Holding Domocentr

With its own chain of retail stores of various format and wholesale branches, Domocentr Holding Company is the largest manufacturer and retailer of construction and finishing materials in Novosibirsk and the Siberian Federal District. Domocentr Holding includes: 12 “Domocentr” stores; 2 specialized “Kovrovy Dvor” stores; 2 Novosibirsk stores of alternative trademarks “Abris” and “Stroykin” being the stores of district significance; retail trade network of municipal supermarkets operating under “Praktik” trademark including 4 large-size stores already in Novosibirsk, Tomsk, Kemerovo, and Novokuznetsk.

Problems

Domocentr’s distribution center, which comprises 7 warehouses integrated to form two warehouse complexes having a total area of 15,000 m² and a capacity of about 7,700 pallet places, supplies the entire chain of retail stores. Its business expansion and the need to strengthen its competitive advantages have made the company to completely automate its distribution centre management processes. In addition to addressing the standard problem of goods flow management, Domocentr also had to reduce specific storage expenses, increase labor productivity, improve warehouse capacity and throughput, and enhance release speed/quality and some other performance indicators.

So the company management decided to deploy a modern fully functional WMS capable of delivering an efficient solution to all the above problems.

Solution

In choosing a contractor for the project, Domocentr set forth a number of criteria, including wide handling capabilities for measured goods and alternative measuring units, functional flexibility to allow promptly customizing the system to suit the changing business processes of the warehouse without the need to seek assistance from the integrator, and “seamless” integration with the corporate governance system. Domocenter also took into account some other indicators such as the solution costs and the supplier company’s past experience in the WMS market and project implementation history.

ant Technologies has managed to generate a proposal based on Logistic Vision Suite as a state-of-the-art WMS capable of meeting all the requirements imposed to the maximum extent possible and to win the competitive bidding by beating its competitors, five Russian large-scale system integrator companies.

Under the project, ant Technologies fully automated all the seven warehouses of the distribution center by implementing a different management strategy for business processes associated with handling of a variety of goods at each of the warehouses. Unique, customized cargo handling algorithms have been developed for each warehouse, with the handling processes for goods from each warehouse closely interacting with each other. For example, several warehouses storing various groups of goods have a common reception area and a common shipment and packing area. The system automatically generates assignments for placing the goods entering the common reception area in various warehouses and assignments for picking up goods from various warehouses into the common shipment area.

One key feature of the project is the implementation of complex processing algorithms for measured goods (such as linoleums, carpets, cables, etc.) of alternative measuring units and variable lengths and widths. The system allows easily operating all typical operations with both measured and piece goods within a warehouse.

Logistic Vision Suite also supports tracking the intensity of warehousing operations as a function of the seasonal factor, thereby making it possible to optimally manage handling of goods with various velocity indicators. For those goods having limited shelf lives and other attributes such as freezing intolerance, the system provides the optimum placement and movement strategy with due regard to those specific features.

Under the project, ant Technologies set up an interface for data exchange with the 1С corporate system taking into account all the customer’s requirements. It also developed and introduced an extensive functionality to create managerial and analytical reports.

ant Technologies has deployed Logistic Vision Suite on 40 workstations, as well as delivered and installed the necessary automatic identification equipment (30 Symbol data collection terminals with standard and increased data read-out distances and five Zebra stationary printers). Its Training and Consulting Center has delivered a comprehensive field training program for all the warehouse and administrative personnel engaged in operating the system.

Result

The project has been completed in 6 months. The rollout of the WMS made it possible to record the inventory movements in the distribution center and to track the cost and time of storage. By using Logistic Vision Suite, Domocentr will reduce the storage cost per unit, increase the operational efficiency and processing capacity of the distribution center, and improve the speed and quality of goods distribution.