A year ago, Arvato and Douglas embarked on a journey to redefine efficiency and precision in the beauty supply chain. Today, the new highly automated ARVATO-DOUGLAS logistics centre in Hamm, Germany, handles the entire B2C and B2B volume of the DACH region.
Arvato and Douglas, the leading omnichannel supplier of beauty products in Europe, opened their new joint site in Hamm in September. The new distribution centre, with its advanced automation technology, is a pilot project for both companies and marks an important milestone in a long-standing partnership.
With a total area of 38,000 m2, the Hamm centre will take care of all logistics for Douglas’ fast-growing shop deliveries and online business, including returns management for the entire DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland). The new logistics centre will create up to 400 jobs.
With the new centre, Arvato has tripled the warehouse capacity for the Douglas beauty chain, whose online sales have grown by an average of more than 20% per year over the past five years.
“In Hamm we have created a visionary concept that optimally supports not only growth but also Douglas’ ‘Let it Bloom’ strategy,” says Julia Börs, President Consumer Products at Arvato. Sander van der Laan, CEO of the Douglas Group, adds: “Efficient logistics is one of the most important pillars for any omnichannel retailer. With the new advanced logistics centre in Hamm, we have reached a decisive milestone in linking our business even more closely for the benefit of our customers and suppliers in particular.”
Arvato and Douglas, the OMNICHANNEL solution
Arvato’s digitisation strategy perfectly supports Douglas’s cross-channel business model. Indeed, Arvato specifically designed the distribution centre in Hamm as an omnichannel warehouse with high-performance automation technology and a cloud-based IT solution that brings together Douglas’ various sales channels and national orders.
At the heart of the omnichannel solution is a pioneering shuttle system from Austrian supplier Knapp, with whom Arvato has been working for many years. The latest generation 2D system (OSR Shuttle Evo) has over 130,000 storage positions, 32 ergonomic workstations and a storage and retrieval capacity of 12,500 totes per hour.
Says Börs: “In total, we have invested more than EUR 70 million in state-of-the-art automation technology at the Hamm plant. This is the largest investment in a single site to date.
In full operation, up to 114,000 parcels per day can be dispatched from Hamm. The speed of delivery to customers in the DACH region is supported by the optimal location of the distribution centre in the eastern Ruhr region and its connection to several motorways.
“The location is also fundamentally equipped for further growth, as we already took possible capacity expansions in various functional areas with Douglas into account during the planning phase,” explains Julia Börs.
Arvato is a supply chain solutions company present in Italy since 2004, with 450 employees, 5 offices, 3 logistics hubs and two divisions: Consumer Products and Healthcare. Arvato is a division of Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA
For more info www.arvato.it
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