Details have emerged of the logistical challenges faced by Nisa during the recent overnight rebranding and launch of 130 My Local stores.
As major supplier for the new chain, Nisa had to mobilise additional resource to accommodate the colossal increase in orders and deliveries it faced.
Deliveries increased by 11% over plan, with almost 800 drops to My Local stores over a five day stock-building period. After an unexpected hitch left My Local facing the prospect of having no branded product available at launch, Nisa accommodated a further 250 orders in just a few days. The whole process was managed with no unexpected impact on Nisa’s existing membership base.
To complement its distribution service and allow Nisa to successfully expedite orders and deliveries to stores without disruption, the business mobilised additional resource, including 48 new vehicles, 99 additional warehouse staff, 45 new drivers, 7,000 roll cages and 1,000 tote boxes. Further to this it opened a new distribution outbase to support deliveries in the south of England.
“The launch of My Local was an operational challenge of the highest order, given the timescales and number of stores involved,” said Nick Read (pictured), Nisa CEO. “I don’t believe any other operator in the market could have accommodated the sheer scale of logistical complexity involved in the planning and launch process, particularly given the last minute developments.”
The supply agreement is for an initial five year period. My Local stores will join Nisa’s independent and specialist business unit and will be supplied through Nisa’s central distribution system, but with flexible access to local and regional suppliers, allowing My Local to meet its commitment to source at least 5% of its range from within 10 to 15 miles of any store.
