Wine connoisseurs the world over recognise depth, character and complexity as the attributes of a fine vintage wine, and industry aficionados recognise similar facets within WaverleyTBS, the wines and spirits arm of Scottish & Newcastle UK. One of the largest players in the drinks market, WaverleyTBS stocks several thousand distinct products - making it arguably the toast of the industry.

WaverleyTBS was formed in 2004, following the acquisition of The Beer Seller (TBS) by Scottish & Newcastle as part of the HP Bulmer business. The Beer Seller was merged with Waverley Wines and Spirits to form the UK’s largest specialist drinks wholesaler.

Waverley TBS operates in three areas :

• On Trade Wholesale – the core composite drinks wholesaling operation which was formed by the merger of existing on-sales teams in the two businesses
• UK Packaging – a specialist wine packaging operation
• Off Trade and Export – a specialist sales arm dedicated to building sales in off trade and export markets.

The combined business offers its customers a powerful composite range of beer, cider, wine, spirits and soft drinks, backed by enhanced levels of service and flexibility. By leveraging its expertise in beer and wine brand development, WaverleyTBS is uniquely positioned to capitalise on the continued market growth in wine whilst developing niche and speciality beer brands on an exclusive basis.

WaverleyTBS uses the CALIDUS Warehouse Management System from OBS Logistics to increase overall throughput, improve operator productivity, achieve higher customer order accuracy and increase visibility and accuracy of stock holding.

To service its customer base, the company has two main sites, one at Felling near Newcastle-upon-Tyne and the other at Hemel Hempstead. The Felling warehouse is 110,000 sq. ft. and the Hemel Hempstead site is around 150,000 sq. ft. With no IT solution in place in the warehouses, the company was suffering from all the usual problems associated with completely manual systems in extremely busy warehouses.

WaverleyTBS was in danger of becoming a victim of its own success and its existing manual system was beginning to waver under the strain of continued market growth. Change was required in order to facilitate growth through the existing warehouse and distribution infrastructure whilst at the same time improving customer service levels by reducing lead times.

WaverleyTBS wanted to implement a new Warehouse Management System (WMS) that would enable them to:

• Increase operational efficiency and flexibility to meet the change in customer volumes and demands
• Increase visibility, accuracy and control throughout all areas of the supply chain especially within the warehouses
• Improve real-time information to facilitate effective management decisions Reduce lead times for customer orders

To achieve these objectives WaverleyTBS management determined to replace its limited supply chain management systems through the introduction of a new warehouse management system. It also improved the internal IT and operational system controls in conjunction with a major reorganisation of its distribution network.

The CALIDUS solution from OBS Logistics was selected to control the Felling operation due to its ease of use, flexible technology and high level of reliability and resilience. As a result of its rapid success, WaverleyTBS decided to proceed with the implementation of CALIDUS at the Hemel Hempstead warehouse.

Within two weeks of implementation throughput was 180% above the figure for the same period the previous year, with around 150,000 bottles picked and despatched per day.

To further increase the efficiency of WaverleyTBS's supply chain operation and to manage ever increasing demand, a bottle picking facility (internally dubbed "Fast Alley") was introduced at Hemel Hempstead. This is a semi-automated system allowing for the picking and despatch of full and split cases containing bottles of different products using the CALIDUS system. Due to the success of the implementation, a second semi-automated picking facility has been implemented at the Felling site.

“Since implementing the single item order picking facility at Hemel Hempstead, productivity levels and potential capacity have increased significantly. This has allowed our warehouse operation much more flexibility, particularly during peak trading periods. Calidus and OBS Logistics have proven to be ideal partners in our ventures. The company’s commitment to supporting our plans and their development of innovative solutions to facilitate our progress has been excellent.” Keith Marley, WaverleyTBS Regional Operations Manager.

As WaverleyTBS continues to expand and change, the long-term relationship with OBS Logistics and the use of the CALIDUS solution has ensured that the business is able to maintain its high levels of customer service. When Waverley acquired The Beer Seller, the substantial increase in customers and volumes were accommodated through the two existing warehouses, thereby further improving the business’s delivery efficiency and operating cost profile.

OBS Logistics provides 24-hour operational support for both warehouses, controlling all aspects of stock management with extensive use of radio technology and bar coding, providing real-time information to inform management decision making. CALIDUS also controls the management of bonded stock, from receipt through replenishment to despatch & integrates seamlessly with the sophisticated Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system employed by WaverleyTBS.