NIEUWEGEIN, Netherlands and ATLANTA, March 31, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Global Supply Chain Commerce Solutions provider, Manhattan Associates, Inc. (Nasdaq:MANH), today announced that Forever Direct EU BV, an importer and distributor of the Aloe Vera based health and beauty products, has significantly improved its order fulfilment operations throughout Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) with Manhattan's Supply Chain Commerce Solutions. With Manhattan's solutions, Forever Direct has been able to accelerate goods flows across its supply chain, improve product availability for its 500,000 independent distributors located in 93 countries throughout EMEA and raised service levels for its regional customers.
Forever Direct's parent company, the US-based family firm Forever Living Products, decided to build a brand new, state-of-the-art, Regional Distribution Center (RDC) in Oud Gastel, the Netherlands, to better serve its EMEA customers. This investment was urgently required as the company's original distribution model involved goods being dispatched to its distributors either directly from Forever Living Products' US-based factories or from a number of distribution centers (DCs) located in the EMEA region.
To ensure a reliable and scalable IT infrastructure in the new facility, the organization selected Manhattan's Warehouse Management (WMS) and Supply Chain Intelligence (SCI) solutions. Forever Direct felt confident the new Manhattan solutions would enable the company to build on brand loyalty by improving product availability for its distributors and customers at the same time as enabling the business to be more efficient and fulfil customer orders more profitably.
Following an ambitious implementation program, Manhattan's solutions were live at the 17,000 sq. m. (180,000 sq. ft.) facility within 10 months. Half of the space in the new DC is configured as an order fulfilment center, eliminating the need to rely on multiple, third party-operated, shared user DCs in north-western Europe that collectively performed the order fulfilment function previously. Orders from thousands of distributors in 19 countries are now centrally managed through this order fulfilment location. This change has driven an 11x order fulfilment capacity increase from 5,000 to 55,000 orders at the one site allowing Forever Direct to accelerate product throughput on a smaller infrastructure footprint.
According to Martin Zegers, managing director at Forever Direct, "Our productivity and efficiency levels are up, inventory accuracy levels have risen, and the service levels we provide to our customers is on an upward trajectory. When we embarked on the first stage of this optimization process several years ago, we could never have envisaged that it would all have been such a huge success. Thanks to Manhattan Associates, we can also grow in the future. The success of this project has moved us closer to our customers, is helping drive revenue and profits, and is a great source of inspiration for our entire business."
Pieter Van den Broecke, managing director Central Europe at Manhattan Associates, commented, "This customer success reinforces our reputation of offering the most comprehensive Supply Chain Commerce Solutions available. It also highlights the impressive results that can be achieved with a strong vision and determination to solve the complex distribution and supply chain commerce challenges that industry leaders face today."
Receive up-to-date product, customer and partner news directly from Manhattan Associates on Twitter and Facebook.
About Forever Direct EU BV
Acting as the European distribution arm of Forever Living Products in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, Forever Direct EU BV delivers goods to about 90 countries from its Regional Distribution Center (RDC) in Oud Gastel, the Netherlands. Bulk replenishment to local country warehouses as well as direct order fulfilment to Distributor homes generates a daily traffic of multiple inbound and outbound containers as well as overland truck movements to every part of the region. For more information, please visit www.foreverliving.com.
About Manhattan Associates
Manhattan Associates brings companies closer to their customers. We design, build and deliver market-leading Supply Chain Commerce Solutions that drive top-line growth by converging front-end sales with back-end supply chain execution and efficiency. Our software, platform technology and unmatched experience help our customers around the world adapt to the challenges of the omni-channel marketplace. For more information, please visit www.manh.com.