IKEA bolts on delivery tracking

IKEA Distribution Services has rolled out a distribution track and trace system that allows couriers to update the central delivery management system from the retailer's 60 delivery vehicles.

According to IKEA's UK and Benelux deputy customer distribution manager Don Marshall, the system is critical in maintaining the retailer's growth in this country. He told silicon.com sales volumes have doubled in the last five months and are likely to double again next year, because of the growth in IKEA's online business.

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He said: "Before the system was installed in 2005, we had a paper-based delivery system. We wouldn't be able to reach the required rate of growth without the functionality the system gives us."

Marshall said the delivery vehicle portfolio could rise to 100 by the end of next year.

The home delivery system supplied by Axida is integrated with an in-vehicle data capture application built bespoke by Zetes. It provides visibility of IKEA stock from when it leaves the central distribution centre in Peterborough to when it is delivered to the customer.

The stock system is updated in real-time and a receipt is sent to the vehicle to be printed out and presented to the customer.

Marshall explained when it switched to the electronic system, the retailer only then found out the previous benchmark of 96 per cent delivery success rate was not actually being reached.

He said: "Now we have complete accuracy of data down the supply chain, we can make sure our delivery rates hit the benchmark."

Marshall also expects the home delivery system to improve customer service because data on incomplete or misdirected deliveries is uploaded to the system immediately. Drivers label damaged and returned goods with a warehouse barcode as soon as they go back into the vehicle so it can be returned to the distribution centre.

Marshall said: "We deal with complex deliveries, some of them with hundreds of components. The dangers of getting it wrong can be high. If we can fix our mistakes straightaway, we are going to have a much happier customer."