Project Management
27 October 2010

New food distribution operation kept on track

In partnership with leading travel food retailer and franchiser, SSP and logistics service provider, DBC Foodservice, Davies & Robson has successfully project managed the implementation of a major new distribution operation.

With owned and partner brands including Ben & Jerry’s, Caffe Ritazza, Marks & Spencer Simply Food, Panopolis, Starbucks and Upper Crust, SSP operates in over 30 countries worldwide - in over 140 airports and 250 rail stations across Asia, North America, Europe, the Middle East, India and North Africa. In the UK, the company operates 580 units in over 150 travel locations in airports, railway stations and shopping centres.

SSP recently tendered the distribution services for its UK outlets and appointed Davies & Robson to evaluate the tender submissions and support the subsequent contract development. The contract was awarded to DBC Foodservice who were successfully providing similar services for Rail Gourmet, part of the SSP Group.

With the changeover period overlapping the start of the critical peak summer trading period, no disruption to the service to SSP’s airport outlets could be tolerated. Davies and Robson was therefore retained to support the client/contractor project team, providing expert opinion and ensuring the smooth transfer to DBC Foodservice.

In order to achieve this, the ‘go live’ date was brought forward by four weeks, with the airports being brought on stream in the first phase to provide continuity of service and allow for the resolution of any issues prior to the start of the peak season and roll out to the rail outlets. As a result, the project team was required to deliver a fully functional solution within just twelve weeks.

In addition to establishing new systems, processes and procedures to support delivery of the service, the new operation relied on the opening of a new frozen depot at Darlaston, redesigning warehouse layouts at the ambient and chill depots, ensuring depot standards were HACCP compliant and in-line with BRC standards, developing Standard Operating Procedures, assessing demand and setting stock levels and setting delivery route schedules.

All activities and associated systems, processes and procedures involved in the ordering, receipt, storage and distribution of frozen, ambient and chilled foodstuffs to SSP units were within the scope of the project. In total, 360 critical tasks were identified within the project plan.

The project was overseen by the Project Board comprising Harvey Marston, SSP, Nick O’Carrol, DBC and Nick Weetman of Davies & Robson. Following the principals of Davies & Robson’s Prince2 Lite project management approach, a number of work streams were established to develop the operating methods and supporting processes and procedures, with team members from both DBC Foodservice and SSP responsible for running the work streams and delivering the objectives.

As a result of this painstaking process, the service to airport outlets went live a month earlier than initially planned during contract negotiations, with service levels consistently above target. Four weeks later the rail estate went live with similarly high performance levels.

Harvey Marston, Head of Vendor Management, SSP said: “Less than six months from Davies & Robson being appointed to evaluate the tender submission, the implementation project is complete with all parties satisfied that, through careful project, risk and issue management, the new distribution partnership has been successfully implemented and strong relationships have been forged for future trading. “Having the support of Davies & Robson’s expert consultants was of great comfort to the SSP and DBC project team. Their involvement was, quite simply, fundamental to the ultimate success of the project.”

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