Fashion House Looks to Improve Supply Chain with Logistics Provider

UK – Even the sadly unfashionable staff within the Handy Shipping Guide offices know the name of French Connection and now global logistics group Kuehne + Nagel have been awarded a five year supply chain contract by the leading popular fashion house to provide warehousing and distribution facilities for their clothing and fashion accessory products in the UK.

Kuehne + Nagel say they have been retained to embark on a strategic plan of continuous improvement together with French Connection to increase efficiency, profitability and service quality and to standardise processes and systems as well as organisation and performance measurement. K + N say that the implementation of the freight company’s own in house, lean supply chain principle, KN Production System (KNPS), was a key factor in French Connection’s decision to work with Kuehne + Nagel.

The French Connection operation is based at a 13,000 square metre facility near Thurrock in Essex close to the M25 motorway which surrounds London. Here, Kuehne + Nagel will be responsible for the storage, picking and packing of both boxed and hanging garments, handling approximately 7 million units per annum and delivering daily throughout the Capital on their fleet of 7.5 tonne trucks. Steve Prangnell, Head of Supply Chain & Logistics, French Connection explained:

“We moved into our current facility 5 years ago and felt that it was time to look at what we were doing and drive towards a leaner model. It is important during these challenging times that we maintain our service offering to our customers, but drive costs down. Kuehne + Nagel displayed the same principles throughout the whole tender process and is well equipped with KNPS to be able to meet our goals.”