Houston Bottling and Co-Pack Grows Business with RedPrairie


RedPrairie® Duty Management provides capacity for expansion

Stokenchurch, UK - RedPrairie Corporation, a productivity software provider, has supplied and implemented its Duty Management solution at Houston Bottling and Co-pack, an independent Scottish based bottling and co-packing company for the Scotch whisky industry. The solution has helped Houston to expand its company, generate new business and extend its service offering.

To support growth plans, Houston needed to extend its successful re-packaging services to include outsourced bottling for its customers, from a new site in Dumbarton. Before the system was implemented, all products for re-packaging had to be delivered to its Renfrew site already bottled, highlighting a gap in the market for Houston.

Houston selected Duty Management from RedPrairie as the IT solution that would deliver multi-site functionality and handle bulk products as well as coping with the legislative requirements of the increased bottling service. The company chose Duty Management because of its high level of compliance functionality and its ability to support a multi-site requirement.

Duty Management has allowed Houston to benefit from a reduction in time spent on customs returns, from 1 day to 15 minutes, giving back valuable management time and as the process is no longer manual, it cuts the risk of penalties for filing late or incorrect documents.

Michael Toal, Director, Houston Bottling and Co-pack, said, "As a business we were doing very well, to the point where we had outgrown our existing warehouse. We wanted to expand, and attract new business, and to achieve this, we needed to invest in a new warehouse, and needed a Warehouse Management solution with the capability to support our expansion plans. We also identified an opportunity to grow the business by offering increased outsourced bottling services, and invested in a new site in Dumbarton."

The solution allows remote management across either site, allowing Houston to control staff levels more efficiently, vital at a time when the company needs to be extremely competitive and drive down costs. It can schedule where labour is required, so if the co-packing business is quiet, it can mobilise the team to focus efforts to the re-bottling site.

Michael Toal continued, "Working with RedPrairie to implement Duty Management has helped us to open a new site, improve customer service and make significant savings. We have implemented the Bulk Liquid module for our bottling operation and plan to implement further modules including bonded Package and Rework to further capitalise on the opportunities we see as available at the moment."

Martin Hiscox, Vice Chairman of the Board, Managing Director and President International, RedPrairie, said, "A key reason for Houston selecting RedPrairie was because the company was impressed and reassured by the close link that RedPrairie has with Customs departments across the world. Houston can rely on our team of experts, who are in constant dialogue with Customs. This provides Houston with a direct link to the right people, making the company more attractive to potential customers, allowing it to generate new business."

RedPrairie's Duty Management is fully compliant with Customs legislation, and enables companies to cut costs by delaying payment of all Customs duties & VAT until the latest possible time, usually after the goods leave the warehouse.

About Houston Bottling and Co-Pack

Houston Bottling & Co-pack, an independent company was established in 1988. It has grown to a successful company providing the Scotch whisky industry with Bottling and Co-packing services from its bonded warehouses in Renfrew and Dumbarton.

The company also provides prior and post production storage for wet and dry goods, and can offer a decanting service for obsolete stock, and a global export service.

The business has been developed by nurturing long term relationships and providing excellent service to customers. Customers are encouraged to deal with Houston as a partner, acting as an extension to their own manufacturing facilities or their own bottling plant.

The Outsource Bottling operation is carried out in a 40,000 sq.ft facility in Dumbarton, which was opened in May 2008. Co-packing is managed from a 100,000 sq.ft warehouse in Renfrew, where customers including Chivas Bros and Diageo contribute to the million cases per annum that are packed and exported to worldwide destinations.

www.hbandc.co.uk

ABOUT REDPRAIRIE CORPORATION

RedPrairie delivers productivity solutions to help companies around the world in three categories - inventory, transportation and workforce. RedPrairie provides these solutions to manufacturers, distributors and retailers looking to reduce cost, increase sales and create competitive advantage.

With over 20 global offices providing services to over 40,000 sites in 50 countries, companies trust RedPrairie inventory, workforce and transportation solutions to deliver an immediate increase in productivity - with the flexibility to adapt as business needs change.

At RedPrairie, we understand today's operational demands and we're committed to delivering solutions that work. We're committed to delivering solutions for the real world.

For additional information, call 1.877.733.7724, or visit RedPrairie.com.

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