New WMS helps plumbing and HVAC equipment business reach the next level.

Even in tough times Bardon Supplies Limited focuses on what’s important “Customer Service!”

At a time when many wholesale distributors are cutting costs, instituting layoffs, freezing wages and just not spending any money. Bardon Supplies Limited decided that if it is to survive the current economic downturn it must focus on two key areas in its supply chain, “Its Customers and Its Warehouse!”

To talk about investing in your warehouse during times like these, many distributors will tell you is crazy. But in 2005 after being purchased by Group Deschenes, Barry Raycroft the Vice President and General Manager of Bardon Supplies picked up where his father Don Raycroft, now retired, left off. Don founded Bardon in 1969 in Belleville, Ontario with a small building and a desire to provide the industry what it desperately needed, “Unmatched Customer Service.” 40 years later with his son Barry Raycroft at the helm his motto and vision is similar to his fathers. Therefore it was not out of character to address the one area that has such a dramatic impact on service levels and customer satisfaction, “The Warehouse!” In 2007, Bardon commissioned Total Logistics Solutions, Inc. to assist with the implementation of an industry leading Warehouse Management System in their Barrie, Ont. location. Rene Jones the founder of TLS was already familiar with Bardon, he was the previous Project Manager during two previous WMS implementations in their Belleville and Kingston locations respectively. 

The Barrie branch which is approximately 30,000 square feet has 13 warehouse employees and 5 delivery drivers. According to Wayne Buck, the Branch Manager in Barrie, “It was not a question of whether we were meeting our customers’ needs, it was a question of could we meet them more efficiently while simultaneously reducing our warehouse operating costs?” The implementation of the system was completed in February 2009 with a wall-to-wall Physical Inventory. “We have always taken our annual physical inventory serious, but this was one of the most in-depth inventories I have ever been involved with.” said, Mike Brymer the warehouses Inventory Control Specialist.

On the Sunday following the completion of the Saturday inventory, the warehouse began receiving, picking, packing and loading orders with the new system. There were the usual reservations from customers and employees but the implementation went flawlessly. Customers at the Will Call counter immediately began asking, “How would their order get picked without a Pick Ticket?” The warehouse now uses RF (Radio Frequency) devices to process all transactions.

As product arrives on the dock, an ASN (Advance Shipment Notification) is generated which selects the most appropriate locations for the product prior to it being touched by the receiving department. “It is Great!” said Warren Symes the lead receiver. He went on to say, “I am amazed at the accuracy, it has virtually eliminated receiving errors especially with Serial Numbered product. Before we had to read the tiny numbers on the packing slip and then verify those numbers to the number on the box. Now we just scan the product and the system knows if that is the serial number it was expecting. If it is not, we cannot proceed.” 

The picking process has been streamlined as well. The Order Pickers no longer pick an order from start to finish. The orders are now broken down into smaller more efficient chunks based on the type of product to be picked. In other words, an order with fittings, a Heating Coil and Pipe can be picked by three different people simultaneously and merged during the loading process. You no longer see pickers walking up and down aisles looking for lost product either. The system now directs the pickers where to pick an item from, based on a predetermined picking sequence. Should they choose not to pick the item from the system suggested location, because say the product was damaged, it forces the picker to enter a traceable “Reason Code” why they are not following the directive? Upon the completion of entering a “Reason Code” it then displays additional locations where the product is stored. 

But the best part of the system is the Command Center functionality. Before if a customer wanted to make a change to an order that was already printed, the warehouse supervisor would have to find every picker to see who had that customers order. “It was a nightmare with order changes,” said James Walsh the new Command Center Specialists. “Now Gary, our supervisor, simply comes to me and I can tell him who is picking the order, which line of the order they are on, and we can even delete items off of the order without the picker ever knowing the deleted item was there. It is much more efficient!” The Command Center also has the ability to monitor orders, review the receiving process and keep track of the daily workload to change resources depending on the time of day and the amount of transactions to be processed.

The overall goal was to be more efficient, reduce the branches operating costs and provide an unmatched level of service to Bardon’s customers. With the implementation of the system and warehouse layout changes instituted by Total Logistics Solutions the Barrie branch has achieved the following:
1.     Less than 2 errors per 450 orders shipped.
2.     Inventory Accuracy, which is normally in the mid 80’s with most distributors, is now in the high 90’s with Bardon Supplies and improving.
3.     Receiving errors have dropped by 80% and continuing to fall as the receivers become more comfortable with the system.
4.     The same amount of work is being processed with 2 less people. They were not laid off merely transitioned into other areas of the business.
5.     Returns, because of shipment errors, have decreased by over 90% .Which is a major improvement considering most distributors have between 3% to 8% of their outbound orders returned.

“Most distribution organizations have forgotten how vital their warehouse operation is to their overall success or failure in good and bad times. Less than 30% of warehouses are efficient, 65% of the cost associated with distribution is directly related to labor and inventory values range between 6% to 20% of the organization’s annual revenue.” Said, Rene’ Jones the Founder of Total Logistics Solutions and the Senior Project Manager of the Bardon implementation.  He went on to say, “Many distributors find themselves in a crunch, not because of the economy. But because they often fall short of their customers’ expectations and are not able to deliver (1) what the customer wants, (2) when they want it and (3) at a competitive price.”

Bardon Supplies Limited is a division of Groupe Deschenes Inc., a privately held, family managed corporation. Bardon Supplies was established in Belleville in 1969. Groupe Deschenes acquired the Company in June of 2005, bringing the total number of branch locations in the network to sixty-nine in Ontario and Quebec. Visit the company’s website at www.bardonsupplies.com. 

Total Logistics Solutions, Inc. is a privately held Supply Chain and Logistics consulting organization. TLS was established in 1997 in Burbank, California. TLS is focuses on improving the warehouse operations of manufacturers and distributors. Their customers include: Home Depot, Ryan Herco Products, Builders Plumbing Supplies, Kitchen Distributors of America, Westburne and many others. Visit the company’s website at www.logisticsociety.com or send an email to info@logisticsociety.com.