Up to 500,000 orders per month are picked by our high-level order picker trucks at Ecologistics
For its e-commerce clients, the logistics company Ecologistics provides fulfilment services, which means that the company is fully responsible for goods storage, receiving and handling orders and distributing goods to customers on behalf of particular e-shops. Since 2020, they rely on Toyota’s BT Optio high-level order picker OME100H and BT Vector VNA trucks.
About Ecologistics
Ecologistics s.r.o. is a global service provider for cross-border e-commerce, founded in 2017 in Jeneč near Prague Airport. Ecogistics s.r.o. started with one warehouse of 8,000 m2 and has grown extensively within a short period of time. In just two years, the company expanded its capacity almost fourfold, currently operating 50,000 m2 of warehouse area in three halls in Czech Republic – located in Jeneč, Dobrovíz, Chrášťany and Plzeň-Štěnovice – and 20 oversea warehouses and distribution centres, occupying more than 400 thousand m2 globally.
Facts and figures
- Company: ECOLOGISTICS s.r.o
- Location: Czech Republic
- Industry: Transportation, Logistics, Supply Chain and Storage
- Application: Shelving and picking, packaging and shipping of up to 500,000 e-shop orders per month
- Solution: 24 BT Optio OME100 order pickers, 6 BT Vector VCE150A VNA trucks with articulated chassis
Picking a diverse assortment at high pace
Ecologistics s.r.o., a subsidiary of Chinese group Zongteng, the largest Chinese logistics provider with branches on all continents, provides storage, picking, packaging and distribution of shipments to customers of mainly Chinese e-shops that sell their goods through Amazon, eBay and other e-commerce platforms. Roman Havelka, Operations Manager, details the logistics background of the company as well as the criteria and requirements that determined the selection process for such a demanding application in favour of Toyota:
"Material handling in giant halls filled with an incredible assortment of several hundred thousand items, the structure of which is a living and changing organism, relies on machines that can deliver. That’s where the Toyota BT Optio OME100H order pickers (24 machines in total) and BT Vector VCE150A come in handy, able to handle picking even at the highest levels and at a fast pace, up to 500,000 orders per month. We have evaluated the BT Optio trucks as the optimal machine for such a wide and diverse range of sizes and weights that we store.”
Using fleet data to manage the team of drivers efficiently
In addition to monitoring the use of the fleet, Roman Havelka also constantly watches over the human factor, which is why he regularly works with data from the fleet management system I_Site from Toyota:
"I_Site is an excellent and beneficial solution. I make use of all its features. From traffic management to battery charging, and thanks to impact management I know about all collisions, when they occurred and who caused them. Each driver logs in with his own code. I have been using the function of slowing down the machine on heavier impacts, which has helped to eliminate the worst offenses, but I will have to reactivate it, because the number of accidents is increasing again. It is becoming more and more difficult to persuade drivers to follow the rules and make them see correct behaviour is beneficial to man and machine. They do not realise that I_Site and the service technician are able to log the causes or mishaps. Instant information is worth its weight in gold to me."
Both in terms of people and material handling equipment, the scales tip in favour of Toyota
"We have successively issued several tenders for the equipment of individual halls. Toyota was able to win in each.
Toyota is the ideal partner: whenever there were any problems, we were able to solve them together. Allocating a dedicated technician who works almost as a semi-resident and is nearby, reduces reaction times. Reliable and friendly service is another piece of the puzzle making why Toyota has always won the contract in the end. The other three most serious competitors don’t come close to matching its performance levels.”
"To me, Toyota is first and foremost its people and their personal approach, not the technology, even though it is clever and of high quality," Roman Havelka explains. “The quality of service technician Patrik Hradský's work, and the personal interest of sales representative Pavel Pour, demonstrate the level of good customer care for me. This is where Toyota is currently number one. It is about more than simply invoicing the customer. Toyota itself wants to keep getting better. The customer care and interest do not end with the trucks sold. This is essential for me, and an integral part of the Toyota way," concludes Roman Havelka.