CASESTUDY: WyldeburdLtd

Wyldeburd Ltd (WL)isa small niche providerofproductsforgarden birdsincluding seeds,feedersand associated products.One ofthe best-selling productsissunflowerseed hearts.

Theyare soldin 1kg,3kg,5kgand 10kg packsto 176 garden centres,25 petshops, 2 supermarketchains and directtothe publicviatheinternet.

The seedsare procuredfromChina,packedin 50kg sacksdeliveredinminimum11-tonne loads.The leadtimefromorder todeliverytoWLisquoted at43 calendardays.WL use an agenttomanagethefreightforwarding totheWL packing and distribution plant.WLbreak the sacksdown intothefourdifferent-sized packsbased upon the productionforecastwhichisfirmed up atthe beginning ofeachmonth.Demandis variable,dependentupon the routetomarketand the season.Overall,itcanvaryfrom5to 20 tonnespermonth.

Themaximumstorage capacityoftheWLpackingand distribution plantis24 tonnesoffinished products and 26 tonnesofthe50kg sacks.

Garden centresand petshopsorderweekly,supermarketsforecastweeklybutfirmup at6pmthedaybefore deliveryand productsare on a sale-or-return basis.Customersorderingvia theinternetbefore 3pmwillhave theirproductsdispatched the same day.Deliverytolocalgarden centresand petshopsisundertaken byWL'sown transportand fordistantoutletsa national carrierisused.Forsupermarketdeliveries,and returns, a differentnational carrierisused and fordirectto publicsalesthe Star Trackparcelserviceisused.