Big W

The Challenge:

• Deliver on-going effective Matflo support 24 x 7 to site in Australia
• Successful deploy the solution via Big Bang rather than a gradual ramp up approach
• Work closely with the customer to achieve an end solution that met their evolving requirements

Introduction

Big W is a division of Woolworths Limited and is the leading Australian department store chain in terms of revenue. The chain has 179 stores.

The Hoxton Park DC near Sydney is 89,000m2- roughly the size of 11 football pitches.

On delivery it was and remains the most sophisticated distribution site in Australia in terms of the utilised material handling and order fulfilment technologies.

Why Dematic?

Dematic has a proven track record of successfully delivering and then supporting complex material handling solutions within the Australian market place.

In addition, to being one of the worldwide leaders in the provision of software solutions in this field, both in terms of dependability and innovation, Dematic can also offer a fully integrated set of wider Supply Chain solutions from within its Matflo suite.

Typical retail omni-channel requirements that can be addressed from the Matflo suite include in-store fulfilment (via Matflo In-Store), Delivery Management (via Matflo CMS), Click&Collect (via Matflo C+C) and Transport Management (via Matflo TMS).

Challenges

This was the first deployment of a shuttle driven automatic store and retrieval system (Multishuttle ASRS) into the Australian market. There was hence not only the requirement to educate the end customer in the subtleties of their new solution, but also to ensure the success of this new type of solution for Australia.

As the project progressed, the customer also felt sufficiently confident in the deployment strategy, and the team involved, that they demanded a Big Bang approach to start up, adding extra pressure.

Solution

The DAI, a Dematic company delivered Matflo solution integrates into an array of Dematic supplied automation, including:

• a 29,400 tote capacity Multi-shuttle
• Cross belt sorter architecture
• 24 Goods to Person order fulfilment stations

The flow-through design DC is nearly half a kilometre long and about 200 m wide.

The Result

From Day One the solution has worked successfully, achieving expected volume throughputs, and allowing all the Big W stores to be serviced. The IT systems continue to be effectively supported remotely by Dematic from their base in the UK, with an on going set of variations and enhancement being delivered as required by the customer.

The solution has been put forward for several Australian Supply Chain & Logistics Awards, receiving both the Supply Chain Management and the Storage and Handling of Materials Awards, winning both in the first full year of operation.