A successful export business

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Trixie moved to its present location in Tarp, close to Flensburg, five years ago. Since then, its warehousing and administrative offices have been expanded continuously and the staff complement has also increased during these five years from 135 to 265. This development is naturally based on a steady growth in sales, which is currently in double digits even in Germany. The start of further construction to enlarge the logistics and administration areas this year has already been announced. Managing director Volker Haak believes that the basic reason for the enduring success of the company is its full product range and 98 per cent delivery capacity, teamed with service and speed. Overall Trixie markets around 5 500 different products.One reason for the rapid processing of small orders is the installation a year ago of a fully automated order picking system. This now handles approximately 250 orders a day, with around 5 000 articles picked. The system is roughly 6 m high, with six lifts and two paternosters, and is operated by just eight employees, who are responsible for the withdrawal and replenishment of the approx. 3 500 articles in the machine. "To be accurate, the order picking system is a semi-automated manual warehouse," says Volker Haak. Haak adds that the system is now operating smoothly; optimisation is required only at the interface between the automatic order picking facility and the still necessary manual picking of large articles. Plans are being considered to extend the system in 2008 once everything is running perfectly.
Service for export partners"Sales via our international partners are growing even faster than sales in Germany," comments Boy Tadsen, export manager at Trixie. According to Tadsen, exports will soon account for half of all sales and will thus be on a par with sales in the German market. The company supplies partners in over 60 countries. In many of these countries Trixie is recording sales growth of over 20 per cent per annum. England, Italy, France and eastern Europe are currently the company's principal export markets, says Boy Tadsen. Trixie invited its key export partners to the "Come Together" international house fair in Porto, where distribution partners from 20 countries gathered at the premises of the company's Portuguese partner Orni-Ex. Managing director Joaquim Gomes and his team not only put together a varied programme, but also offered a glimpse of their extensive…