News Release 19 May 2008

Anker International says new software is head and shoulders above competition

Background

Anker International is a subsidiary of International Greetings, one of the world's leading designers, innovators and manufacturers of gift wrap, crackers, cards, stationery and accessories.

The Anker International central distribution centre in Newport Pagnell has a storage capacity of over 20,000 pallet loads of merchandise, and is ideally located to enable fast despatch and delivery throughout the United Kingdom. Services include bespoke product storage via tailor-made palletisation, carton specification and product identification.

After realizing their existing packaging software was underperforming Zak Woodward, Warehouse Ancillaries Supervisor at Anker, analysed the market for a new and improved solution and selected TOPS Pro™ from specialist software provider, AutoLogic Systems.

Issue and solution

Anker were finding the interface difficult to use on their existing software, it was too slow and not sophisticated enough to deal with their ever changing product lines. Zak carried out extensive trials with the market leading solutions and soon recommended TOPS Pro™ from AutoLogic Systems to his management team as the product of choice for Anker.

Zak comments:" TOPS Pro™ was so much easier to use and quicker than the other software we trialed. The amount of information and variables available were simply head and shoulders ahead of the competition."

Anker are now using TOPS Pro™ on a weekly basis to identify the optimum packing combinations for their new and existing product ranges.

“When our buying team identifies a new product range, their first step is to provide us with the dimensions and proposed packaging instructions for that specific item. We then use TOPS Pro™ to test the optimum number of items per carton and pallet and pass those recommendations to the supplier. Nine times out of ten, TOPS Pro™ recommends an alternative solution to the original specification which allows us to get more items on each pallet. As many of our products are manufactured in the Far East, this has a huge impact in reducing our shipping and transport costs. We also use less board and packing materials and so our buying team is able to work with our suppliers to reduce their costs which are in turn carried over to us and ultimately our customers.”

For more information on AutoLogic Systems visit www.autologic-systems.co.uk or call 01844 281380.

Media Contacts

Jo Love, LoveCommunication, +44 (0)7887 775271, jo@lovecommunication.co.uk

About AutoLogic Systems Ltd

Founded in 1993, AutoLogic Systems Ltd provides specialist software for all stages of the supply chain including: optimisation of pallet, case and package design; container & vehicle load planning; manufacturing and warehouse simulation; optimisation of process variables; and vehicle scheduling and tracking.

Our software helps: manufacturers; warehouse management; fleet and transport managers; large retailers; freight and cargo handling companies; systems integrators; materials handling equipment providers and airport baggage systems reduce waste, minimise risk and improve the efficiency of their supply chain.

For more information, please visit www.autologic-systems.co.uk
Phone : +44 (0) 1753 64 76 64 or
email : info@autologic-systems.co.uk