Austrian Logistics Award 2020: Personalshop and TGW distinguished as finalists
(Marchtrenk, October 21, 2020) Shopping club Personalshop and the TGW Logistics Group were recognised by the Verein Netzwerk Logistik (VNL) Linz as finalists at the Austrian Logistics Award - for the joint Europe Logistics Platform project.
Successful on the market – while still keeping a low profile: Founded in 1994, Servus Handels- und Verlags-Gesellschaft is a hidden champion among mid-sized companies in Austria. The company is known as Austria's first shopping club. The idea that launched the business was personal shopping at great low prices. The company sold only to union members and employees of major corporations. Today, Personalshop sells its product line through catalogues and an online shop. It also operates eight outlet stores in Austria. This makes Personalshop one of Austria's leading omnichannel retailers as well as one of its leading clothing manufacturers – two facts about the company that are not very well known. Customers can choose from among 6,000 products and enjoy savings of up to 70% in some instances.
2019 marked not only Personalshop's 25th anniversary, but also a new milestone in the company's history with a new Europe Logistics Platform in Polling in the state of Tyrol. 110 metres long, 93 metres wide, 33 metres high, with a total footprint of 30,000 m². With a volume of 40 million euros, the facility is the largest single investment in the company's history.
Continuous growth was the challenge that inspired the decision to build the Europe Logistics Platform. Back in the early 2000s, Personalshop's sales were around 10 million euros. In the 2019 business year, this figure had skyrocketed to 134 million euros. The logistics system, as a primary foundation of the business model, has experienced corresponding growth and has been adapted continuously.
The shared vision was the planning and construction of Austria's most state-of-the-art, robot-supported omnichannel platform. All processes are internetworked and automated, including everything from ordering to logistics. Up to 2.4 million packages per year are sent.
For this project, Austria's first FlashPick® system was developed, an innovative solution for processing B2C and B2B orders as well as handling returns in one overall logistics system.
The VNL jury selected the Europe Logistics Platform because of the project's comprehensive approach. The main success factor is the intelligent networking of all individual components to create a comprehensive and successful logistics system. All processes, from ordering to logistics, are linked to each other. With the comprehensive networking and automation, Servus has created the most state-of-the-art omnichannel system of its type and scale in Austria, thus setting a benchmark in the industry. A highly innovative omnichannel concept has been developed based on the requirements.
Bernhard Janku, Personalshop's Managing Director of Organisation, has this to say: "In the new Europe Platform and its many reserves for expansion, Personalshop has laid the foundation for new growth and is equipped for new missions. From the Europe Platform, we send up to 10,000 packages to Germany, Austria and Switzerland."
The technical centrepiece is Austria's first FlashPick® system. It consists of a highly efficient shuttle paired with high-output picking workstations, networked via a high-performance control and WMS system. FlashPick® is an innovative system that has been specially developed and tailored to meet the logistics requirements of omnichannel retailers for processing single-item orders for online retail or even multi-item orders for delivery to brick-and-mortar stores or major customers.
The logistics platform turns an ambitious vision into a reality. The project in Austria created a one-of-a-kind omnichannel logistics platform that makes inventory levels more transparent by managing a uniform inventory made up of new and returned goods. It also reduces delivery times by accelerating lead times. Markus Lehner, Sales Project Manager TGW Logistics Group, could not be more proud of the project. "Receiving the Austrian Logistics Award is an awesome success and confirmation of what we have achieved. We're proud to have planned and built this project along with our client Personalshop and will continue to provide support in future growth phases."
