ASDA is one of the largest supermarkets, convenience, home, fashion, and general merchandise stores in the UK, serving over 19 million customers every week. Customer service is a core focus for the company, and this extends to their fast order processing, efficient packaging and reliable delivery. Picking and packing some 31,000 units a day of general merchandise at peak is a big challenge – one the retailer’s logistics service provider, Clipper Logistics, undertakes with great dexterity.
“We wanted to move towards a right-size packaging solution as we saw huge benefits from reducing the amount of corrugate we used, as well as getting more parcels on a trailer through building smaller boxes,” said Andrew Coffey, senior manager for Engineering Development and Innovation at ASDA Logistics Services. “To support the continued rapid growth in our George.com business, we needed to provide more packing capacity, as our current packing machines were fully utilized at peak times.”
“During peak we're experiencing congestion within our existing automation,” said Graham Thornley, operations manager of the ASDA contract at Clipper Logistics. “We process around 31,000 units on a daily basis at peak, so that put pressure on our workforce for at least three months of the year.”
The performance of the CVP Impack has exceeded expectations for both ASDA and Clipper Logistics. Following the installation of the machine, ASDA has been able to lower their shipping volume by 50% and eliminate one 40ft shipping trailer per day, which has an added significant environmental benefit. In addition, ASDA expects to purchase 30% less corrugate while shipping the same volume of packages. “The CVP Impack has allowed us to dramatically increase the number of boxes that we can get on a pallet that’s 60 boxes per pallet as opposed to 30. That’s a significan cost savings over a year and reduces CO2 emissions,” says Coffey.
There are important advantages to ASDA customers as well. 65% of ecommerce orders are click & collect from an ASDA store. By creating custom packaging for each order, the customer receives a compact, right-sized box that is more convenient to carry, eliminates ‘consumer distress’ over wasteful packaging and delivers a positive environmental message.
ASDA is one of the UK’s largest supermarket brands, serving over 19 million customers every week across a broad range of estate formats from supercentres and convenience stores to ASDA Living, which is dedicated to George Home, Fashion and general merchandise.
