LOGISTICS FOCUS
WIENERBERGER BUILDS CUSTOMER SALES WITH LOADBUILDER
A new logistics planning system from Wienerberger will allow their customers to offer a wider range of products more easily and cost effectively. Fiona Russell Horne hears all about it.
“FROM TALKING TO our customers we discovered that there were two key issues that they were experiencing,” national accounts director Paul Hodgkinson says. “One is cash flow; merchants told us that they are have problems when too much of their capital is tied up in stock on the ground, Two is space. They all need to maximise the return on investment of every square inch of their premises. So we brought out Load Builder to offer merchants a way to offer a broad range of products to their customers, without having to go all out and put masses of stock on the ground. “
In essence, Load Builder is an online tool for building mixed loads. “In the past, if you needed several types of brick they would come in several bulk deliveries or you were restricted to products only made in the same factory. But with Load Builder you can get a precise, bespoke load, altogether in one delivery, from one location. It works on a regional hub system, Hodgkinson explains, reflecting the parochial, regional nature of the brick market. “Effectively, the hubs have been set
up to have certain catchment areas around the country at strategic locations. This means they will be offering a wide range of popular facing bricks for that particular area as well as engineering bricks and more specialist requirements such as special shaped bricks. Customers can mix and match small quantities of any of these bricks and have them delivered from one location on one vehicle.
Merchants would very rarely need a full load of one type of brick; more usually they would need to order a variety of brick types and styles which would be delivered in several loads or they would have to restrict their orders to products that were available from the same factory, or pay for part loads and a number of deliveries.
So, Hodgkinson says, Load Builder offers them an easy way to get bespoke loads from one factory location, via an easy, simple to use online tool. It avoids overstocking by the merchant because they don’t need to order more of one particular products than they need or have room for.
They can mix and match brick products for delivery on one load
and it will also help them to reduce the risk of carrying slow-moving products, allowing them the chance to order something a bit more out of the ordinary, knowing they don’t have to invest too heavily in it. “Merchants might want to try out a new product line but aren’t sure just how much of it they will sell,” Hodgkinson says. “Or, they may have a customer who is building something that isn’t standard. Normally, if a merchant wants a bigger, broader range of product they have to do it with part loads and pay the part load charge or alternatively order a whole lorry load that’s more than they want to spend. Load Builder allows merchants to dip their toe in another product area without risk.” There are seven hubs across the UK, at the Highbridge, Kingsbury, Warnham, Waresley, Todhills, Denton and Belfast plants. Users simply go online and then mix and match from a wide range of facing and engineering bricks, or special shapes, depending on the hub. It’s a bit like Amazon shopping, Hodgkinson says, but you load a virtual lorry rather than a basket. It’s also clever enough to track the
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weight throughout the process, and will let the customer know if they’ve ordered enough to need an additional vehicle.
Environmentally speaking it’s a much better option, he continues, as it allows both the merchant and Wienerberger to plan deliveries and transport much more effectively. “A mixed-load delivery can be transported from one location in a single vehicle, helping with efficiency, shortening lead times and reducing its carbon footprint. “This new service innovation will maximise the product offering available, without our customers having the need for a large amount of space or higher capital costs. We hope that the new, quick and easy service provides a popular and helpful solution for merchants across the UK.
“By listening to our customers and learning how they operate their businesses on a day to day basis, we’ve been able to come up with a solution that helps them offer an enhanced range and better service to their customers,” he says.
• Load Builder went live on the Wienerberger site on July 1st.
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net August 2018
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