Raising the fashion supply chain agility through cost-efficient transformation
For many fashion, apparel and lifestyle retailers, delivering the latest products to markets across the globe remains a challenging and complex process. With the ever-changing consumer behaviour and increasing shift towards omnichannel, distribution centers must match this new demand—regardless of online or in-store shopping experience.
As a full-service transportation and logistics provider, Kerry Logistics has provided many retailers with supply chain solutions for their product distributions. A leading British clothing and homeware brand was one of the recent retailers who had entrusted Kerry Logistics to manage their distributions for the operations in Malaysia, Singapore, and Hongkong. Working with SSI SCHAEFER, Kerry Logistics reinvents its traditional storage system to a modern and organized retailing logistics hub.
Reinventing Omnichannel Strategy Within the Existing Square Footage
With the right approach in expanding Kerry Logistics’s existing warehouse, the upgraded facility is built on their existing square footage in Johor, Malaysia while keeping the civil cost low. The new 3-storey high Mezzanine Shelving System is a simple yet efficient inventory storage method to enhance their order fulfilment operation. Fitted with a shelving system and further improvised with mounted garment on hangers (GOH) rails, the 7,013 m² storage area can accommodate carton boxes and delicate fashion garments, pallet cargos which are bulky and heavy to manage could slide easily into the Pallet Racking System situated in both ambient and air-conditioned rooms.
Executing a Seamless Integration Project
To ensure zero to minimal operation disruptions, SSI SCHAEFER and Kerry Logistics worked very closely to find the perfect scheduling, replacement, and installation of the new system. Within 240 days, the new warehouse system was completed and ready for the storage of more than 40,000 SKUs.
Custom Fit: Flat-Packed and Display-Ready Hanging Garments
How a garment will be sold, the fabric of the garment, and the origin of the destination would always lead to a retailer’s dilemma of “to hang or to box” within the fashion supply chain. The well-thought-of storage solution developed for Kerry Logistics is configured to store both garments in flat-packed boxes and Garment on Hangers (GOH). Whether the apparel is moved through some or all of the supply chain on hangers, or in some stages of the supply chain they may be placed in a carton while attached to a hanger, instead of hanging on a rail or string, Kerry Logistics new warehouse storage system can accommodate. Furthermore, the Mezzanine came with a netting system installed as a safety feature to protect the warehouse staff who are working on higher ground, ensuring a safer environment in the warehouse.
