Levi Strauss Collaborates with Maersk for Fulfillment and Logistics
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This logistics provider has opened a multi-channel facility in Ohio to serve Levi’s wholesale, retail, and e-commerce channels.
Release Date: October 18, 2024
### Key Points:
* Maersk has set up a fulfillment center for Levi Strauss & Co., which is part of the retailer’s ongoing transformation of its distribution and logistics network to enhance its multi-channel capabilities, as announced in a press release on October 9.
* The 1.2 million square foot multi-channel fulfillment center located in Groveport, Ohio will serve the retailer’s wholesale, retail, and e-commerce channels with end-to-end solutions from source integration to multi-channel fulfillment.
* Although operations at the Ohio facility began in August, the center is expected to improve on-time performance, reduce container handling time, and boost speed and efficiency. According to the press release, this also allows Levi’s to focus more on direct-to-consumer (DTC-first) business.
### In-Depth Insights:
As Levi’s increasingly relies on third-party logistics services, it is also adopting warehouse technology used by supply chain giants like Maersk.
The Groveport facility will use two sorting systems called EuroSort. A spokesperson for Maersk said in an email to Supply Chain Dive that the EuroSort system has 40 feed points and 600 order positions to match products with orders.
“This is a proven garment sorting solution capable of high-speed operation, processing up to 28,000 units per hour and handling over 100 million units annually. The EuroSort system also automatically handles residual boxes. This setup reduces the number of trips pickers need to make by allowing batch picking, where team members can collect multiple orders in a single trip,” the spokesperson said.
The first EuroSort is 70% installed, with the second expected to arrive in November, and the entire system will go live early next year, the spokesperson added.
The warehouse is also equipped with Maersk’s Warehouse Management System (WMS), a tool for real-time inventory visibility. The retailer can adjust production as needed, and the location can serve as a training center to enhance operations, the spokesperson added.
Levi’s decision to partner with Maersk came after announcing plans to leave its major self-owned and operated distribution logistics network in the US and Europe to cut fulfillment costs, according to a conference call transcript.
According to the press release, this facility is now the tenth global site that Maersk operates for Levi’s. Most other facilities are located in Asia, said a spokesperson for Levi’s.
“This Maersk-designed and operated facility is an important step in our strategy towards transitioning to a hybrid distribution and logistics network that balances fully functional self-owned and operated sites with technologically advanced third-party logistics facilities,” Craig Jones, Senior Vice President of Global Distribution and Logistics Operations at Levi Strauss, said in the press release.
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Source: Supply Chain Dive
