ALBERT HEIJN

Albert Heijn is the leading food retailer in the Netherlands with more than 1 000 stores, and is also part of the world-leading global food retail group Ahold Delhaize.

With IMI WMS™, Albert Heijn operates one of the fastest-moving supply chains on the market, leveraging cross-docking and differentiated picking strategies to turn the inventory extremely fast, thereby ensuring fresh products and high availability in the stores.

The distribution centers operate fully integrated with voice-picking and automation equipment, and the warehouses process and deliver well over a million store order lines per day. A long-running strategic cooperation with IMI product development has resulted in a solution that is almost entirely free from customized software code.

Ralf_Erbacher_Albert_Heijn.001-300x225
We are focusing on vested partnerships in our vendor eco system that is built on trust. IMI is one of these partners.
Ralf Erbacher
Manager Global IT Sourcing & Vendor Management, Albert Heijn

Challenge

  • Differentiating picking strategies, warehouse layouts and throughput times by market and store format
  • Replace (functionally rich) own solution
  • Support a high-speed warehouse management operation

Solution

  • IMI WMS™ with integrated voice picking and warehouse automation
  • Two central warehouses and four regional DCs ships more than a million order lines a day

Result

  • Increased overall productivity
  • Increased store selling space by faster turnover
  • Decreased the stock level for fresh goods to less than two days with increased delivery rate
  • Decreased the lead time from order to delivery to under 18 hours

Some of the brands relying on IMI

IMI Supply Chain Solutions

Logistics delivered.