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Six hundred and twenty-four thousand parcels sent per year to over 10 thousand hairdressing salons in Italy serving five million female end customers, or 20% of the national total, and a special area, called Aerosol, dedicated to 1,200 pallets with flammable products equipped with sensors advanced systems and alarms for immediate interventions in the event of escapes. These are the numbers of the center of Castiglione delle Stiviere, near Mantua, where a great example of innovation and efficiency of 23 thousand square meters has been located for thirty years: the Product Distribution Center of Wella Company, a company with a portfolio of brands specialized in cosmetic technologies and nail and hair products for professionals and retail under brands such as Wella Professionals, Opi (nail polish) and Ghd.
Inaugurated in 1993, the center «represents for Wella Italia a logistics management model which, after three decades, has been able to stay the course, incorporating into its supply chain the new demands of the evolving and hyper-connected market also in corporate functions – comments Athina Nikolaidou, general manager Italy & Greece of Wella Company -. A function of great importance for our success, because it deals with rigor and precision with the breadth of our reference portfolio, the chain of different suppliers, the customization of orders, as well as the correct issuing of invoicing. All this to guarantee the highest level of service to hairstylists and end customers in the salon. To support a long-term vision of relationships with our salons throughout the national territory.”
Every year, 20 thousand pallets of products and accessories are moved and shipments prepared in the Picking by light area structured in 1,200 stations managed by external software: the system guides the operator in preparing the order by switching on LEDs that identify in which station they must collect the product with a correctness rate of 99.96% and 280 orders processed on average per day.
«The indicators of the high performance of the center can be summarized as follows – declares Stefano Rodighiero, logistics manager of Wella Company and direct manager of the site –: set-up time and departure of shipments from the warehouse within 24 hours of receiving the order; within 24 hours we deliver the goods to Northern and Central Italy, within 24-72 hours to the South and Islands. A service that is perhaps unique in our country, especially when referring to the B2B market and which is unrivaled in terms of timeliness, punctuality and accuracy, because everything is focused on the positive customer experience”.