Bakkerij Broekmans

improves delivery quality with Distrib XE Put to Light

Last spring, Bakkerij Broekmans in North Limburg successfully installed the Distrib XE Put to Light. Thanks to this digital distribu- tion system based on LED displays, employ- ees no longer need any paper to supply the sixteen stores with the correct products. Di- rector/Owner Thijs Broekmans: “This system allows us to work faster, while also creating a calmer work environment. We also end up making fewer mistakes.”

In ten years, Bakkerij Broekmans has grown from five to sixteen stores. The family-owned company currently counts 160 employees, who ensure that the people in North Limburg have a supply of fresh bread, Limburger pies and oth- er pastries on a daily basis. Every morning at around half-past-seven, the vehicles depart from the central bakery in Panningen to supply the stores and other customers on time.

bakerij-broekmans

Paper distribution process

The quick growth meant that the existing logistics process was no longer sufficient. “Until recently, we used paper to distribute products across the stores. Delivery notes or matrix sheets stipulating which stores should receive which quantities were printed from our software system. These tables contained twelve columns and dozens of rows, so it was easy to make a mistake. Correct- ing those errors sometimes meant that we had to make additional deliveries to stores. That costs money,” says Thijs Broekmans, Director/Owner of Bakkerij Broekmans. Broekmans was able to manage the distribution process for quite some time, purely based on knowledge and experi- ence. “If it were possible to continue working with the same people, we could perhaps have contin- ued with the same method for longer. But our team includes more and more part-time employ- ees who simply don’t have the experience and skills to distribute all the products quickly and ef- ficiently. This inexperience also causes employ- ees to make mistakes,” explains Broekmans.

Everyday Borgesius delivers fresh bread

DISTRIB XE Put to Light

Broekmans has had his eye on alternative solu- tions for distributing bread and pastry products for a long time already. The penny dropped af- ter a visit to a German colleague, who used the Pcdata distribution system. The Bakkerij Broek- mans employees who tested the system, also re- sponded enthusiastically. Broekmans also found
other positive comments about Pcdata solutions from other sources, which spurred his decision. “We also considered other solutions, but the new generation LED displays from Pcdata are better for operational purposes. This solution is also more costs effective.” The solution that Broek- mans is referring to, is the paperless distribution system Distrib Put to Light. The Broekmans em- ployees can see which products are ready for distribution on a centrally located terminal. When they click on a product, the LED displays in the distribution street indicate the quantities that ev- ery store must receive. The only thing that em- ployees must then still do is to place the correct quantity on the ground location below the LED display. “The system is connected to our own software system, so that orders from shops au- tomatically end up in Distrib,” says Broekmans.

Virtually no more errors

The installation of the Distrib XE-system went extremely fast. After Broekmans made the nec- essary preparations himself, Pcdata only needed a part of a day to get the system up and running at the start of 2017. “A Pcdata employee then joined us for another night, but everyone had mastered the system fairly quickly. We then took over the system ourselves and implemented it in phases. At first we used it for large loaves, because that product has the biggest impact on productivity. As soon as we had figured out the pitfalls, we gradually started distributing more and more products with the system.”

Working in shifts in a bakery

Low investment

Ruud Hendrix, Sales Director at Pcdata added; “Bakkerij Broekmans opted for the XE-version (= eXpress Edition) of Distrib, which is based on a standardised software suite that contains all the important features to optimise distribution in a bakery warehouse. It therefore includes distribu- tion using multiple colours on our LED displays, as well as automatic distribution of shortages based on customer priorities or route departure times. By standardising these features and soft- ware configuration, we were able to implement this system in a very short period, which ulti- mately resulted in a reduction in project costs. We have extensive experience with the imple- mentation of this system and it is great to see that a company such as Bakkerij Broekmans can experience the advantages of the application in such a short period of time.”

High reliability

It is almost impossible to make mistakes, Broek- mans noted. “The display has multiple colours. Every product has its own colour, so employees no longer end up reading the incorrect quanti- ty. And if, for example, large loaves are finished and the distribution employees must wait for a new batch, the system keeps track of where the distribution process was stopped. Employees therefore no longer have to take notes to remind themselves that store six still needs a further four loaves. We had to think a little more about the order in which we produce and distribute our products. The quantity of products that we can distribute at the same time is limited, after all.”

Calmer Workplace, More speed

Great satisfaction prevails at Bakkerij Broek- mans a few months after the system has been fully commissioned. The workplace is much calmer, employees also make fewer mistakes and work is getting done even faster. “In the old situation, it was sometimes more convenient to distribute the products with two employees: one for reading the quantities from the paper and other to place the correct quantity in the right lo- cation. Now, one person can easily do that on his or her own. That means that we can deploy the second person for other activities for more than half of the time. Because we work faster, we can also start distributing later. That means fewer night shifts.” Broekmans has not yet calculated what the return of investment period is for Distrib Put to Light, but it is clear to him that the system is worth much more than what it cost. “I find that, as a company, we simply needed a proper sys- tem that would enable our employees to work better. That is now possible with this solution from Pcdata. Our people trust the system,” says Thijs Broekmans, who looks back with satisfac- tion on the collaboration with Pcdata. “I feel good about it. Pcdata actually is much too profession- al for our small company. The after-sales support is also excellent.”