Foster’s Group readies 14 sites with RedPrairie WMS

By Manufacturing Business Technology Staff

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Premium beverage company Foster’s Group recently rolled out RedPrairie ’s Warehouse Management System (WMS) to 14 sites in Australia and the U.S., gaining operational efficiencies and better visibility into its supply chain, and permitting more flexibility and better service to its customers.
“Foster’s success in expanding its portfolio and global reach could only be sustained by investing in a scalable production and distribution network,” says Michael Brooks, chief supply officer, Fosters. “In 2003 we found that our current systems and processes did not have the flexibility or capacity to scale to the level they needed to meet the increasing demand for our diverse product lines. We needed to reconfigure and enhance our supply chain network by increasing service levels to our widespread customers.”
In 2004, RedPrairie deployed its WMS Foster’s largest facility: the production and distribution operation at Yatala in Queensland. This 20,000-square-metre location has four packaging lines; more than 20,000 pallet locations; multiple beer keg, can and bottle lines; and produces more than 25 percent of the total beer production in Australia.
The site is automated and the mass accumulation table (MAT) holds more than 100 pallets ready for direct loading and transportation. The Yatala site has recorded unprecedented uptime since it started—a credit to the RedPrairie WMS application and Foster’s supply chain and IT infrastructure.
On the back of the success, Foster’s decided to roll out the RedPrairie solution to its newly reconfigured and acquired sites in Australia and Napa Valley, California. With an aggressive rollout strategy, the Foster’s and RedPrairie team implemented the RedPrairie WMS on time and on budget in every site right across Australia and in Napa Valley.