Changes announced by Spicers to its two man furniture delivery service have delivered distinct improvements since the new service was launched at the beginning of July.
Taking the reins on servicing end user deliveries on behalf of Spicers Dealer partners, Panther Logistics, have consistently exceeded stringent lead time and quality targets set by Spicers since their introduction at the start of July.
SPOT Group logistics director Rick Jones said: “Having seen and spent time in the Panther operation and out with their delivery fleet I was confident that they were partners who could provide an improved, high service standard compared to our original delivery service. The decision was finally made after many steps of validation and trial, as it was critical to build confidence in our furniture proposition any appointed carrier needed to continuously demonstrate they could exceed our set SLA’s on service and quality of delivery.”
Over the last month Spicers has seen consistently high level delivery performance to end-user premises with damage levels dropping by over 20%. High value, bulky deliveries such as furniture orders are often more sensitive and often demand a higher level of quality with key delivery claims honoured as any failure causes more upheaval in a business environment than regular supplies deliveries. At the same time Spicers also announced a change to their furniture range that will offer a core range of 160 lines, typically representing 80% of everyday needs, available from a Dealer’s local distribution centre enabling the Wholesaler to further reduce lead times.
Rick added: “The business has been planning this change for over six months, following constructive comments our dealers. Having a shorter range of product allows us to hold our best sellers and fast movers in greater stock quantities in closer proximity to Dealers businesses and improve both availability levels and speed of order fulfilment. This change is already underway in the background of our business and we expect to be able service orders to most dealers premises from our Regional Distribution Centres overnight from September. ”
It is understood that following the successful roll-out of the third party delivery service the wholesaler is also
Looking at how to reduce the already impressive lead times into the dealer’s end-user customer and that further detail about these service adaptations and lead time improvements are to be released in the coming weeks.