Arco is the UK’s largest distributor of safety equipment and workwear. The company stocks over 22,000 products and reaches its customers through its extensive product catalogue, interactive website and 40 strong local branch network.

The Logistics Business was recently contracted to analyse and identify expansions to an automated picking system for Arco because business growth has led to bottlenecks in their existing automated warehouse systems. Both the design of the automated system and business growth were therefore modelled by us to clearly identify the bottlenecks, and additional conveyor and automated buffer stops were subsequently designed by the OEM to address these issues.

The role of The Logistics Business then continued throughout the project as a member of the project team, helping to translate the detailed design and throughput requirements into specifications and contracts. Technical and contractual advice was provided throughout the project in the role of ‘The Engineer’ through to the testing and final handover of the system. The combination of a team that had a detailed operational understanding of the current system and future requirements, along with substantial experience of analysis, modelling, contracts design, warehouse automation and project implementation, all provided by The Logistics Business, helped make this project a great success.

Neil Griffiths, Divisional Director of Logistics at Arco, enthused, ‘I’d like to thank The Logistics Business for their role played in the project. Having their expertise and involvement was invaluable. They provided a great mix of direction, a sounding board, solid advice and considered options through what were some quite challenging times during the project. The end results speak for themselves in as much as the kit has been performing really well and the Arco business continues to grow'.

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