Integrated and automated system solution for rapid growth

NorgesGruppen ASA is Norway’s largest grocery group and the country’s seventh-largest company overall. The group was founded in 1994, with roots in the wholesale business Joh. Johansson from 1866. Today, the group has more than 40,000 employees, operates ten grocery chains and holds a market share of over 40 percent.

Warehouse management

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NorgesGruppen ASA

IMI's solution is our stable and flexible supply engine

The collaboration between NorgesGruppen and IMI began around the turn of the millennium and has developed continuously since then.

The logistics company ASKO is part of the group and is responsible for the entire distribution, warehousing and logistics operations, as well as the collaboration with around 1,200 suppliers and partners. ASKO is organised into 15 regional companies with their own profit responsibility and operates two central warehouses and 13 regional warehouses with a total warehouse area of 425,000 m². With 700 of its own trucks, ASKO is also one of Norway’s largest transport companies.

NorgesGruppen’s logistics covers around 25,000 products distributed to more than 2,100 stores and 14,000 recipients within foodservice and the public sector, such as restaurants, cafés, hotels and petrol stations. As the group grew rapidly, both organically and through acquisitions, there was a need to develop and consolidate the logistics network. The aim was to increase the share of goods handled centrally, create synergies and ensure efficient lead times across the country.

The solution processes more than 200 million order lines every year, drives our supply process, and is crucial for managing the large flow of goods that are being moved around the clock, seven days a week. The stable operation and the system’s large capacity are two factors that are absolutely decisive, in combination with the fine collaboration we have developed with IMI over the years.

Tom Puntervoll-Pedersen

IT Director for ASKO, NorgesGruppen Data

The challenge

A complex and growing logistics flow

ASKO’s organisation, with 15 regional companies, placed high demands on flexibility. The solution needed to handle multiple businesses, operational flows and sales channels, while allowing each region to retain responsibility.

The challenge also included managing direct flows from supplier to store or end customer, and coordinating lead times between central and regional warehouses, including order cut-off times. The flows needed to be synchronised within narrow time windows, where consolidation and cross-docking could take place without creating bottlenecks. To achieve this, a system solution was required that could coordinate supply and demand in real time while handling very large transaction volumes.

“To succeed, we needed an intelligent system solution that could coordinate and synchronize supply and demand, and give us the necessary capacity to manage and automate all the different transactions in real-time. At the same time, the solution also had to be built to meet the demands of constant changes and updates.”

– Tom Puntervoll‑Pedersen, IT Director, NorgesGruppen Data

“The capacity of the solution to handle our high volume of transactions in a comprehensive manner was the basis for our choice. The solution is like a highway that goes straight ahead and just works without disturbances or interruptions.”

– Are Bakken, Operations Director, ASKO

“The solution is flexible enough to support our logistics network with sales, procurement, and distribution through multiple channels, and support our service-oriented business model. We are pleased with our systems solution and the great collaboration we have with IMI.”

– Tom Puntervoll‑Pedersen, IT-director, NorgesGruppen Data

The solution

A stable and flexible supply engine

After a comprehensive evaluation of different ERP systems, it became clear that standard solutions did not meet the requirements for capacity and flexibility. Instead, the choice fell on IMI’s solution for order and warehouse management, where these functions form the core of the system support.

The solution was implemented in phases from 2002 and upgraded across the organisation in 2007. Since then, it has acted as the hub of ASKO’s supply chain, integrated with other central systems such as transport systems, planning systems and master data systems. Today, the system drives the entire delivery process and handles large volumes in real time, around the clock. Its flexibility has been essential in supporting a complex and dynamic operation where new needs continuously arise.

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The result

Stable operations and support for continued growth

Today, ASKO has a system solution that provides the capacity and flexibility required to manage a complex and growing logistics flow. The solution supports operations around the clock and has made it possible to continuously adapt processes and ways of working to new requirements.

Through the collaboration with IMI, the solution has also been further developed in line with the business. It has made it possible to handle more than 200 million order lines per year with high stability and capacity, while central processes in the supply chain have been integrated and automated. This has resulted in better control of flows, higher delivery precision and a more efficient and cost-effective supply of goods.

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