JLA Case Study
Read about how we worked with the UK’s market-leading supplier of commercial laundry equipment, catering equipment and commercial heating.
25,000 businesses across the UK from care homes, hospitals, schools and housing associations to hotels, restaurants, vets, spas and sports clubs trust JLA to install, maintain and fix the commercial appliances and devices they rely on every day. While their nationwide reach and unrivalled network of locally based engineers ensures JLA meet the operational challenges faced within laundry, catering, infection control, heating, air conditioning and fire safety wherever they are in the UK.
Following significant growth within the business JLA reached out to XPO Logistics to provide a warehousing and transport solution to their UK and Ireland operations. XPO secured a facility in Goldthorpe and looked to existing WMS partner THINK for a solution. COVID restrictions were in place and project timing was tight, however never one to shy away from a challenge, THINK rose to the occasion.
Working closely with JLA, THINK were able to integrate their WMS successfully with two in house systems and XPO’s Transport Management System. In addition to inbound ASN receiving and order fulfilment, JLA also required a solution for their workshop operation. Some JLA orders required the workshop to assemble and/or configure product parts. THINK developed the solution using work orders which were generated when an order contained a product needing workshop assembly. Various other technical solutions were implemented to bring together the three customer systems to work in harmony. The project was successfully completed in four months.
In 2021 JLA and XPO Logistics approached THINK to once again to provide a solution to further enhance the operation. Key WMS (Warehouse Management System) functions included:
- Material master integration from JLA ERP to THINK.
- Inbound supplier and RMA (field returns) ASNs from JLA ERP to THINK.
- Product serialised receipt and stock management using handheld scanners.
- Integrated receipt confirmation from THINK to JLA ERP.
- Non-serialised small part/accessory receipt and stock management.
- Integrated orders from JLA ERP to THINK.
- Customer order fulfilment using handheld scanners.
- Integrated pick confirmation from THINK to JLA ERP.
- Automated workshop work order generation.
- Automated component fulfilment pick generation into workshop.
- Integrated work order confirmation from THINK to JLA ERP.
- BOM management.
- Inventory reports for both JLA systems including stock projection based on component availability to finished/workshop products.
- Standard and bespoke reporting at both operational and management levels.
- Integrated stock adjustment confirmations from THINK to JLA ERP.
- Integrated order content to create and confirm transport jobs in XPO TMS.
Benefits to JLA
- Multi-system integration for all key warehouse and transport business processes.
- Full stock visibility and traceability at product serial number and location levels.
- Allowed significant business expansion with capacity for future growth potential.
- Enhanced suite of business reports.
When the scope and scale of the project – together with the timing constraints – were understood, it became clear that all parties would need to work in harmony in order to deliver it on-time. And thanks to some great working relationships we all pulled it off! Those close working relationships have remained since then and all of us at THINK are proud to have assisted JLA to continue to grow and prosper.
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