Interview to Pol Lligoña, director of Logistics of Caprabo

The logistical model always comes conditioned by the model of business. Caprabo has supermarkets of vicinity, with a wide assortment and with a presence “prioritaria” of the cool products. Like this, as it describes Pol Lligoña, director of Logistics of the company, “the supply is more complex that perhaps some another operator of the market”. Lligoña Explains in this interview his experience in on-line purchase and the importance to manage properly the chain of supply.

The pillars of the logistical model of Caprabo at present are three. The first is the service, that is prioritario and innegociable when we speak of the fresco, with a level of fulfillment of more than 98% and with a punctuality of upper delivery to 90%. The second pillar is the efficiency of the operations worked from the concept of the flexibility and the capacity to tackle notable changes in very little time. In addition to reinventing us every year, are slopes of any innovation that there is in the market to implement it if we believe it convenient.

The collaboration in all the fields: first internally, involving to all the personnel in this reinvención and boosting the participation in pro of the continuous improvement, and with all the involved in the Supply Chain, looking for conjoint projects for the profit of the final customer.

Yes, and all this with a management of the Supply Chain global, from the provider until the linear of the shop. A part of the good results of these last years has been precisely focus the efficiency from a global prism, knowing that any improvement in the cost of the different links of the chain finishes repercutiendo to the Customer of positive form.

Yes, the management of the logistics of capraboacasa is another part of our logistics to which have given him a differentiation understanding that the on-line business requires of some peculiarities, as they are the hipersensibilidad to the exquisite service and the additional profitability that it is necessary to look for by means of the operations. In this sense, have designed an exclusive logistical model for the on-line that think that is the one who guarantees us a better service and a profitability of the suitable channel.

With a turnover of almost 32 million euros, the sales of capraboacasa represent today near of 2% of the total of the company. Caprabo Is the operator with greater percentage of sales in on-line respecto the total. We were pioneering in the launching of the first on-line supermarket and have kept an increasing tendency of sales and of customers. Our base of customers is upper to the two millions. For Caprabo, the purchase in the on-line supermarket is a channel in growth.

Delicatessen of one of the supermarkets of the chain.

The on-line purchase

The type of on-line purchase is different to the of the shop. They are shopping of lower frequency and greater volume, in which the weight of the product of long length or uncomfortable to carry is high. “This does that the half ticket was greater thing that generates that the shopping concentrate in the first and last week of month, and besides that it was between week in hours that the customer was home”, explains Lligoña. This big estacionalidad is “a big challenge” to tackle from two points: from the profitability of the operations to be able to adapt the resources to the volume and from the management of the business to achieve increase the frequency of the shopping to straighten the demand.

Like this, the on-line shopping are less frequent (1,3 times to the month) and of greater amount in which 80% of the requests include cool product and the number of units bought of products of high rotation (waters, soft drinks, etc.) is greater. “It is important to stand out the convivencia of the on-line channel with the off-line, are channels that complement well in the case of Caprabo”, aims.

Is a channel of future that offers multiple possibilities of development in which we are working. Some day this market despuntará in Spain and Caprabo is very very positioned. We see clear the margin of growth that this channel has in our country, with a quota of the on-line inside the total feeding of 0,6%, when we compare it with the one of other more mature countries in the retail like United Kingdom, with participations of 6%.

Yes, in our logistical is a priority that the súper cool was in shop in the morning, only having happened some hours in the warehouse so that the customer can have the product with the greater possible freshness. From here, we look for synergies with the rest of sections to optimise the routes of distribution. I would say that the complicated is not so much the store the different types of products —since this remains solved having the installations conditioned for this—, but distribute them, in the measure of the possible, of conjoint form, to reduce the trucks and consistently the environingingmental impact that supposes.

Split that in Caprabo have of several types of shop with different volumes to transport, thus we have to do deliveries multitienda to fill trucks. In 2005 we implant a tool advanced of management of the transport (TMS) that schedules us the routes daily of dynamic form in function of the volume to transport with the aim to realizar the minimum number of possible kilometres, especially in empty, and prioritising the arrival in hour of the truck, especially in cool product. This tool has contributed us a reduction of 10% in the kilometres realizar by our fleet.

In Caprabo say that the management of these indicators is like having some scales. There are projects that improve clearly the two indicators at the same time, like the mentioned TMS, but there is other that one goes to the detriment of the another and it is necessary to swing which service give to the cost that can allow you. It prioritario Is to have clearly defined your logistical model and how convive this with the model of business and afterwards put the suitable resources for this. It can not have a desalineamiento of logistical strategies and of business. Also it is important that in any change posed have the two present indicators and see how evolve to take decisions.

Is clear that the sensitivity to the service is especially critical in the on-line trade, since the customer, in the moment that closes the process of purchase in the web, already has this product in the date and agreed hour. If a customer asks rice and knows that tomorrow of 18 to 20 hours will have it in his house, can decide dine rice with his friends. If this product fails, the customer will be totally unsatisfied no only with the service but also with teachs it. According to the global data, only there is break of the request in 0,2% of the cases.

Yes, therefore the logistical model that design for the on-line trade has to loan special attention to the service. But no only it happens with the fault of product, the experience of the delivery of the this home of the customer has to be exquisite since in a lot of cases is the only person that interactúa with him in an on-line purchase, in addition to treating the products of different form, etc. There Is a lot of way that visit in the experience of purchase of the on-line consumer of feeding and Caprabo, with the new logistical model that has exclusive for Capraboacasa.com, is prepared to tackle it.

In this sense, the sector of the distribution has evolved a lot and Caprabo especially. The management of the Supply Chain global carries to that manage all the chain until the linear, with what the management of stocks and requests carries from an only vision in which all ends in the sales. We are implementing tools of management of automatic requests in function of the sales and integrating them in the flow of information of the chain of supply to be able to contribute value from the management of the stocks and the alisamiento of the demands since all variability carries some intrinsic costs that it is necessary to try minimise.

The route of a potato

Have wanted to ask him to Pol Lligoña the route that does, for example, a potato from the earth in which it grows until the table of the on-line consumer. As it explains us the director of Logistics of Caprabo, the provider recolecta the potatoes and prepares them for his commercialisation. Afterwards it delivers to the central platform of frescos of Caprabo the necessary quantity for the supply of all the shops, included the e-commerce. To the platform of e-commerce travels the necessary quantity of potatoes for the on-line requests. There it prepares the request individualizado of the customer, packs and sends with van until his domicile for the delivery. “All this with a very taut flow that allows that in question of hours the product can be home of the customer, guaranteeing like this his freshness”, adds Lligoña.

For Caprabo, one of the three keys for the evolution of the Supply Chain of the future is the collaboration. It is important that understand the chain of supply like a fundamental element that has to contribute value to the final consumer and leave to have partial visions of all the links of the chain. In Caprabo, carry years working in this sense, creating equipment of work with all the manufacturers to improve each one of the chains of supply. This collaboration is giving very good results and the truth is that the assessment that do all the parts involved is very good.

The revolution no longer is to include the logistical management in the organisations; the revolution is to think that the logistics contributes value and thus you need a sufficiently qualified structure for this. Besides, no only we speak of managers of logistics in the organisations but of managers of Supply Chain, that is a much wider concept that looks for precisely have the global vision of all the chain until the linear or the final customer and give him value in his globalidad. Every time we have professionals more qualified and prepared for the management of this new reality.

Whenever it was very managed from three points: the approach to the customer and the service; the profitability of the operations (especially, with a big flexibility) and the real and narrow collaboration between all the members of the chain.

Precisely, our challenges go through to improve in the three approaches that finish to mention, especially in the flexibility of the operations, being able of replantear and adapt the logistical models to the changes that go requiring the business and in boosting the collaboration no only with the manufacturers, but with the customers (internal and external) and the Administrations.