NORMAL logistics center
Efficient warehouse management with Delfi Technologies in NORMAL’s new state-of-the-art 78,000 m2 logistics center
With new stores opening every week, an efficient warehouse is crucial. In collaboration with Delfi Technologies and Zebra Technologies, NORMAL has created a state-of-the-art logistics center that combines advanced technology with efficient processes – a setup that ensures smooth and accurate inventory management while supporting the chain’s ambitious growth plans.
The primary goal of the logistics center is to guarantee timely, organized and efficient delivery to all stores. The state-of-the-art warehouse facilities in Hedensted currently serve stores in eight countries and have the capacity to service up to 1,000 stores. The logistics center, which covers an impressive 78,000 m², consists of six halls of approximately 100 meters each. This provides space for around 100,000 pallet spaces.
Behind this impressive infrastructure is a collaboration with IT company Delfi Technologies. In the logistics center, all goods are received, distributed and stored using barcode solutions from Zebra Technologies, which digitally record all warehouse movements and ensure the necessary efficiency.
"Especially the quality of the scan, you can scan from a long distance, you can scan the first time every time. It's something that makes everyday life easy."
Digitization with leading technology
NORMAL has implemented a solution based on Zebra Technologies. The warehouse reach trucks are equipped with a truck solution that includes 10-inch Zebra tablets and long range scanners that can scan barcodes up to 12 meters in height. This ensures accurate and efficient inventory management.
The warehouse also uses smaller vehicles, known as runners, which are equipped with Zebra handheld terminals. There are around 100 runners, each with a handheld terminal used to scan pallets for both incoming and outgoing goods. The handheld terminals enable long-distance scanning and ensure that the scan is correct the first time – every time. This improves efficiency and makes daily operations run more smoothly.
– Especially the quality of the scan, you can scan from a long distance, you can scan the first time every time. It’s something that makes everyday life easy,” says Thomas Knudsen, Device Specialist at NORMAL.
Sourcing goods from around the world presents challenges – but solved efficiently
NORMAL’s concept is based on buying goods where they are cheapest, bringing them home and selling them. During this process, the retailer often finds that many product declarations do not meet the requirements of different countries. Therefore, they have an extensive setup to relabel the goods. The process starts with the purchasing department defining a new label that is legally correct. Using a printing solution with BarTender label software, the label is defined with all the necessary information and then printed on Zebra printers and applied to the product to meet the requirements of the country in question.
A future with big growth plans
Today, NORMAL has 685 stores and plans to open around 300 per year over the next five years. According to Thomas Knudsen, it is crucial to have a scalable setup where new technology is compatible with existing systems. This ensures that the chain can expand efficiently and smoothly without having to start from scratch with new systems
– The plan is to open around 300 a year for the next 5 years. Whenever we choose new hardware, you look at it and think, well, it works once, but does it work 300? Will it work 6000? Now I’m doing this once, but I know it’s going to happen 300 times every year, so I have to remember to make the process efficient right from the start.
About NORMAL
NORMAL is a Danish-owned retail chain that sells ordinary products at fixed low prices. The first store opened in Silkeborg in April 2013, and since then NORMAL has grown to a chain with more than 600 stores in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, France, Finland, Portugal and Spain.
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