Odra Pak

Odra Pak is the only nationwide Purchasing Group of packaging wholesalers. It has been operating on the market for over 20 years. It brings together several dozen partner wholesalers. Operating throughout almost all of Poland, it increases the competitiveness of its partners on the market.

Odra Pak is a recognized distributor of disposable packaging, cleaning agents and devices, as well as household appliances, office and decorative articles. In addition, the company operates in the field of household and professional chemistry as well as consumer and industrial hygiene. It also has a line of products under its own brand Odra Pak – Perfecto.

• associates 33 partner wholesalers, and new branches are already planned,
• cooperates with over 80 domestic and foreign suppliers,
• has 10 product groups.

• designing and automating logistics processes – with particular emphasis on warehouse services,
• planning the organization of the newly created warehouse,
• automation of data exchange with ERP system,
• optimization of warehouse processes,
• support for full-pallet and retail movements,
• effective and efficient handling of logistics processes,
• work ergonomics.

The variety of the assortment was a big challenge. Customers, choosing the things they are interested in, have dozens of different products at their disposal. The assortment is divided into 10 different product groups. Additionally: each of them has from one to nine subcategories. This means that the readiness to handle many orders with different quantities of items and different sizes of the assortment is an absolute necessity.

In this case, from the perspective of logistics, it is important to provide services to both small and large entrepreneurs in most of the country. High capacity is required all year round as the demand for Odra Pak products is not seasonal.

The solutions proposed by a team of IBCS Poland experts helped to meet these expectations. This concerns both IBCS own WMS system, ibcsTiger and Android Honeywell CK65 terminals.

The implementation of the solutions described here at Odra Pak lasted a full year. It took place in a newly created warehouse, and IBCS Poland analysts and consultants actively participated in the design of warehouse processes. The implementation process was divided into three stages:

• analysis of Odra Pak expectations and creation of a system design,
• implementation of activities in accordance with the developed project; this stage was divided into several tasks – they mainly included: installation of the basic version, extension of the software with additional functionalities and implementation of modifications, system configuration, training and assistance during the production launch,
• maintaining the correct operation of the system and support in the form of service care.

The project was implemented unconventionally and flexibly, as most analytical meetings were held remotely. It required a lot of commitment from both sides. The design team and key users thoroughly tested the system. This translated into a high level of adjustment of functionality to real processes, and also made the system practically ready for use already at the stage of production implementation.

ibcsTiger communicates with an external ERP system via an on-line interface, i.e. in real time. Warehouse management is carried out using mobile terminals and label printers. From the level of the office user, management is possible through www panel.

• Receipts of goods to the warehouse – are carried out both in a planned mode (based on orders from the ERP system directed to the supplier) and unplanned mode (to handle other deliveries).
• Internal transfers – the system indicates an example of a place where goods are stored; however, this is only a suggestion, because the warehouseman himself can put it in another available place in the warehouse. This is possible due to the structure of the system, which can be decision-making, prescriptive or mixed.
• Goods release – more than one collection may be created for a single picking order (depending on the established criteria related to the zone and/or location of the required goods). Scheduled orders are performed by the warehouseman. Picking is carried out to picking containers (type: pallets, cartons, etc.) – each of them is marked with a picking ticket containing a unique number of the container assigned to a given order. After completion of picking, the created shipping media are marked with SSCC logistic labels. Then, these carriers are delivered to the staging location assigned to a given route.
• Warehouse management – storage is carried out with the division of the warehouse into zones and given groups of goods. For each assortment, the system selects dedicated collection points and replenishes them according to the established minimum stock.

Use of ibcsTiger system and Android Honeywell CK65 terminals allowed Odra Pak to efficiently manage the warehouse in real time. It ensured the optimization of its work, the efficiency of collecting and issuing goods, as well as high quality and comfort of work.

I have to admit that we initially considered as many as 10 suppliers. However, in the end, we trusted IBCS Poland due to the company’s experience combined with specialization in the field of storage logistics. The implementation of the solutions proposed by IBCS Poland brought many benefits to our company. It directly influenced the optimization of the work of the entire warehouse. However, it indirectly contributed to maintaining our advantage over the competition – says Radosław Naskręt from Odra Pak

He emphasizes that designing the system was a real challenge. It required excellent communication between IBCS Poland and Odra Pak specialists – both in the analysis and system implementation phases.

– Everything went our way, and now we can enjoy the great results that this solution allows for – adds Mr. Radosław Naskręt from Odra Pak.