Member Article

Indigo WMS to automate warehouse operations in support of Barrus’ continuing business expansion

A great British company, proud to have achieved 100 years in business, Barrus is one of the UK’s leading importers and distributors of engines, engine powered equipment, garden products and accessories. A specialist design and engineering capability have earned the company worldwide recognition in custom-engine build.

Operating across four diverse market sectors Marine, Garden, Industrial and Vehicle, the company’s approach has been and continues to be to source, develop and build a portfolio of innovative, premium brands to service the needs of its customers.

Today Barrus represents over 40 market-leading brands including Mariner and Mercury outboard engines, Quicksilver leisure and fishing boats and Wilkinson Sword garden tools. These brands, together with the broadest range of spare parts, are shipped to customers from its two warehouse locations in Oxfordshire.

Barrus is investing in the Indigo WMS warehouse management software to automate its previously paper-based warehouse processes. The sheer diversity of Barrus’ business interests means the warehouse is equally busy whatever the time of year and finding ways to improve efficiencies is a key part of the company’s growth strategy.

In the future, Barrus intends to move to a new purpose-built site and consolidate all of its operations under one roof. Investing in Indigo WMS now ahead of the move means that the transition to technology-supported working will be completed well in advance, putting the company in a stronger position to maintain business as usual customer service levels. In addition, Indigo’s supply chain consulting team will be working with senior management at Barrus to re-define existing warehouse processes and make improvements as necessary to further enhance performance in readiness for introducing Indigo WMS.

Keryn Clarke, Director of Operations at Barrus said, “We’ve reached our centenary milestone and to continue evolving as a business, it’s important we embrace new technology to help us improve operational performance. Adding the Indigo WMS software means we have the ability to efficiently track the movement of goods throughout the business, so helping us make better use of available space in the warehouse, process stock and sales orders more quickly and generally prepare ourselves for further growth in shipping volumes in the future.”

Once Indigo WMS is implemented, Barrus will have fully real-time and automated goods fulfilment, location control systems, structured stock replenishment and perpetual inventory counting. Warehouse operatives will be picking orders using instructions issued through Indigo WMS using Cognex’s MX series handheld scanners, with real-time integration to the company’s Infor ERP software.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Indigo Software .