Award winning wholesaler JW Filshill extends Sanderson system with Voice Order Picking

Posted by Kate Simpson on Wed, Sep 01, 2010
Award winning wholesaler Filshill Ltd extends Sanderson system with Voice Order Picking

Glasgow based Filshill is an established wholesaler with over 2,000 retail, delivered and cash & carry customers. The company’s product range is continually increasing and includes confectionary, soft drinks, groceries, and chilled produce. Recognised throughout the industry, Filshill recently celebrated at the Nisa Today’s Group Awards Dinner, where they were awarded ‘Best Delivered Wholesaler’ for the second year running. Filshill is a long standing user of the Swords wholesale solution, which forms a vital part of their strategy to provide their customers with a flexible and efficient food wholesale service.

Filshill currently uses hand held units in their warehouse to record stock at goods-in by manually scanning barcodes, and to manage order picking and stock control operations. They wanted to increase warehouse efficiency and chose Voice Order Picking from Sanderson. Voice technology uses speech recognition to allow staff to communicate with warehouse management systems using a wireless headset and microphone. Integrated into the Swords software, Voice Order Picking boosts speed, accuracy and warehouse productivity by reducing the number of errors compared to a traditional paper based order picking method. The headset system allows pickers to be hands free, leaving both hands available to pick the order, resulting in a faster picking time.

Voice Order Picking ensures pickers do not need to constantly return to the assignment desk to re-key orders and revisit picking confirmations. Administrative productivity is improved as Voice Order Picking eliminates the work of printing and distributing picking lists. Filshill will benefit from speedier picking times and a reduction in stationery costs.

The biggest benefit associated with Voice Order Picking is increased accuracy, which reduces costly picking errors. These costs include the time and effort spent retrieving credits and refunds, and the time and cost involved in the collection and return of goods.

Filshill aims to be a ‘One Stop’ supplier for their customers and recognises that their IT system plays a crucial role in achieving this goal. They chose the Voice Order Picking solution to allow them to enhance customer service, increase warehouse efficiencies and to support their growing business needs.

Fraser Harrison, Finance Director of J.W. Filshill Ltd., comments:

“With Swords and the addition of the Voice Order Picking technology, we can have an accurate stock reading at any time. Access to real-time information is crucial to a busy company like ours. Our investment in Voice Order Picking will lead to faster and more accurate order picking in the warehouse. We will be able to see the return on our investment quickly due to a reduction in costly picking errors and an improvement in service levels for our customers.”

Martin Beatty, Development Director for Wholesale Distribution solutions at Sanderson said:

“We look forward to continuing to support Filshill and are delighted that they have chosen Voice Order Picking to enhance their wholesale operations. I am confident that Filshill will quickly see benefits in terms of reduced costs and improved customer service levels. Voice Order Picking together with Swords delivers real business benefits and is perfect for their business at this time of growth.”

For more information please contact:
Rita Patel
Tel: 0333 123 1400
Email: rita.patel@sanderson.com


About J.W. Filshill Ltd

J.W. Filshill Ltd was established in 1875. In the mid 1950’s the business opened a ‘cash & carry’ operation which developed into delivered goods distributing food and drink. More than 100 retailers have joined the Key ‘Symbol’ Group retail outlets, and they work in partnership with Filshill. The company located to new premises in Glasgow in 1994 due to rapid growth, but remains very much a ‘family business’.

About Swords

Swords, from Sanderson, is a comprehensive software solution for delivered wholesale and cash & carry businesses. Swords integrates all areas of the supply chain, balancing the demands of sales, purchasing, stock and cash flow. Sophisticated business intelligence facilities provide powerful management information to aid business decisions, improve efficiency, reduce costs and raise customer service levels.

 

News At A Glance

About: J.W. Filshill Ltd

Business: Glasgow based Filshill is an established wholesaler with over 2,000 retail, delivered and cash & carry customers.

Challenge: They wanted to increase warehouse efficiency

Solution: Swords

Benefits: Voice Order Picking will lead to faster and more accurate order picking in the warehouse