Warehousing & Logistics

Tokema consultants are experts in reviewing current operating processes and developing solutions to improve picking processes, increase productivity ‘in the field’, optimise tactical storage locations, and review existing warehouse layout.

We help our customers to review their inventory policies to increase inventory turns, optimise space and reduce slow moving inventories.

Improving the warehouse performance is often based on implementing automation and robotics in the daily operations and Tokema consultants work on the business case, evaluate the ROI and implement the project once CAPEX decisions are made by the customer.

However, there are usually significant quick wins that can be achieved by auditing existing processes: this is the starting point of the project and our consultants make recommendations based on their findings. Most of the time process redesign or fine-tuning already deliver good results.

Our pragmatic and hands-on approach always consider 2 levels: quick wins initiatives and continuous improvement programs to get the high-hanging fruit.

The real challenge for businesses is to provide best-in-class service levels to their customers while reducing their cost to serve.

Tokema Consulting has designed a cost efficiency methodology.

Combined with our consultants' in-depth operational experience, it helps to achieve a better balance between service levels and competitive operating costs.

Most of the cost reductions are coming from process improvement: our consultants identify corrective actions that will eliminate "waste" from processes and implement a lean approach.

Improving productivity through process improvement is therefore one of the major drivers to reduce operating costs.

But removing the "silo effect" within organisations is also critical: sharing real-time information is a key driver to decrease costs as it eliminates buffers.

Reducing cost is not only a cost-cutting exercise but also a change management initiative that we have successfully implemented in several customers' projects.

Due to the globalisation and digitisation of the economy – especially given the boost in the e-commerce growth – an increased complexity of supply chains challenge existing logistics networks’ efficiency.

Our clients’ supply chain networks are a combination of factories, warehouses, cross-docking facilities and international transportation facilities. The business factors involved include sales and operations planning, inventory management, and production capacity management. A typical network design scope can usually range from raw material state to end-customer finished products and a planning horizon of 3 to 5 years.

Our network modelling and simulation methodologies are mainly used to re-design existing supply chains in operation by defining different scenarios to optimise supply chain savings, end-to-end lead times, organisational alignment, service levels, capacity utilisation & inventories.

A detailed plan is proposed to manage the transition from the existing supply chain network to the new solution, which will only go ahead once our client is 100% satisfied that this is the best solution for them.

All Tokema consultants have previous experience of managing warehouses and of working for logistics service providers.

This operational experience allows Tokema Consulting to provide ‘hands-on’ solutions, and to properly translate our customers requirements into an efficient, well-sized and cost-effective warehouse solution.

We follow our project methodology to deliver each project on time and in line with business objectives.

Space calculation, site selection, construction follow-up, warehouse layout design, process design, automation, IT systems requirement specifications, productivity assumptions & operations staff sizing, transfer preparation are activities conducted during the first phase of the project.

Our approach is to find the right balance between the calculation of space required for the operation (including 3-year activity forecast to cope with the growth) and the inventory detention cost reduction target: moving into a new facility is an opportunity to increase productivity within a better designed and easier to use building. Moving to high-racked warehouse is also another obvious lever to decrease the rental cost per sqm.

New processes, inventory optimisation embedded in the layout (slow movers vs fast runners) to optimise picking times, automation are typical tasks our consultants perform with the customer’s team to deliver an optimised and fully efficient operation.

We also monitor the actual transfer including initial full inventory count and on-site support during the first weeks of the operation.

The project closing phase includes project objectives review and continuous improvement initiatives recommended by Tokema Consulting.