We continuously challenge ourselves to create sustainable practices, to simplify and automate more of our systems and to optimise business performance. Over the past number of years, Williams Medical Supplies has grown its UK GP supplies business through a combination of organic and acquisitive growth.
The Williams Medical Supplies warehouse in Wales.
To support this growth and improve efficiencies, we invested in an innovative and expansive warehouse reconfiguration programme. The delivery of the project was significantly tested with the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic, which put additional strain on the project management and operations. In addition, the business had to satisfy increased volumes of essential Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) to support key healthcare workers while maintaining operational performance.
The project had three core objectives:
- Sustainability – Reducing the carbon footprint through introducing paperless picks, optimising box size (reduce empty space), eliminating the use of polystyrene insulation and move to sheep’s wool for cold chain, and integrating packaging automation to reduce the use of corrugate. These changes reduced paper, packaging, provided improved utilisation of transport and provided customers with a fully recyclable solution. Current performance would indicate that Williams is on track to reduce its packaging by c.60% on a like-for-like basis.
- Automation – Implementing digital technology to improve the customer service offering and improve warehouse efficiency. The introduction of vertical storage units, packaging automation and a fully integrated three tier conveyor delivered a paperless operating solution, enabling more efficient use of resources.
- Scalability – The improved processes, better utilisation of footprint and increased speed of operation enabled Williams to increase its potential capacity through its existing warehouse by a factor of three, including an additional 25,000 sq. ft. for product storage and 12,000 new product locations.