NORMAL Logistics Center
Efficient warehouse management with Delfi Technologies at NORMAL’s new state-of-the-art 78,000 m² logistics center
With new stores opening every week, efficient warehouse management is crucial. In collaboration with Delfi Technologies and Zebra Technologies, NORMAL has created an ultra-modern logistics center that combines advanced technology with efficient processes – a setup that ensures smooth and precise 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, spanning an impressive area of 78,000 m², consists of six halls, each approximately 100 meters long. This provides space for about 100,000 pallet positions.
Behind this impressive infrastructure lies a collaboration with the 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. That’s something that makes daily operations easier."
Digitization with leading technology
NORMAL has implemented a solution based on Zebra Technologies. The warehouse’s 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 high. This ensures precise and efficient warehouse management.
The warehouse also uses smaller vehicles known as “runners,” which are equipped with Zebra handheld terminals. There are about 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 correct scanning the first time – every time. This improves efficiency and makes daily operations smoother.
– Especially the quality of the scan, you can scan from a long distance, you can scan the first time every time. That’s something that makes daily operations easier, says Thomas Knudsen, Device Specialist at NORMAL.
Global sourcing challenges solved efficiently
NORMAL’s concept is based on buying goods where they are cheapest, bringing them home, and selling them. During this process, the chain often finds that many product labels do not meet the various countries’ requirements. 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 necessary information, then printed on Zebra printers and affixed to the product to meet the requirements of the respective country.
A future with major growth plans
Today, NORMAL has 685 stores and plans to open around 300 stores annually 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 seamlessly without having to start from scratch with new systems.
– The plan is to open about 300 stores annually over the next five years. Whenever we choose new hardware, we look at it and think it’s fine it works once, but does it work 300 times? Does it work 6000 times? Now I’m doing this once, but I know it will happen 300 times every year, so I need to make the process efficient from the very start.
About NORMAL
NORMAL is a Danish-owned retail chain that sells everyday items at consistently low prices. The first store opened in Silkeborg in April 2013, and since then, NORMAL has grown into a chain with more than 600 stores in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, France, Finland, Portugal, and Spain.
RELATED CASES
Contact us
Go to contact for other ways to contact us.