Automation for General Merchandise
General Merchandise Retail
General Merchandise retail refers to the large-scale selling of products directly to consumers. General merchandise companies want their customers to enjoy a seamless shopping experience, no matter how, where, and when they want to shop. To handle the demands of these retailers, consumer goods logistics must be optimized for efficiency, speed, and accuracy.
General merchandise distribution centers are designed according to specific requirements.
Here’s an overview of how this works:
- Generally, a distribution center receives pallets containing multiple SKUs from suppliers/producers.
- The pallets are transferred into totes or stored on a shelf as cartons or individual items.
- Reserves and larger items are stored in the pallet warehouse.
- The DC may be divided into small and large product processing areas or combined into one DC.
- Order fulfillment optimizes processes according to order types. They generate mixed box pallets or roll cages from inventory to fulfill store orders and prepare loose boxes for online order shipping.
Today’s challenges for this sector include:
- Labor scarcity
- Labor turnover
- Peak handling
- Returns
- Performance/growth
- Huge product portfolio
- Maintaining service levels in stores and online
Optimize Your Consumer Goods Logistics
Whether they shop on mobile devices or in brick-and-mortar stores, consumers expect fast, accurate deliveries and consistent product availability, creating potential supply chain challenges.
TGW Logistics partners with retail companies to create more efficient distribution centers, no matter the sales channel - online, brick-and-mortar, or omni channel. We offer fully automated or partially automated solutions to make this possible.
When you work with TGW Logistics, you’ll be ready to face the dynamic challenges of the retail marketplace with efficient and reliable solutions for consumer goods logistics. This is true no matter the order amount, product variety, weight, specific product properties, or the additional challenges of seasonal campaigns such as Black Friday or Cyber Monday.
Benefits of Automation for General Merchandise
- You gain maximum flexibility for fulfilling daily and peak order days.
- Efficient handling keeps you prepared for any scenario.
- Our automatic systems can easily adapt to changes in SKUs and SKU counts.
- With the modular structure of our systems, you can have a tailored door-to-door solution for either a greenfield or brownfield warehouse.
- You can enjoy installation or future expansion, even during ongoing operations.
Tailored Solutions for Better Success
It’s hard to impress today’s consumers, who expect in-store and online shopping options, excellent service, and hassle-free experiences - whenever and wherever they shop.
These expectations impact consumer goods logistics and create considerable challenges for retail companies hoping to stay competitive. Retail companies must continually change product portfolios and hit difficult service level agreements (SLAs) to earn customer loyalty.
TGW Logistics offers solutions to overcome these challenges and set you up for success. We address your specific needs with automated retail logistics optimized for both efficiency and fulfillment so you can deliver exceptional customer service.
What We Offer
- Material flow optimization: We analyze your material flow and develop strategies for boosting the efficiency of your warehouse.
- Automated storage systems: Our automated storage systems help you save space and increase the accuracy of your inventory management.
- Picking and packaging solutions: We offer solutions to optimize the picking process, minimize errors, and accelerate order fulfillment.
- Tracking and tracing: Our innovative technology makes it possible to track your goods with precision, from goods inbound to outbound.
- Consulting and training: After implementing your new system, our team will offer training and consulting to prepare your team to use it effectively.
Online Retail
Today’s customers expect simple ordering, fast and accurate delivery, and easy returns. TGW Logistics offers dynamic fulfillment solutions to meet these high expectations.
Our solutions help you process incoming orders immediately and quickly for maximum efficiency. When you partner with us, you achieve scalability, flexibility, and accuracy on top of efficient and reliable return handling.
With our Software and Services Portfolio, we lay the foundation for operational excellence in online retail.
Brick-and-Mortar Retail
Customers want a hassle-free shopping experience, including the ability to see and handle products—a unique experience compared to shopping online. That’s why your replenishment system is so important. Empty shelves or unavailable products ruin the customer's experience. A replenishment system needs to run smoothly from the distribution center to transportation to stocking shelves.
At TGW Logistics, we pay as much attention to minimum transportation volume and shelf replenishment as we do to solutions in the distribution center, leading to better efficiency and reduced costs. We also focus on high delivery frequency and low order quantities to minimize in-store storage costs.
TGW Logistics’ software WERX is central to achieving these goals, from optimizing packing volume and sequences to organizing timely deliveries. The TGW Logistics Services team supports the reliability and long-term operation of your installation and equipment, maintaining high product availability.
Omni Channel
Omni channel solutions are essential to general merchandise retail but also highly complex. Customers use all available shopping platforms to satisfy their needs and lifestyle. TGW Logistics has years of experience providing omni channel solutions that keep customers happy.
Our consumer goods logistics solutions provide tremendous flexibility, preparing you for change with rapid processing and efficient warehouse automation. We adapt the level of automation to your specific needs and provide you with the most cost-effective solutions.
Thanks to our broad range of technologies, we can find the right fit for you. Our software and robotics technologies enable the highest levels of automation.
We supplement your solution with a bespoke service package. The TGW Services team ensures that your installation and equipment run smoothly so you can focus on delivering ongoing product availability and exceptional customer service.
Partner with TGW Logistics for Retail Success
Overcome the challenges of retail logistics and stay ahead of the competition with solutions for warehouse automation from TGW Logistics. Reach out to learn more about how we can support your continued success in general merchandise retail.
Speak With An Expert
Erich Schlenkrich
Vice President Business Development Industrial & Consumer Goods