Proteus customer, PRL group in Dublin has won the contract to supply 3PL services to Robert Roberts Ltd.
From Coffee to Confectionery and from Soft drinks to Snacks, Robert Roberts Ltd owns and manages some of the largest brand names in the FMCG sector. Their brands include: Robert Roberts Fairtrade Products, Elizabeth Shaw, KP Nuts, Fisherman’s Friend, McVities Cakes, Sacla Italia, United Biscuits Snacks, Welches, Ritter Sport, PLJ Juice Drinks, Chewits and more.

In addition to marketing and distributing the brands of their principals, they manufacture and supply tea and coffee under their own brand name. Robert Roberts began as a tea blender in 1843, when they traded as Baker Wardell. In 1971 the company acquired the Robert Roberts coffee business in 1971. Nowadays the Robert Roberts name is synonymous with the roasting of coffee in Ireland.

Having recently acquired FindlaterGrants, leading Irish Wine and Spirits distributors, it became necessary to have more warehouse space available for the growing volumes of stock. It was also necessary to choose a company that not only had the space available, but could also handle the number of stock movements and despatch requirements. It was decided to award the contract to PRL Group, a major 3PL located in Rathcoole in the outskirts of Dublin, due to their experience in wines and spirits industry and their proven track record in the storage, and distribution of goods throughout all 32 counties in Ireland.

PRL Group has been successfully using the Proteus RF Directed Warehouse Management System for over 12 years. The warehouse is over 185,000 sq ft and has in excess of 20,000 pallet spaces. The system handles in excess of 4000 picks and pallet movements per day. For the Robert Roberts’ FindlaterGrants contract it was decided that a pick by voice or “speech picking” solution would be the most appropriate. PRL Group, who are very pleased with the performance levels they are able to achieve due to the Proteus Warehouse Management System, and support they have received from Proteus staff, has awarded the contract for the speech picking solution to Proteus Software.

Brian O’Hara PRL Operations Directors said, “Having a speech picking solution in place will enable the operator to have their hands free, which allows them to work faster without working harder. It will also mean that there will be less damage to the equipment as units cannot be dropped either by the operators or from a fork lift.”

Howard Turvey MD of Proteus said, “We are delighted that we have been award the contract to supply the Proteus Speech solution to PRL Group, and are looking forward to working with them on the project.”