“The Foldia is so good looking that we can also use it to display products in our stores. The finish with the galvanized shine surface is great”, mentioned Karina Aboian, Head of Import Department at Omega Ltd.
Omega is the retailer in Ukraine owning VARUS stores. Today there are 70 VARUS stores in Ukraine and the plan is to open 3 new ones by the end of 2019. The two main goals of the company for the next years is to increase the size of their stores from ca 75,000 to 140,000 m2 sales area and raise their position on the Ukrainian retail market from number 6 to number 3 by 2022. VARUS stores are currently divided into 4 different formats and the number of smaller stores is growing the fastest.
To meet the goal to be Retailer No 3 in Ukraine, Omega started to think on how to optimise their logistics. The trucks were not fully loaded, it took long time to load and unload them and the replenishment in the stores took a long time. In addition, the wooden pallets were tying up valuable space in store backrooms.
The new load carrier had to be more efficient than the wooden pallet. It had to be better adapted for store replenishment and lighter but strong to ease the work in the distribution centres.
Omega logistics department identified several areas that could be improved with a foldable roll container:
– With the 4-sided Foldia® the need for shrink foil is eliminated from the process, which meant both time- and cost-savings
– Higher vehicle cubic fill
– 30% faster replenishment in stores
– Space-saving and faster unloading – in shops and at the warehouses
Omega tested the solution of several domestic suppliers. After careful tests regarding quality and user-friendliness K.Hartwall Foldia® roll cage was selected as the best fit for Omega.
The company was not only impressed with the quality of the product but also with the short answering times and accurate delivery performance. With 30 % faster store replenishment and higher truck cubic fill, the ROI will be short. Omega has already acquired 2,200 Foldia roll cages and removable shelves, which are now in use in 6 distribution centres in Kiev and Dnipro. The plan is to deploy them now for fresh and frozen goods. “30 % faster store replenishment is a significant gain in efficiency for us. It helps us spending more time serving customers and ensure better product availability”, adds Sergéy Remennóy Store Manager (No.17).
