How EPLAN delivered major efficiency gains for leading retailer
Warehouse automation case study - TJ Morris Ltd has used the solution, EPLAN Electric P8, for a number of years. Following its recent great success during the pandemic, the company have invested in further EPLAN solutions to support their warehouse automation and expansion.
TJ Morris Ltd are the parent company of Home Bargains, a UK discount retailer with more than 500 stores. Following a sharp rise in sales during the pandemic, the company is expanding its estate, opening many new stores and improving sales at existing branches. To facilitate further growth, the company is automating all its warehouse storage facilities and optimising processes to ensure that they continue to deliver top brands to each store
daily, at low prices.
Having used EPLAN Electric P8 for a number of years, the company invested in further EPLAN solutions to support this expansion, with additional benefits to the business soon becoming apparent, including substantial time/cost savings.
Investments in a suite of EPLAN software and services has given TJ Morris the opportunity to standardise working practices across its supplier base, improve the quality of its electrical drawings, and allow the business to bring the design in house, all this now ensuring better project delivery.
Automation in the TJ Morris warehouse.
The Project
- Standardization - electrical designs from suppliers varied in terms of both quality and format, indicating a need to set supplier working standards for consistent delivery and time savings.
- Time savings - manual checking of drawings from different suppliers was error prone and labour intensive
- Cost savings - lowering staffing costs and avoiding any business downtime (e.g during fault finding) is vital for a lean, fast-moving retail business.
- Maintenance - discrepancies in electrical drawings created by different suppliers was causing issues with maintenance.
- EPLAN Pro Panel - generates 3D electrical system models, creating a digital twin as the foundation for panel production.
- EPLAN Data Portal - featuring over 1 million parts from product catalogues of more than 370 global manufacturers.
- Standardisation - defines the delivery and workflow expectations within the design process, ensuring that company-wide principles and working practices are aligned across the business and suppliers.
- Training - the team has attended numerous training courses and the Head of Engineering & Facilities has completed the EPLAN Certified Engineer qualification via the University of Cologne.
- Support - a global support desk for software users, which also provides access to annual updates, including the latest software versions.
EPLAN Implementation: a phased process
With more than 500 stores, the company is a lean, fast-growing retailer with a rapid stock turnover: an environment where time is definitely money.
Its value proposition - to deliver top brands at rock bottom prices - helped fuel a 13% increase in turnover to £2.8bn in 2020; levels not seen since it first opened its doors in 1976. “It‘s the busiest year we‘ve ever seen” says Matthew Mercer, Head of Engineering & Facilities.
To facilitate further growth the company has been automating all its warehouse storage facilities. Up to this point, its engineers had always relied on external subcontractors and project managers for its electrical design drawings. This process of outsourcing design was expensive and inconsistent, with TJ Morris engineers contending with drawings that varied in quality from individual suppliers. These were error-prone, which caused issues with implementation and, later, with on-going maintenance.
The company was already an EPLAN customer, buts its decision to purchase more EPLAN software and service solutions was driven by its need to:
1. Standardise working practices across its supplier base
2. Achieve greater time and cost-savings for the business
In what was described by Rob Garfoot, the EPLAN Regional Sales Manager as “a phased and very-well planned programme”, the company implemented standardisation, upgraded to EPLAN Pro Panel and EPLAN Fluid, followed by staff training.
This investment across a range of EPLAN solutions has not only improved working practices with suppliers: it has also meant the company’s engineers can now create their own electrical design drawings. They can easily update these drawings when they make modifications to the machinery.
TJ Morris warehouse.
Benefits of EPLAN Standardisation
The aim of EPLAN standardisation is to define the workflow within a design process, clarifying company-wide principles to ensure the efficient implementation of a project.
Standardisation allows EPLAN customers to partner more effectively with their suppliers or customers, by aligning resources, document layouts and working methodologies. The result is, inevitably, better productivity, design quality and consistent documentation.
TJ Morris has quickly begun to reap the benefits. Suppliers must now present EPLAN standard drawings, which means they are laid out identically - making design approval quicker and easier. EPLAN also generates and transfers all required information for purchasing as well as production, and automatically generates reports including bills of materials, cable schedules and parts lists.
Faster Panel Construction
The introduction of EPLAN Pro Panelmeans that TJ Morris engineers are now designing their own panels in a 3D environment, helping to cut the time needed to bring a project to fruition.
As part of the process, EPLAN Pro Panel runs virtual project checks (as opposed to laborious manual tasks), so any issues, such as incorrect connections, can be easily identified and rectified before plans are signed off.
With in-house design, there is no longer any need to print-off designs and send comments back to suppliers in a protracted approvals process; something that used to also involve hiring external consultants. Instead, TJ Morris engineers now have the confidence to oversee the process themselves.
All told, EPLAN Pro Panel has helped the company develop in-house capabilities, and delivered major savings through reducing project management fees.
EPLAN Data Portal & Rittal RiPanel
TJ Morris typically uses Rittal VX25 enclosures as the panel of choice, not least because Rittal currently have over 6,930 items in the EPLAN Data Portal, but they’re also readily available in the Rittal RiPanel configurator, which is directly linked from within EPLAN for the configuration of enclosure system and accessories.
“Macros are already in EPLAN, and a lot of suppliers and parts information are contained within the Data Portal which saves the team time”, says Matthew.
“We don‘t have to build the parts database ourselves and ordering is a simple process, which involves simply exporting the parts lists. We take the enclosure specifications out of RiPanel and complete the panel design within EPLAN. It really is a simple process and, once a panel is designed, we export and send the enclosure specification direct to Rittal for pricing. All in all, EPLAN has saved us a great deal of time.”
Major Benefits of EPLAN
The investment in EPLAN solutions means that TJ Morris’ engineers now have a solid foundation for future expansion. And with the number of warehouses set to double by 2025, the focus has now shifted to expanding their panel building programme.
Schematics created in EPLAN Electric P8.
Matthew advises: “When we first bought EPLAN, it was for small equipment modifications, but having done the training and implemented more solutions, we can see just what a powerful tool it is.”
“In an automated warehouse, any downtime can seriously impact the business, particularly as every one of our UK stores needs a daily delivery. In such a fast-moving environment we require optimal working practices. By using EPLAN, we‘re reducing fault-finding time, which has had a knock-on, positive impact on business continuity and operations costs”.
“The training is well-constructed, and I’ve been very impressed by the speed and quality of the response from EPLAN‘s support desk during the transition process.” Rob Garfoot, EPLAN’s regional sales manager, concludes, “it shows how much you can achieve when you partner with the right company and are motivated to change.”
Do you want to learn more about how EPLAN could help you achieve your specific goals? Request a software demo to show you which EPLAN solutions will deliver the biggest efficiencies for both the engineers and the company as a whole.
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