Description
Frans Muller is a wholesaler in high quality shoe care products for the retail market in the Benelux; Typical products are shoe care, insoles, shoetrees, laces and foot care products. Apart from exclusive brands, Frans Muller also produces private labels. The warehouse and offices of Frans Muller are located in Groningen.

Opportunities
Due to sales and assortment growth Frans Muller was in need for expansion of their warehouse operation and offices. Because of this growth, they bought the piece of land adjacent to their current facilities. They wanted to make a well thought decision whether to build a complete new operation or to expand the current operation. To facilitate further growth in an efficient way and to enable a quality enhancement, Frans Muller asked Groenewout to compare both options and design the expansion of the warehouse operations.

Solution 

• The collected data (on-site and off-site) was analyzed and a functional goods flow diagram was set up. After validation of the data and current processes several alternatives were presented for storage and picking including the impact on the lay-out of the building.
• Based on a qualitative evaluation a decision was made of the preferred lay-out, which was an expansion of the current operation

Benefits

• Fact based evaluation and decision of the two main options.
• Description of the chosen storage and order fulfillment methods including detailed lay-out drawings.
• Clear agreements with Municipality on storage of hazardous goods products