Sainsbury has played down continued reports of serious problems at its first automated fulfilment factory at Hams Hall, Birmingham.
A source close to JS said its warehouse management system was “working intermittently” and was sometimes “down for the morning”.
Last month several suppliers were asked to temporarily reroute deliveries through other depots, including Buntingford in east Hertfordshire, while Sainsbury resolved “volume issues with the automated systems”. It is also understood there were problems with the ball bearings in material-handling equipment.
Sainsbury admitted at a meeting with analysts last month that it was still experiencing teething problems at its new depots. In a subsequent analyst’s note, Baird’s Paul Smiddy said: “It does not sound as though the company will meet its recent target of getting 60% of volumes through the new depots by March 2004.”
In October, Hams Hall was reportedly running at 33% capacity and Waltham Point, Sainsbury’s other fully automated depot, at 21%. Sainsbury refused to confirm capacities prior to its interim results on November 19.
Senior manager, supply chain development, Ian Fidler denied the warehouse management systems were causing the problems. “On a couple of occasions, receiving goods on site has been delayed, but that’s a stock management issue.”
A Sainsbury spokeswoman said rerouting supplies was “a perfectly normal course of action”. “As a trial we transferred a small amount of volume from Buntingford to Hams Hall and have now moved this back while we make any additional changes needed.”
A source close to JS said its warehouse management system was “working intermittently” and was sometimes “down for the morning”.
Last month several suppliers were asked to temporarily reroute deliveries through other depots, including Buntingford in east Hertfordshire, while Sainsbury resolved “volume issues with the automated systems”. It is also understood there were problems with the ball bearings in material-handling equipment.
Sainsbury admitted at a meeting with analysts last month that it was still experiencing teething problems at its new depots. In a subsequent analyst’s note, Baird’s Paul Smiddy said: “It does not sound as though the company will meet its recent target of getting 60% of volumes through the new depots by March 2004.”
In October, Hams Hall was reportedly running at 33% capacity and Waltham Point, Sainsbury’s other fully automated depot, at 21%. Sainsbury refused to confirm capacities prior to its interim results on November 19.
Senior manager, supply chain development, Ian Fidler denied the warehouse management systems were causing the problems. “On a couple of occasions, receiving goods on site has been delayed, but that’s a stock management issue.”
A Sainsbury spokeswoman said rerouting supplies was “a perfectly normal course of action”. “As a trial we transferred a small amount of volume from Buntingford to Hams Hall and have now moved this back while we make any additional changes needed.”
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