Huge investment The NDC represents a big investment by Exertis – £90 million in total, including £25 million spent on automated solutions and £5 million into ecommerce. There has also been investment in security technology including automatic number plate recognition and biometric entry control. As part of the drive towards becoming as efficient as possible, Exertis established a data analytics function in the last 12 months. “We’ve invested heavily in data scientists, engineers and analysts to be able to drive insights and understanding from our data sets and allow us to make those efficiencies and drive those improvements in our business,” says Phill Turner, chief experiencer office at Exertis. “We’re looking at areas such as our procurement and stock management, how do we buy the right product at the right time, how do we assess demand in the marketplace and make sure we’ve got the right availability? How do we build the algorithms to make sure that we don’t fill a warehouse with products that possibly don’t sell but with the right products and, ultimately, take down our working capital exposure and drive growth.”
Part of this is in response to the changing nature of customer demand and of businesses, “Now vendors want to go direct to the end user through direct-to-consumer platforms,” says Phill. “We’ve extended product portfolios because bricks and mortar businesses are no longer limited, they don’t want to sit on the stock and as a result, the shape of the distribution business changes and we have to adapt our capability. The investment in the pick tower is to maximise this changing market.” For instance, the pick tower enables dynamic bundling – where two products, such as a video game system and a controller for it, can be put together. “No longer do you have to put that in, wrap it, pack it, it can be done in the picker,” says Phill. “They can create digital bundles, physical bundles, we give them that ability to do that, so now they can have that point of differentiation.” For dropshippers – direct delivery to the end user on behalf of partners – and businesses like that, this presents a significant opportunity. “But with those opportunities in dropship, that extended range, that ability to manage lots of different product sets of all different shapes and sizes, creates an operational challenge,” says Phill. “In the infrastructure, there’s automation, there’s the pick tower and then there’s traditional warehouse. And you’ve got a diverse mix because you’ve got businesses within businesses in our facility. “We are seeing a growing emergence of customers wishing to extend their portfolio and collaborate, especially in these times where there are inflationary pressures on supply chains and logistics. For us, this facility provides us the ability to scale for our partners, whether that be 3PL or dropship. I expect that market to be significantly larger next year.” People power But Exertis’ NDC – and the wider company – is not just about technology; the company is investing in its employees to ensure they can reach their potential. “We know that brings positive outcomes for our partners and our business,” says Jo Lawrence, Exertis’ UK people director. “There are four key areas: belonging, wellness, connection and recognition.” To this end, Exertis started some years ago with grassroots work on equality, diversity and inclusion, but 18 months ago begun a more targeted approach with the launch of several
Phill Turner chief experience officer
exertis.co.uk
There are four key areas: belonging, wellness, connection and recognition. “ ”
Sion explains the packing process to guests, including News in the Channel's editor
Customer demand On a simple level, Exertis receives an order, it is picked, collected and then delivered to the customer. “But in the middle of everything that we do, and all of the investment is focused on the customer experience,” says Phill. “How do we make that as efficient as we possibly can? “We try to make sure we take our vendors’ products to the end user in the most efficient and value add way as we possibly can.”
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