Molson Coors sharpens supply chain competitiveness
1 min read
Carling and Coors Light brewer Molson Coors is making changes to its distribution structure following a year-long review of its supply chain which included simulating journeys to assess transport and delivery times.
The brewer is embarking on the supply chain improvement programme following a strategic review and modelling exercise carried out by logistics consultancy Davies & Robson.
Headquartered in Burton-on-Trent, Molson Coors employs 2,300 people in the UK at its breweries in Burton, Tadcaster and Alton, as well as the Sharp's Brewery in Rock, Cornwall.
Molson Coors commissioned the review to assess market changes and supply chain costs.
The brewer had already worked with Davies & Robson in the past, so again engaged the consultancy to look at the service and costs from its third party logistics provider, DHL Tradeteam. The review included an examination of the UK distribution network and modelling various strategic options for the future.
Davies & Robson used its strategic supply chain modelling program to model primary distribution (trunking) from the breweries and a national distribution centre, warehouse operations at regional distribution centres, secondary distribution and direct delivery from the NDC and breweries.
Using six weeks' of real order data, Davies & Robson created daily vehicle routes, using actual road distances to model primary and secondary distribution. It also looked at activity times for order picking.
Molson Coors said the exercise enabled it to look at possible cost savings and better predict future distribution costs. The brewer is now working with DHL Tradeteam on a number of improvement initiatives.
