A REALLY GREEN SUPPLY CHAIN

From houseplants and window boxes to sylvan acres, gardening is a very British passion. Plants of all descriptions, from basic bedding to the rare, unusual or downright

To meet the logistics challenge of presenting what are, after all, living things in prime condition, Homebase has partnered with DHL. Stewart Potts, General Manager on the Homebase account, explains that horticulture is in many ways like fashion (an area in which DHL also has experience): "The biggest variable is volume," he explains. "There are obvious peaks, such as Easter, Bank Holidays, Mother's Day and so on, which can be scheduled, but the weather is the biggest factor. We have to have plans and contingencies in place - a week or less before Inbound deliveries are due - to cope with the vagaries of the climate," which of course can affect supply just as much as demand.

Nick Blundell is Senior Shift Manager at the DHL-operated Homebase depot. He says: "Homebase buys from the grower by the year, so we know we are going to see a certain number of cases at some point - the question is, when? Traditionally there are 17 weeks of peak demand, starting in the Spring. Off-peak, we may handle 50-70,000 cases of plants a week, but in the peak that could be 350,000." Potts adds that plants are sourced from growers across the UK, Holland, Denmark and Italy, and that very often the same variety will be multiple-sourced to protect against adverse growing conditions.

"We have a forecasting meeting with Homebase each Wednesday," says Blundell. "By Thursday, there may be a 99% change, and again on Friday! By Saturday and Sunday we can see the trading receipts and finally know where next week's vehicles are going."

Volumes also peak and trough during the week. Even in the peak, the workforce may be handling 66,000 cases on a Tuesday, but only 30,000 on the Friday, and there can be as many as 200 cases per hour going through the system. This, says Potts, requires a lot of agency workers, based on a pool of three very flexible agency providers. "It's hard for us or them to manage; we might need people three days a week, or working four hour days. There is a limit to how far we can ask people to be flexible before they go somewhere else, but we manage to keep the 'churn rate' to around 15%," he added.

There are three Homebase distribution centres in the same Wellingborough area, only one of which is primarily horticultural. This does mean that the headcount can be interchanged between sites, and also, at peak times horticulture can expand into the 'hard goods' sheds. "But it's a moveable feast - and requires very interactive planning," says Potts.

A lot of outbound loads, especially to Ireland and Scotland, are rigorously timec shippers include Eddie Stobart and Norfolk Line, as well as DHL's own resources. Indoor and outdoor plants are picked to separate trolleys, because they require different conditions. This is wholly dependent on the skills of agency staff, after training, in recognizing what is what. Potts says the quality standard is for a controlled 16 degrees C for houseplants, leading to the bizarre sight of workers stripped off in frosty weather because they are loading heated trailers! He adds: "The potential Impact of not following the rules is huge - writing off a trailer-load is big money."

Wellingborough supplies the Midlands and the North of England, Scotland and Ireland. Homebase has an Identical site at Swindon, for the South of England, under Its own direct management, which provides useful comparators, both ways. Potts says: "We've kept the contract from Exel and Tibbett & Britten days, so we must be doing something right! Nothing, even to Ireland, should be on a trailer for more than 24 hours.

Pests can be the bane of horticulture. Homebase has its own QC team checking plants and their growing media at source, and Blundell says that a new Initiative has just started on-site to assist QC by checking deliveries as they arrive, not only for obvious pest issues, but labelling and barcoding. "We don't historically have an Issue with pests, but dust from soli, which builds up in trailers, can be an Issue."

Potts explains: "Plants are picked pretty well on receipt; they will have arrived from 9 pm yesterday and we aim to pick them by 2 pm today. Trucks are leaving from 4 pm, so plants shouldn't be spending more than 24 hours at the depot. The exception to that is Christmas trees, which we may hold in bulk for up to a week, and also some bulbs and seeds."

For more information

www.dhl.com