Store replenishment.
Plus everything
you ship for clients.
Retail and 3PL share the same problems: mixed SKUs, both pallets and cartons, repetitive replenishment with unpredictable peaks. And, in 3PL, different client requirements, in the same warehouse.
Typical retail / 3PL pain points
What hurts retail and 3PL DCs.
What operations directors in big-box retail and multi-client 3PL tell us, on almost every visit.
Pallet + carton mix
Replenishing a hypermarket needs full pallets for rapid movers and cartons for long-tail. The system has to handle both.
Picking for hundreds of stores
Each store = unique multi-line order with strict delivery window. Manual = constant overtime and errors.
Multi-client in 3PL
Clients with different rules in the same warehouse: KPIs, labeling, cut-off windows. The system must adapt without redesign.
Congested loading docks
Multiple daily departures to stores alternating with supplier inbound. Without orchestration, docks become the bottleneck.
Per-category seasonality
Water in summer, hot drinks in winter, toys in December. Volumes vary 3–5× per SKU by season.
Per-client / per-lot traceability
Recalls, audit, per-brand reporting. Lot and SSCC tracking must be native in the WCS.
Typical flow in a retail / 3PL DC
Volume on pallets, variety in cartons.
A retail / 3PL DC operates simultaneously on pallets (volume) and cartons (variety). ZEDlog builds both lanes in the same system.
Receiving
Pallets onto MPP, cartons onto MCP. SSCC scan, zone allocation.
Storage
Pallets on racks with MPP I/O. Cartons on shelves or AS/RS.
Order picking
Mixed pick: full pallet for fast movers, carton for long-tail.
Order consolidation
Cartons of the same store aggregated, palletized for delivery.
Per-store dispatch
Final pallets to dock by route. Auto-generated manifest + ASN.
Typical post-implementation results
The effect, measured per store and per labor-hour.
What you get depends on the carton-pallet mix and your starting point. The figures are ranges observed in projects, not guarantees.
Recommended retail / 3PL stack
Cartons and pallets, without getting in each other's way.
MCP: Modular Conveyor
The carton lane: picking, consolidation, dispatch. ZPA, modular, scalable.
MPP: Modular Pallet Platform
The pallet spine: receiving, storage I/O, dispatch. Capacities up to 1,500 kg.
WCS multi-client
Per-client / per-category rules, parametric routes, WMS integration (SAP EWM, Manhattan).
Portfolio reference
Retail chain · 280 stores · 2024.
A chain running two DCs, and planning a third, now serves the whole network from a single automated warehouse, with free capacity for another 40% of growth.
Fewer DCs. More throughput.
Tell us how many stores or clients you serve, the carton-pallet mix and the delivery windows. We answer with a stack proposal and an ROI estimate.