Mondelez World Travel Retail (WTR) has completed “˜Project Forward’ – the 14-month consolidation of its distribution centres in Europe – which will offer retail partners “a step change” in supply chain efficiency.
Operations at the company’s Villmergen distribution centre in 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.
Project Forward is said to be 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.
The upgraded Villmergen facility has a storage capacity of 21,000 pallets; maximum outbound capacity of ten 40ft oversea containers and 40 trucks, and maximum inbound capacity of 20 FTL (full truck loads) from 31 factories across Europe.
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.
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The upgraded state-of-the-art Villmergen facility provides a platform for Mondelez World Travel Retail to fulfil its “˜One Order – One Delivery – One Invoice’ promise to partners |
The “˜One Order – One Delivery – One Invoice’ promise is said to deliver 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 optimised container utilisation
• Maximised on-shelf availability and reduced stock-holding requirements
• Significant streamlining of administration and paperwork
• Harmonisation of delivery terms
Mondelez WTR Manager of Customer Supply Chain & Innovation Jens-Ulf Hinze commented: “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 Travelers’ 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.”
World Duty Free Group Global Head of Supply Chain Justin Suter 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.”
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The consolidation of distribution centres represents the final step in the integration of the Cadbury business and offers retail partners a boost in supply chain efficiency | |
