Website: https://eriks.co.uk/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/eriks-uk
ERIKS is a world-leading distributor of specialised industrial products and services. Founded in 1940 in Alkmaar, the Netherlands, the company originally supplied equipment to the dairy sector. It expanded into the UK and Ireland through its acquisition of WYKO in November of 2006.
Since its inception, ERIKS has had a strong commitment to corporate social responsibility, and this has translated (as environmental awareness has grown) into a focus on sustainability.
But those aren’t the only changes that have taken place. Today, ERIKS deals with many different industries, not just the dairy sector. In some of these industries, their customers, due to the secure nature of their businesses, need the parts they are receiving to be 100% accurate.
In 2019, the company initiated a project to overhaul its UK order fulfilment operations with a strategic investment of £20 million. They consolidated two regional DCs into a new centre of excellence, creating one central logistics facility – their advanced Fulfilment Centre of Expertise (FCE) – in Oldbury, UK.
Aware that their customers were experiencing growing skills shortages and a need to enhance their operational efficiency, ERIKS wanted to future-proof the services they offered in order to provide increased support.
The company could see that traditional logistics models would eventually be unable to meet the increased demands for high availability, order accuracy, and next-day delivery. And they were aware that their customers businesses were vulnerable to growing competition from new technologies and other market pressures, such as global disruptions and trade tariffs.
ERIKS had already started work on their FCE before the Pandemic came along in 2020, but when it did, rather than shutting down operations, they decided to accelerate the project instead.
The newly established FCE in Oldbury has since emerged as a state-of-the-art hub. It integrates Blue Yonder’s Dispatcher WMS and Socius24’s own User Services Portal (USP) with cutting-edge small-parts automation. ERIKS partnered with Socius24, award-winning Blue Yonder Dispatcher WMS resellers, to implement these new software systems – both of which have contributed to enormous business gains.
ERIKS selected Socius24 to implement Dispatcher WMS because they recognised the level of experience the company could offer them.
Between the implementation of the new software and automation systems, combined with the increased facilities available in the new building, the FCE project has resulted in a massive 110% boost in productivity.
As part of the integration Socius24 interfaced to twenty-one Hänel vertical lifts, as well as interfacing to the conveyor systems that transport goods from the lifts past an automatic weight and dimensioning station.
This outbound process ensures that the picked items match the SKU master data. Additionally, ERIKS make use of the Socius24 USP application to scan & confirm each parcel is 100% accurate to the customer’s order before it heads to despatch.
Through these new efficiencies, ERIKS have been able to increase their storage capacity for small parts by 500% and reduce their pick times by 30%. This leap was made possible via the seamless interfacing between Dispatcher WMS and the automated picking system, in combination with efficiencies provided by the new facility – and it has resulted in near-perfect order accuracy and significantly faster deliveries.
ERIKS’ FCE has brought with it a 53% increase in the company’s warehouse capacity, which is now 11,000 m2 – and has space for up to 11,200 Euro pallets. Dispatcher WMS and USP, combined with the new automation systems, have not only enhanced the quality of customer service through improved product availability and accuracy but have also helped ERIKS to establish a new direct delivery model – one that ensures most orders reach customers before mid-morning the following day.
The company now benefits from over 99% real-time data monitoring, close to 100% inventory accuracy, and can offer its customers end-to-end visibility via the User Services Portal.
This transformation has allowed ERIKS to adapt to seasonal fluctuations and be able to efficiently scale their operations more easily. And while its current throughput is already impressive, the FCE’s design includes provisions for expansion, which means that ERIKS will be able to accommodate future growth without sacrificing service quality or operational efficiency.
The success of the Oldbury FCE underscores ERIKS’ commitment to innovation, customer service excellence, and operational agility. It has set a new standard for the industry, solidifying ERIKS’ position as a market leader, and demonstrating the company’s forward-thinking approach when it comes to tackling current and future challenges in the supply chain landscape.
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