Working in partnership with United Biscuits

What were your initial objectives when you commenced the Pallet Shuttle project?

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We used to have over 14 sites in the UB logistics distribution network across the UK and Ireland. Over the last 20 years, we have worked hard to reduce this to one central hub in the Midlands. Our business is seasonally driven and within our peak periods we can have over 120,000 pallets of finished goods stock at any one time.

Service and stock availability are a key deliverable for our business along with asset utilisation. We currently have 70,000 locations within our Midlands Distribution Centre and prior to the installation of the STILL Pallet Shuttle system, this figure was closer to 66,000 - so we had a significant level of products stored outside.

Having outside stock inevitably increases the transportation and complexity costs. In addition, we were putting strain on the products due to multiple touch points being used.

Our objective has always been to maximise the efficiency of our central hub and this was the primary rationale behind the project. We have had to create more space internally to maximise the use of our asset with the sole purpose of reducing the amount of activity on the roads and thus, ensuring we maximise the environmental benefits.

One of the biggest benefits for the business is the amount of cost related to outside storage. Our seasonal lines turn every three to four weeks which makes the main cost of an outside store very expensive. Once the stock is brought inside, this cost is greatly reduced. So in summary, the rationale behind our big projects is to create as much space as possible within our main facility.

How many pallets do you have in the outside store right now?

As we are in October and heading towards our peak sales period, just short of 50,000 pallets.

What benefits has the STILL Pallet Shuttle system brought to your operation?

The direct benefit is that we can avoid using the outside storage and can maximise the space and footprint of the site. The concept of dense storage and the operational design is completely unique.

STILL have been a great partner in working with us on our design and have demonstrated real innovation into getting the project implemented.

How many suppliers were invited to take part?

We invited five vendors in total, including two incumbents who could potentially offer a solution. The tender put forward by STILL was by far superior not just in terms of design but also cost and the professional work content which was submitted. STILL were extremely professional in managing the proposal. The Project Managers from MDC and STILL worked effortlessly in meeting the key requirements and within a tight timescale. This was really one of the defining differences within the vendor selection.

Why were STILL successful in winning the order?

As mentioned earlier, the design put forward achieved the level of stock holding which we required. The sheer quality and volume of work generated by STILL meant that we were extremely confident with our final decision. There is a great deal of trust between our two businesses. In addition we conducted three reference visits with STILL to three separate sites - two in Germany and one in Belgium. All the sites have very different products and different operating environments.

One site in particular was quite a challenging environment because it produced very heavy products. Here, we spoke with the operators to enquire about the last recorded break down of the Pallet Shuttle. We were amazed to find out that it had never broken down! This only instilled further confidence and trust in STILL’s ability to deliver a good project. Finally, STILL’s negotiation of the contract was very professional indeed. We were able to quickly find middle ground and it was clear to see that STILL were committed to delivering a quality project from start to finish in what was a very challenging time scale.