Colin Shepherd, Operations Warehouse Manager at SPAR Australia, said, “We are proudly Australian, committed to supporting our independent retailer network with the delivery of superior customer experiences.
“Our business is made up of passionate teams driven by our philosophy, “Better Together”. As a team, we pride ourselves on delighting our customers with consistent supply, quality and service. We are focused on delivering services and products that are moulded around the needs of our customers.”
The Opportunity
SPAR Australia is one of the fastest growing retail groups in Australia with store number growth rising from 25 stores in 2006 to 75 stores in 2008, and over 150 stores in 2018. To support this network of stores, the business operates a large distribution centre of approximately 20,000 square metres at Acacia Ridge, Brisbane. This site carries approximately 13,000 dry grocery lines with a further 1,250 frozen/chilled product lines.
The company's supply chain is vital to moving the right product to the right place, at the right time across Australia. Mr Shepherd said, “We provide our suppliers 48 hours’ notice for stock movements and depending on the products being moved, we turn this around for stores in 3-4 days. We operate a very efficient operation to meet our customers’ requirements.”
The business utilises a mix of CHEP platforms, including bins and wooden pallets to maximise the efficiencies in moving products to its stores.
Focusing on continuous improvement in their operations and unlocking further efficiencies, SPAR Australia with the support of CHEP identified an opportunity to move from a hand wrapping operation to a machine pallet wrapping solution. This solution helped improve load stability, reduce damage, unlock cost savings and remove waste from film.
The Solution
To progress this opportunity in their supply chain, SPAR Australia and CHEP worked together, going through the following phases involved in the development of a tailored load containment and pallet wrapping solution:
+ Learn - Working together, CHEP evaluated SPAR Australia’s current load containment system to understand their needs and desired outcomes.
+ Analyse - The CHEP team provided comparisons of SPAR Australia’s current equipment and processes with recommendations.
+ Implement - CHEP supported the planning and deployment of SPAR Australia’s preferred solution.
+ Maintain - Once the system was up and running, CHEP managed all of SPAR Australia’s maintenance and wrap inventory needs.
As part of the load containment and pallet wrapping solution, the CHEP team supported SPAR Australia with equipment selection, procurement, installation, maintenance and the machine pallet wrap film. Based on consultations and tests including a cut and weigh procedure, the CHEP Lantech Q300XT Semi Auto Tall Mast was implemented with specially selected machine film.
Mr Shepherd said, “CHEP’s platforms and solutions are helping us meet fast turnaround times, along with reducing the total cost of every product load we wrap and move.”
The Results
“By using CHEP’s load containment and pallet wrapping solution we have reduced film waste by 50%, improved our load stability and have saved over 30%* in costs compared to our previous process of hand wrapping.
“We are seeing significant reductions in product damages, which is a result of the pallet wrap machine providing better film tension on cartons. We are also improving our sustainability performance, which is evident given the reduction in film waste. Previously, when our team members hand wrapped loads, there was a lot of waste from rolls being thrown out with film still on them. With the pallet wrapper machine, the film is applied until there is nothing left on the roll.”
CHEP and SPAR Australia have partnered together since 2007. Mr Shepherd said, “CHEP continues to be a great partner to work with in the supply chain. Their team are very approachable, sharing new ideas and organising trials of these to enhance performance. They provide us with the tools (i.e. myCHEP) and proactive support to ensure that our business runs smoothly, and we continuously improve our bottom line and environmental impact.”
* Calculated by CHEP for the period: 2014-2018