shorter waiting times for trucks
Reduction of delivery peaks
FTE hours saved
When people say discounter in Switzerland, they mean Denner. In 2021, more than 117 million customers stocked up on goods for their daily needs at the stores of Switzerland's largest food discounter. Denner's assortment consists of around 3000 products, which are delivered to the 840 stores from five regional distribution centers. One of these centers is located in Schmitten. The 15 ramps at inbound handle around 400 trucks a week from the forwarding companies commissioned by the suppliers with non-refrigerated goods.
A announcement of deliveries was rare - with the result that it was sometimes difficult to keep track of which supplier would arrive when with which goods. In conjunction with the lack of shunting space on the west side of the warehouse, which was built in 1982, there were therefore regular delivery peaks that could actually be avoided, especially in the afternoons, and long traffic jams on the ramps.
Together with TradeLink, the goal was to bring order to the logistics processes in the Schmitten distribution centre: to smooth out delivery peaks and better distribute deliveries throughout the day, to give employees a better forecast of deliveries and to eliminate the need for email coordination with suppliers and carriers.
Before working with TradeLink, Patrick Spiegel, the project manager at Denner, had tested and compared various software solutions in his search for a digital notification system - including TradeLink. It was not only the software that convinced him, but also the team behind it. While other software providers seemed to be happy to ignore customer requests and feedback or put them on the back burner, Denner was quickly impressed by TradeLink: It was not only the close support that stood out positively, but also how quickly the platform was continuously developed .
In order to understand the complex logistics processes at Denner in detail, TradeLink CEO Frederic Krahforst, together with Roll-Out Manager Anne Listemann and Product Manager Daniel Kappler, even travelled to Denner in Switzerland. The message got through to Denner: TradeLink is really interested in its customers' logistics processes and understands their problems!
After the first meeting, things already started moving: Three selected suppliers and their forwarding agents were invited, and as early as April, not only was a flyer with yard rules and a presentation of the new "Priority Lane" distributed, but the first notifications of incoming goods were also processed via the TradeLink platform.
When project manager Patrick Spiegel 's concerns that suppliers would not accept the platform were allayed after a short time, other suppliers and their forwarders came on board. During this time and afterwards, the TradeLink team supported all processes and reacted proactively and quickly to feedback from Denner. For example, Roman Ulrich, head of incoming goods , was particularly pleased with the list view of the notification information, which was developed according to his feedback: "My compliments, it's really great, that's how I always imagined it.
In the meantime, all notification processes at inbound are handled via the platform, and most of the external delivery partners also already book their appointments via TradeLink. TradeLink was so well received everywhere that Denner employees as well as suppliers and their forwarders frequently wanted to know when TradeLink would also be rolled out at the other Denner distribution centers!
The fact that TradeLink is the opposite of paperwork is also shown by the measurable successes: Thanks to the platform, delivery peaks have been reduced by 95 percent, as deliveries are now evenly distributed throughout the day and the week. Truck waiting times at yard have been reduced by around 70 percent, with each truck waiting an average of just three minutes to be unloaded.
The accuracy of the time window to the actual arrival time has improved by 84 percent to seven minutes. Overtime is now more or less a thing of the past at the Schmitten distribution center, as the optimally timed processes mean that around 2,000 fewer FTE hours are required per year. In the end, even Denner's IT department was pleasantly surprised that no additional IT resources had to be taken up for the project!
Wherever the previously analogue supply chain management is digitised, there are initially concerns as to whether all employees and suppliers will follow suit and accept the software tools. This was also the case at Denner, but after the first tests with our intuitive platform, the initial scepticism quickly turned into enthusiasm.
By the way, it was not only the employees in Schmitten who liked it: The suppliers also found TradeLink so convincing that they wanted to know when it would be rolled out to the remaining locations.
Asked, done: TradeLink was implemented in the inbound implemented in the Denner distribution centers in Frauenfeld, Dietlikon, Lyss and Mägenwil. The distribution centers in Frauenfeld and Dietlikon are already connected to the platform, while the distribution centers in Lyss and Mägenwil are in the middle of rolloutprocess.
Thanks to the experience gained in Schmitten, the TradeLink implementation went faster and faster from site to site, although the setup and tasks were quite different in each case.
The medium-term goal of the collaboration between TradeLink and Denner is to further develop the platform together. For example, all logistics processes from inbound to outbound are to be brought onto the platform in order to map complete information flows . In addition, direct communication with drivers via TradeLink is to be made possible in the future.
Calculate here how much savings you can realise with TradeLink based on your weekly transport volume.
.png)
