Glanbia Foods

Cuisine Foodservice (now known as Glanbia Foodservice) is part of what was formerly known as the Avonmore-Waterford Group. Its warehouse north of Birmingham is the hub of its very fast moving distribution network for the supply of thousands of orders per day to customers all over the country. The Company had plans for construction of a new facility in the longer term, but wanted to ensure that it was using the existing warehouse to its full potential before committing to major capital investments.

THE LOGISTICS BUSINESS was asked to consider every aspect of the operation including the physical layout, handling systems, operating methods, shift patterns, supplier arrangements, product identification and IT systems. The objective was to make recommendations that would extend the life of the warehouse for as long as possible, given some ambitious plans for growth.

We examined the business in detail and by taking an analytical approach combined with practical experience, we were able to identify many areas where improvements could be made. Many of these were small in themselves, but together they provided significant overall increases in capacity. The result was that the warehouse continued to operate successfully, with very high service levels for more than two years whilst plans were developed for the new facility.