Law Distribution Ltd
Law Distribution Ltd is a family-owned company, providing warehousing and distribution services since 1994. Their secure facilities span over 350,000 square feet and accommodate bonded and non-bonded goods. The company caters to a wide range of clients, from supermarket chains to direct-to-consumer businesses, with the capability to dispatch orders from pallet level to individual items.
Law Distribution operates a modern HGV fleet equipped with satellite tracking and uniformed drivers to ensure effective delivery management. The company offer a collection service through their own fleet and the Palletline network. Committed to minimising their ecological footprint, Law Distribution embraces emerging technologies.
Challenge
The company operates two warehouses: a newly established facility equipped with modern technology and efficient practices and an older warehouse that has recently been enhanced with an automated storage and picking tower to improve efficiency for e-commerce clients.
Barcoding is implemented for tracking purposes, while physical pick lists assist with inventory adjustments. The order processing procedure is uniform, regardless of order size. There are opportunities for improving this system through acquiring and investing in new hardware and technical support as the company approached the Horizons team at LJMU, accessing bespoke support through skilled personnel for successful implementation and operational management.
.
Solution
The Horizons team focused on pinpointing valuable opportunities and conducted research to create a paper on utilising AI to enhance and improve lorry utilisation and routing. The teams evaluated leading technologies that align with the company’s objectives to ensure their recommendations were realistic and approachable.
An assessment of Law Distribution’s facilities indicated that technology integration could enhance operations, especially regarding hard copy pick lists. “Pick light” technology emerged as a promising solution, improving efficiency by directing staff during item selection and minimising errors. A B2B introduction was arranged to investigate the technology’s capabilities and associated costs.
Additionally, the Horizons teams reviewed funding options, supporting Law Distribution in acquiring new hardware to increase productivity and ensuring adherence to proper procurement processes while offering ongoing support for resource management.
Impact
The exploration of AI applications has brought this technology awareness and an in-depth understanding of Law Distribution, outlining its strengths, weaknesses, and factors of consideration for seamless implementation. Funding for hardware has sped up the adoption of barcoding, with the Horizons team working alongside Law Distribution and its suppliers to establish a competitive funding process within a limited timeframe.
Furthermore, assistance in assessing existing processes and deploying new systems was made possible by pinpointing emerging resources at LJMU, which were delivered efficiently and competitively.