Case Study: Bleckmann Leverages the Power of AI for Operational Efficiency
The Customer:
Founded in 1862, Bleckmann evolved from a transportation company into a to a full supply chain solutions provider, specializing in e-fulfilment. With a strong European foundation, the company expanded its operations to the United States and Asia, allowing Bleckmann to serve a global clientele. Leveraging substantial investments and extensive IT expertise, Bleckmann offers a consistent platform to customers worldwide. A dedicated workforce of approximately five thousand employees ensures that Bleckmann fulfils its commitments every day. With an impressive annual turnover of EUR 564 million, the company stands poised to deliver world-class solutions to its clients. When they approached the Yazzoom, a PA Company, team wanting to further improve the efficiency of their fulfilment process, a great partnership began.
The Problem:
Bleckmann was faced with the increasing need to swiftly address process-specific bottlenecks. Data-driven recommendations from Yazzoom’s warehouse optimizer, which yielded several advantages for Bleckmann’s warehouse managers and operators, leading to increased productivity and cost-effectiveness in their operations. Initially, the collaboration focused on enhancing the fulfillment process by introducing an AI-powered order consolidation algorithm. This algorithm aims to maximize the number of full boxes that can be directly taken from the stock area to the sorting system, bypassing the picking area. Yazzoom’s optimizer suggests intelligent order groupings (referred to as ‘waves’) to warehouse managers in real time. These wave recommendations are then translated into picking lists and sent to warehouse floor pickers. As a result, warehouse operations become more streamlined, with reduced time spent in the picking area and a consistent flow of goods to the sorting system.
The PA Solution
While the ideal scenario would eliminate the need to open boxes during the transition from the picking area to the sorter, Yazzoom’s solution brings Bleckmann’s warehouse managers as close to this efficiency as possible, ultimately improving logistics cost-effectiveness for their clients. Of course, Bleckmann’s priority is delivering on promises to their customers. By providing a range of different wave options, the algorithm helps operators strike the ideal balance between delivery time and cost efficiency.
“When you’re dealing with millions of orders during peak periods, small inefficiencies can add up to large delays,” said Stijn Vandeperre, Innovation Engineer at Bleckmann. “That’s why it’s essential to make every picking trip count. Combining orders intelligently is the best way to do this. The algorithm also learns which waving configurations work for specific clients and situations, promising even greater benefits.”
PA and Yazzoom are proud to offer customized AI and data solutions to our customers across the globe. As a leading provider of digitalization, automation, and process optimization systems solutions, we offer a comprehensive range of services to a variety of industries. Our unique level of expertise and industry knowledge is unmatched by any other company, giving us the ability to provide outstanding service to every customer with whom we work. Contact us today to get started on your next project.
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