Case Studies
The following case studies illustrate the automation journeys undertaken by companies that are aligning with the ADMC. Further examples will be added in due course.
The work illustrated was undertaken ahead of the ADMC opening and without its direct support. However, it illustrates the type of work the ADMC will be able to undertake in the future.
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Some support is now available from the ADMC to support your automation journey. Should you want to know more, please contact us at info@theadmc.co.uk
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School Blazer
An Automation Journey
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Schoolblazer are the UK’s leading supplier of independent school uniform and sportswear, with a deep commitment to sustainability and fair trade. They have a relentless focus on customer satisfaction delivered via their innovative website, investment in service, and garment quality. They now serve over 220 Schools.
These schools have joined Schoolblazer from a variety of different retail channels; some were running their own shop, others were using a local independent shop and some were using our competitors. They have moved all of these schools to a full online provision.
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As online experts, they have focussed on providing design and product innovation to their schools, including bespoke, modern tailoring and high-performance sportswear. They deliver shopping convenience for parents, with free name-taping and intelligent sizing.
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Warehouse Management Software (WMS)
In 2016, Schoolblazer decided to upgrade their OMS system to a WMS system. A combination of increased order volumes, inventory inaccuracy, missed picks, missing orders, and slow despatches were amongst the issues that needed to change.
They needed more stock and order fulfilment visibility, a smoother dispatch API to connect to their couriers and a broader look into their supply chain. After 6 months of UAT, they went live.
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On the basis of the WMS introduction:
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Inventory accuracy improved to 99.9%
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Incorrect orders sent dropped to 0.05%
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Average shipping time fell to 2 days.
Handheld Terminals (HHT)
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After Schoolblazer installed WMS, they decided to add some HHT to their operation. A YOY increase in new school contracts and additional volumes meant they needed to increase productivity to handle demand. They knew they would also see an improvement in pick accuracy, cycle counting, replenishment etc.
There was a lot of work to do before putting the HHT live to ensure they would work effectively. For example, Schoolblazer had to barcode all of their warehouse locations (20,000) and products (200,000 items) as well as ensure that all of their suppliers were barcoding product at source.
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The initial investment on the HHT was around £100,000, this includes the hardware and preparation work carried out beforehand.
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An increase in picking rate was seen immediately, to 55 items per person per hour from 40. The HHT were able to give pickers the quickest route around the warehouse and eliminated pick errors.
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Overall, their pick rate increased from an average of 40 items P/hr, P/person to around 55. The ROI came in just 18 months.
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The graph below shows the annual labour costs comparing manual picking and HHT picking. Since going live with HHT, their cost saving is
estimated at around £335,000 (over 7 years).
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​Schoolblazer's next automation project is linked to their sewing unit. They offer a free name taping service. In 2022, they applied 800,000 nametags to garments. By 2025 the volume will increase to 1,000,000+ nametags annually.
Nottingham Zinc Group (NZG)
Automating Production Processes
in an SME Business
Or… how we took a very deep breath then made a big leap of faith to survive.
Based on a presentation by Will Bell, Technical Manager
Nottingham Zinc Group (NZG) were established in 1982. They initially provided zinc electroplating, material handling equipment, and point of sale products for manufacturing organisations.
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They expanded in their services in 1991 to adapt to changing market conditions in environmental protection and a shifting customer base. In doing so, they added electrostatic powder paint processes, product refurbishment and became pioneers in environmentally friendly alkaline zinc electroplating.
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Refurbishment to OEM standards meant they now contribute to the circular economy by allowing businesses to reuse materials or products that would otherwise be scrapped. They work closely with Severn Trent Water and the Environment Agency to ensure the highest SOPs for trade effluent disposal.
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NZG's catalyst for change was based on the increasing cost of energy. NZG is an intensive energy user. In September 2022, energy was 8% of turnover. By March 2022 this had grown to 33%.
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To begin to address their issues, NZG followed the change process illustrated in the diagram below.
Data Collection
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Data was key to the change process. NZG knew their overall costs but not the distribution of consumption. To address this, they purchased low cost ethernet units to turn data into a readable format.
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These units were not expensive. For example, their setup for burner analysis used a programmable logic controller with temperature probe expansion and two probes. It cost just over £300.
There was a lot of work to do before putting the HHT live to ensure they would work effectively. For example, Schoolblazer had to barcode all of their warehouse locations (20,000) and products (200,000 items) as well as ensure that all of their suppliers were barcoding product at source.
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Projects
NGZ undertook the following projects:
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Decorbonator Machine, with the aim of reducing resistance in plating solution in order to reduce power required to apply zinc. They achieved a 20% drop in power consumption along with a reduction in use of solution cooling equipment and a reduced chemical requirement of 10% each.
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Pyrolytic Oven, with the aim of reducing gas usage, increasing oven control, and improving overall performance. They achieved a 50% reduction of gas consumption and a 75% increase in production output.
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Smart Burner Monitoring and Controls, with the aim of identifying inefficient burners, increasing the control of temperature, and providing greater visibility of issues and remote access to maintenance staff. The project provided less downtime, easier identification of high usage burners and a reduction in time to rectify problems.
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Overall Achievement
In summary, NZG group achieved an overall energy consumption reduction of 25% through accurate real time monitoring. Their carbon footprint reduced from 628 tonnes CO2e to 483 tonnes CO2e, a 23% improvement.
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On top of this they achieved productivity gains from greater output, less downtime, and the right first time achievement of quality standards. This also led to:
Profitability improvement through cost reduction to create greater gross margin. A 15% improvement was achieved.
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Job enrichment for workforce through a reduction in physical tasks and less dependency on memory.
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