Meteor Electrical puts goods on shelves in half the time

Electrical wholesaler turns to Manhattan ILS: Integrated Logistics Solutions, built on Microsoft .NET, to support expanding business

Global supply chain solutions provider Manhattan Associates, Inc. has announced that Ireland's largest independent electrical wholesaler, Meteor Electrical, has reported significant productivity improvements following its recent implementation of Manhattan ILS: Integrated Logistics Solutions, built on Microsoft.NET. Since implementing the solution suite's warehouse management component, the company has cut the time taken to receive goods by 50% in spite of increasing the number of pallet spaces from 4,000 to 9,000.

Implementation of the new system took just over three months from start to finish, and went live without any downtime. Within three or four days the Manhattan system already matched the speed of its predecessor and productivity increased from that point onwards.

Meteor Electrical's fleet of 35 vehicles delivers orders worth in excess of 100,000 every day throughout Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland from its 160,000 sq ft distribution centre (DC) in Cookstown, County Tyrone. Order size can vary enormously, and many customers require a next-day delivery, so processing speed is crucial.

"As soon as a delivery arrives, the new system automatically tells us where it needs to go. Previously, someone had to go and check whether the required space was available before putting anything away on a shelf," said John Conway, managing director of Meteor Electrical. "After implementing the Manhattan solution, bottlenecks have all but disappeared and picking speed has improved. If there's a problem with an order we can pinpoint it immediately, rather than going through a printout of complex machine code."

Meteor Electrical distributes not only a vast range of electrical and lighting products, but also wiring, cables and, most recently, plumbing and heating products. To support the rapid growth the business is experiencing, Meteor is making further plans for the distribution centre. A mini-load system is first on the agenda, to be followed by voice-controlled picking, and the number of pallet spaces is expected to grow to 22,000.

"One of the most important things for us is the flexibility we have now," continued Mr. Conway. "We're introducing new stock all the time, so we need to be able to experiment with new ways of working. With this system, we can change the configuration whenever we like if we want to do something new, we'll just go ahead and try it and see if it works."

About Meteor Electrical

Meteor Electrical is Ireland's largest independent electrical wholesaler. For over 15 years the company has supplied high quality electrical products to commercial and domestic customers, from architects to facilities managers; and from engineers to electricians. Meteor Electrical specialises in interior and exterior lighting and offers a wide selection of products for both commercial and domestic applications; thousands of product lines are available from stock at the company's 160,000 sq ft premises in Cookstown, County Tyrone. Meteor Electrical also offers a comprehensive range of plumbing products suitable for both UK and Republic of Ireland installations and is the largest cable distributor in Ireland.

About Manhattan Associates, Inc.

Manhattan Associates continues to deliver on its 17 year heritage of providing global supply chain excellence to more than 1,200 customers worldwide that consider supply chain optimisation core to their strategic market leadership. The company's supply chain innovations include: Manhattan SCOPE, a portfolio of software solutions and technology that leverages a Supply Chain Process Platform to help organisations optimise their supply chains from planning through execution; Manhattan ILS, a portfolio of distribution management and transportation management solutions built on Microsoft.NET technology; and Manhattan Carrier Management, a suite of supply chain solutions specifically addressing the needs of the motor carrier industry.