Stokenchurch, UK

Davies Turner, the leading independent operator in the UK for European freight and international logistics business, has boosted productivity by 20 percent following the implementation of Warehouse Management supplied by RedPrairie Corporation, a world leading consumer driven optimisation company.

RedPrairie has supplied Davies Turner with its Warehouse Management solution, billing software and its integrator product, an Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) tool that enables Davies Turner to integrate with multiple host systems, supporting multiple contracts with customers for sales, invoices and reports.

Andrew Slater, Head of Logistics, Davies Turner, said, “We needed a configurable system them would give us more flexibility. We selected the RedPrairie solution because it was user-friendly, and it enables us to take on new clients at short notice. We can now get a new customer onto the system in a day. The upgrade functionality within the system is also important, as it makes our business future proof.”

Slater continued, “The new solution has made us more self-sufficient. A key benefit is that productivity has been increased by 20%. We were pleased with the speed of the implementation, and the communication between sites has been greatly improved, due to the multi-user functionality which means the same product and processes are used across all sites. The new solution has given us the opportunity to manipulate data easily and expand the business with a more competitive offering.”

Davies Turner’s existing system didn’t fit its business requirements. Each time a new client came on board the programme needed to be rewritten, which could take up to three months and also put huge pressure on the company’s internal development team.

As Davies Turner wanted to take ownership of the project and drive down costs, they decided to manage the rollout process, thanks to RedPrairie’s willingness to transfer knowledge. RedPrairie and Davies Turner worked very closely on the first rollout, which went live in April 2007. On the projects that followed, Davies Turner took the lead, using RedPrairie as a resource when required. Now seven sites are live with 45 clients.

The integration tool was rolled out as part of the Warehouse Management project, and the billing product is currently being implemented. This is a crucial project for Davies Turner, as current procedures are complex and the system takes a long time to manage. The new RedPrairie solution will make the process much quicker.

Future plans include looking at rolling out the Warehouse Management Solution to the freight management arm of the business.

Martin Hiscox, Vice Chairman of the Board, Managing Director and President International, RedPrairie, said, “This is an excellent example of RedPrairie working with a customer to make our solution work for them. The flexibility and agility of the system has enabled Davies Turner to provide its customers with an excellent service.”