Active Ants further focuses on multi warehousing with opening fulfilment centre in the UK

Nearly one year ago, Active Ants announced opening its fifth fulfilment centre, in Northampton in the United Kingdom. Today, the advanced Autostore is fully operational and the first parcels have already been shipped. What services does Active Ants offer in the UK? And what are the advantages of having multiple warehouses in Europe?

‘Reach end customer cheaper and faster’

In a warehouse right in the heart of England, smart robots are quickly moving over a grid which houses 60.000 storage bins. This innovative system is called the Autostore, a staple of Active Ants. Not that long ago, the over 250.000 square feet warehouse in Northampton was still empty. “I was the first one employed in the UK, so I have seen the progress from the beginning” says David Fowler, Active Ants’ UK Business Development Manager.

The first advantage to being in the UK is exactly that, Fowler says: “operating locally, you can reach your end customer within 24 hours with no extra paperwork. And because you operate domestically, you can offer a much lower price than when you ship from overseas.” Active Ants has a contract with the biggest postal service in the country, Royal Mail. “We also work with EVRi, DPD, Fedex and more. Our shipping rates are competitive because we can negotiate based on the volume of all our customers combined.”

98% automation

What makes Active Ants unique, explains Business Development Manager Bianca Cruceru, is that 98 percent of the fulfilment process is automated: “Competitors will offer some automation, but not like this.” Smart robots take the products to an employee at a picking station. Next, warehouse robots move the order to a packing machine. This machine cuts parcels to exactly the right size, so no excess filler material is needed. “Because of our level of automation, error margins are close to zero while efficiency is high.”

At the same time, the warehouse offers flexibility as well, Cruceru says. “Because of the Autostore, we can scale up and down fast, for example during peak times. In addition, the packing machine can print a custom design on parcels for more personalized packaging.”

Sustainable fulfilment

Active Ants is dedicated to a sustainable operation in all of its warehouses, including the UK, Fowler says. “Our parcel machines help minimize packaging waste and save room in the delivery truck, for example.”

The Northampton location recently received an A+ sustainability rating as well. This is the highest level of the BREEAM certification, a label for buildings with the lowest possible impact on the environment. Less than 1 percent of all registered non-domestic buildings in the UK have received this mark. “At least 40 percent of our energy usage comes from solar panels on the roof. We also harvest and reuse rainwater for everything in the building except for drinking.”

Expand to the UK and Europe easily

With the new fulfilment centre, Active Ants caters to UK customers as well as its existing European customer base. “A lot of our clients in the EU are joining us here for a quicker last mile. And vice versa, UK-based customers can easily expand to Europe, since we have built our presence there for over 10 years,” Fowler explains. Active Ants already operates crossborder with 4 automated warehouses in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.

Multi-warehousing

‘’With multi-warehousing, online shops can also reduce the risk of stock shortages and out-of-stock situations’’, says Cruceru. ‘’If a product is out of stock in one warehouse, it can be quickly fulfilled from another warehouse, ensuring that the customer gets their product without delay. This helps to improve customer satisfaction and loyalty, as well as increase sales and revenue for the online shop.’’

‘’Additionally, multi-warehousing allows online shops to expand their reach into new markets more easily. By having warehouses in different regions or countries, online shops can reduce shipping costs and delivery times for international customers, making it more attractive for them to shop from that online shop.’’

Expansion in Northampton

The Northampton warehouse officially opened at the beginning of May and is fully equipped and operational. Fowler: “We have a large facility that is being filled with new clients. Our goal is to fill the 60.000 storage bins as quickly as possible. Then we can expand the Autostore to 120.000 bins and more in the future.”