Morris Lubricants has invested £150,000 in a new turbo-charged delivery service to ensure that customers receive their orders in the fastest possible time.
Morris Lubricants, which is celebrating its 150th birthday this year, launched the new service in August after investing in a new delivery fleet comprising a new lorry and a pair of double decker delivery trailers.
The new tractor unit and trailers make deliveries up to three times a day to a distribution hub in the Midlands, from where Morris Lubricants’ products are distributed to customers nationwide.
Morris Lubricants also retains its own fleet of DAF and Scania lorries to make specialist bulk load and hazardous product deliveries and collections from customers across the UK
Graham Fewtrell, Morris Lubricants’ transport manager, explained that, in the past, customers could ahve longer waits for their orders to be delivered when the company had its own fleet of 12 vehicles servicing England, Wales and Scotland.
In an age of next day deliveries in the retail sector, the company decided to “turbo-charge” the delivery of its lubricants products to meet evolving customer expectations.
The faster delivery service means that products spend far less time sitting on shelves waiting for despatch from the company’s Shrewsbury works, making the production and delivery process much more efficient.
“The new delivery service was introduced on August 19 and the highest number of pallets we have delivered to the hub in a month is 2,694 in October,” revealed Graham. “We are delivering an average of 100 pallets daily, which has definitely improved customer service and efficiency within the business.
“Whereas in the past our drivers were delivering two loads per week, they are now delivering loads in the double decker trailers to the hub up to three times a day, five days a week between 6am and 6pm. This way, we can guarantee that all orders are delivered in the quickest possible time.”
A new stocking policy has also significantly increased availability of products off the shelf. Until fairly recently, Morris Lubricants operated a ‘pull’ production system which responded to customer orders as the first priority.
Whilst this is an effective way to respond to demand, it can sometimes place heavy demands on manufacturing, particularly during busy periods, which may result in stock imbalance.
Page uploaded: 19th March 2020