【Den Bosch, N】Groenewout Assists My Jewellery with End-to-End Launch of New Distribution Center

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Editor’s Note

This article highlights how strategic logistics planning is crucial for scaling retail operations, as demonstrated by My Jewellery’s partnership with Groenewout to establish a new distribution center supporting its growth.

Groenewout helps My Jewellery with end-to-end launch of new distribution center
Logistics Expertise Needed

Dutch fashion and jewelry brand My Jewellery has grown strongly in recent years. To meet that demand, the company opened a new, 10,000 m² distribution center in Den Bosch in 2023. The retailer worked with logistics consultancy Groenewout for the design, supervision of the construction work, logistics setup, and realization.

“We had drawn up a plan for a new distribution center at a greenfield site in Den Bosch, but we realized we needed specialist logistics expertise to tackle the project properly. How could we organize our logistics processes as efficiently as possible? And what would that mean for the design of the facility? We went in search of a partner that could advise us on both logistics and building-related aspects,” reflected Vilmar Bliekendaal, CFO/CTO at My Jewellery.

The search led My Jewellery to Groenewout, one of the leading consultancies in the logistics market.

“We wanted a professional consultancy firm that could help us optimize the logistics design and also support us during implementation,” said Vilmar.
Feasibility Study

After Groenewout completed a feasibility study for the logistics design of the distribution center, the consultants analyzed the findings plus other data to write a business case for two scenarios.

“The first scenario was a manual concept with pallet racking and shelving. The second scenario was more future-oriented and also used robotization,” Vilmar explained.
Accelerated Implementation of Automation

My Jewellery originally planned to automate its logistics processes step by step.

“We didn’t want to make too many changes at the same time, because we were already implementing a new WMS,” Vilmar said.

However, the tight labor market forced an acceleration of the automation plan.

The new distribution center of My Jewellery in Den Bosch
“So we decided to invest in an automated system for that right from the start too,” Vilmar continued.

Together with Groenewout, My Jewellery chose Geek+’s robotic solutions for this logistics process, with a total of 22 tote-to-person RS8 RoboShuttles and 66 P40 picking solutions forming the core. The robots are scheduled to go live in the first quarter of 2025.

The Collaboration

Groenewout then drew up a Program of Requirements for the layout of the distribution center and supervised both the realization of the logistics design and the implementation.

“Groenewout was responsible for all the logistics-related systems, including pallet racks, shelving, packaging machines and goods-to-person (GTP) solutions. The consultants managed the tenders for the various systems and were also involved in testing and implementation,” Vilmar stated.

Asked about the collaboration, Vilmar said:

“They are all-rounders and make proactive suggestions for how we can optimize processes. I particularly liked the project-based approach: from problem analysis through to implementation. We were so happy with how it all went that we hired Groenewout for the realization phase as well.”

Groenewout also advised conducting additional analysis for an automated packaging solution.

“We implemented that solution immediately because of the rapid ROI,” says Vilmar.

Thanks to the more efficient setup, the number of packing tables could be reduced from 12 to just two. Additionally, picking accuracy has improved and My Jewellery has been able to significantly reduce the number of goods damaged during shipping.

Vilmar sums up the benefits: “Thanks to our new packaging machines, for example, we use significantly less cardboard while saving energy at the same time. Additionally, the sustainable solutions help us ship products to customers quickly and efficiently, and ensure a safe and healthy working environment for our employees.”

Sustainability is an important pillar for My Jewellery. BREEAM certification “Excellent In-Use” has been applied for the new distribution center and is expected to be awarded by the end of 2024. Sustainability considerations have also been incorporated into the logistics setup.

The distribution center of My Jewellery
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⏰ Published on: December 24, 2024