WMS for time-sensitive bakery products

Warrens Warehousing gets technical with bespoke Access Delta system

Warrens Warehousing & Distribution has seen massive growth following its investment in warehouse management software Access Delta from the Access Group. The solution has helped place the UK specialist in storage, despatch and delivery of bakery products in a strong position within the marketplace, where there is no room for mistakes or delays with such fast-moving products.

Warrens Warehousing handles substantial volumes of time-sensitive bakery products for major retailers, including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Morrisons. The company is responsible for the collection, reception, storage, consolidation and delivery of 96% of Tesco’s cakes and bakery products, as well as the supermarket chain’s ‘Free From’ range of products.

Antony Glenn, IT Manager for Warrens Warehousing, explains: “We had got to the point where the growth was more than we could handle; we needed something to take over from those big stock books. Also at around that time, Tesco announced that it would be requiring electronic information from its logistics providers, so from both sides we knew that the old procedures were no longer going to work for us and we had to do something. So we really took a massive leap from the dark ages into one of technology.”

A major issue was the client’s requirement for Advanced Notification – where the client requires a package of information before the load actually arrives. Antony comments: “We couldn’t find anyone else that could set that up for us. The Access team said they would make it happen – and they did. We are now the only haulier delivering into Tesco and Sainsbury’s, consolidating orders that can make this Advance Notification work. Other hauliers may make it work for full pallets of one product but not for multiple products and purchase orders to one pallet. That makes us trail-blazers in the sector.”

The entire operation is based on Access Delta and bespoke systems developed by the Access team. Tesco requires the use of the Serialised Shipping Container Code (SSCC) system for identifying pallets and their loads. This system identifies exactly what is on every pallet. “We follow every item from receipt into our depots to when it is palletised and sent out,” says Antony.

“Access Delta allowed us to implement things that no one else had tried in our niche market. Now, when we sit in meetings with others that do what we do, it is nice to know that we don’t have the problems they are talking about,” concludes Antony.

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