TATA Croma
Project Overview
Croma-Infinity Retail specialises in consumer electronics and durables, offering various electronic appliances and gadgets. With a strong retail presence through numerous stores across India and a growing online footprint, Croma is well-positioned in both the physical and e-commerce sectors. To support the exponential growth, Croma planned to expand its Distribution Centre (DC) operations in Bhiwandi.
Business Challenges
- Provide a comprehensive design for a Distribution Centre (DC) in a single block of 5.14L square feet.
- DC operations handle products ranging from large appliances like refrigerators and TVs to miniature gadgets like mobile phones, pen drives, and memory cards for business retail and e-commerce channels.
- Process study, mapping, and improvements per the business channels and their respective volumes.
- Ensure process compatibility with the Warehouse Management System (WMS).
- Identify the ideal mix of human efforts, mechanisation, and automation.
Our Solutions
- Designed an optimised storage mix based on product type, profile, inbound/outbound patterns, and volumes.
- Conceptualised and streamlined processes from inbound to dispatch, reducing multiple handling of goods.
- Evaluated all processes regarding cost, flexibility, and necessity to determine automation, mechanisation, or human-driven efforts.
- Infused mechanisation & automation solutions like lifts, spiral conveyors, motorised conveyors, and put-to-light systems to enhance process efficiency and productivity.
- Integrated physical processes seamlessly with the planned Warehouse Management System (WMS).
- Recommended ideal systems to minimise system activities, reduce response time, and improve overall productivity.
- Designed dedicated processing areas and unidirectional flows for retail and e-commerce operations, eliminating the risk of material mix-ups and enabling easy identification.
- Enhanced productivity with ergonomic, product-specific, and business channel-specific processing stations.
Coign's Impact
- Reduced dock-to-stock time for electronic gadgets requiring 100% quality control.
- Utilised vertical storage volume even for large and heavy appliances.
- Enhanced picking productivity with the correct mix of storage equipment and ideal size of operational aisles.
- Improved operational efficiency with the elimination of redundant steps and activities (both physical and system).
- Created non-conflicting flows for man, material, and machine, boosting productivity and ensuring safety.
