Warehouse Logistics Optimization

MOTIVATION

In Central and Southeastern Europe, dm drogerie markt is one of the largest drugstore chains. The first store of the parent company dm-drogerie markt Austria was opened in 1976. Today, the company has 62,600 employees and operates in 12 European countries with 3,700 stores – in the Czech Republic it has 251 stores. It joined forces with Logio to find possible savings at its Central Warehouse in Jihlava.

picking process optimization

use of automation in the warehouse

efficient resource planning

Solution

Based on our investigation, we were able to identify 3 main areas of potential for savings. These were the picking process optimization, the use of automation in the warehouse and efficient resource planning. Thanks to our know-how, ABC analysis, big data analysis, heat maps and other techniques, we were able to increase labour productivity by 27% after a 3-month project, all with minimal investment. We looked at where and how products are placed in the warehouse, how much the pickers walk and what proportion of their time is value-added activities.

At the same time, we took into account current technological options that would suit the individual needs of the customer.

Conclusion

The aforementioned increase in labour productivity, the savings of 13.4% of meters covered and the return on investment of 1.25 years make the whole project a very successful cooperation. As this was a data-driven project, most tasks would not have been possible if the client had not provided us with high-quality data. The data delivered was, however, perfectly prepared, and for this dm drogerie markt deserves a lot of credit.