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Develop shared logistic services in Benelux

April 06, 2016 5931 Views

map-merchantDescription
Map Merchant Benelux consists of three independent wholesalers for paper products in mostly for office use and the graphic industry. Modo van Gelder, Grafisch Papier and GPG each have their own customer base, product portfolio and logistics operation.

Opportunities
Overall revenue and margins for the wholesalers in the paper sector have been slowly decreasing over the last few years. Map Merchant Benelux has initiated the project to investigate the opportunity to develop shared logistic services within the Benelux, without affecting the commercial autonomy of the three wholesalers.

Solution
Groenewout first facilitated an evaluation of the overlap of the product assortments and workshops to define targets for future assortment & stock sharing.
With these targets Groenewout analyzed multiple scenarios to centralize / consolidate the warehouses and transport activities. For each scenario the operational consequences and implementation efforts were assessed.
Groenewout advised to consolidate the 2 warehouses in the Netherlands first and integrate the (partly in-house) transport execution, with an option to incorporate Belgium later.

Benefits

  • Direct cost saving opportunity are identified via bottom up operational cost modeling which is transparent for all three wholesalers
  • Indirect cost saving opportunities (overhead, IT, etc) are determined in cooperation with three wholesalers
  • Significant saving in working capital (inventory reduction)
  • Clear outlook on pre-conditions and pitfalls for implementation.