Holland & Barrett has adopted Paragon’s routing and scheduling software as part of its ongoing transformation, strengthening operations to better deliver what customers expect in a rapidly evolving retail sector. The software solution will enable the health and wellness retailer, which operates in 16 countries, to restructure its UK store replenishment operation, supplying more than 900 locations across the UK from its warehousing and international distribution center in Burton-on-Trent.

“To maintain our position as one of the world’s leading health and wellness retailers, it is vital that Holland & Barrett continues to invest in streamlining its supply chain, offering the best customer experience possible in the most efficient manner,” explains Jason Thompson, transport operations manager at Holland & Barrett. “Paragon’s routing and scheduling software solution will enable us to transform store replenishment, removing the need to keep high levels of inventory in store by delivering direct to shelf. It will also enable us to gain better understanding of where we can use third-party logistics partners in outlying areas through strategic modelling.”

Until now, Holland & Barrett has operated fixed daily routes, with each store receiving a single weekly delivery. However, the health and wellness retailer took the decision to reduce inventory in the stores as much as possible, which would require increasing store deliveries from one to three times per week. With such an extensive range of more than 9,000 different products, this is critical to removing waste and inefficiency from the supply chain. Following an external review of its transportation management function, Holland & Barrett decided to replace existing manual planning processes with dynamic planning enabled by Paragon’s routing and scheduling software.

The introduction of dynamic planning will ensure the health and wellness retailer can reduce in-store inventory, and improve on-shelf availability, while at the same time confidently delivering on the promise of its click and collect offering.

The Paragon routing and scheduling software will help Holland & Barrett identify and achieve transportation cost-savings by reducing dead mileage, enhancing reverse logistics, and delivering maximum productivity levels. As most of the stores are located in densely-populated areas, the planning solution will also help its transportation planning team to far more efficiently factor in complex delivery variables such as daytime access restrictions and the impact of urban congestion. This is critical to achieving the required efficiency levels. Moving forward, the health and wellness retailer is looking to reduce its fleet size by using the planning software to create more efficient routes and effectively double-shift available vehicles.

William Salter, CEO of Paragon Software Systems commented: “The UK bricks-and-mortar retail sector is under immense pressure to keep up with rapidly changing consumer habits. Experienced and trusted brands like Holland & Barrett are evolving to meet this challenge by investing in best-practice systems and processes to protect revenue levels, customer loyalty and ultimately profitability. Our routing and scheduling software is enabling retailers to optimize their transportation operations, helping to deliver a superior customer experience and more efficient fulfilment operations.”

About Paragon Software Systems:

Paragon Software Systems, Inc., based in Dallas, Texas, is a leading provider of truck routing and scheduling software solutions. Paragon’s advanced planning systems have been proven to cut transportation costs and improve efficiency across a wide range of distribution operation types and industry sectors. Paragon’s North American truck routing software clients include George’s Inc., AgReliant Genetics, The Linde Group, National Food Corporation, and many others. 

The software is used for the daily route optimization of transportation schedules; rationalizing fixed routes; managing transportation resources; strategic logistics planning; and managing home delivery orders with dynamic routing. Paragon Software Systems, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Paragon Software Systems plc, the UK’s number one provider of transportation routing and scheduling software. Paragon has more than 4,700 systems at over 1,400 client sites in 61 countries. For more information, visit paragonrouting.com.