Building relationships with our Netherlands Warehouse

Our Logistics team visited the Tiemex warehouse in Zevenaar, in the Netherlands on 14 July 2022.

Nicole Parker, Senior International Logistics Co-ordinator (who manages our account and rates for the 3PL) along with Amanda Harris, Logistics Administrator and Giovanni from Far Logistics visited the facility.

The main objective of the visit was to build better relations with the warehouse team, the logistics company and to see how our freight was handled/ stored and look at future additional capacity.

We met with Mike, Warehouse Manager and Daan, Operations Manager for a tour of the warehouse and a meeting to discuss any ongoing issues, resolutions and processes. While on site we were able to observe one of our scheduled hauliers collecting spas. This included the loading and how the haulier secured the goods.

More about the Warehouse

The Tiemex Warehouse is located in Zeevenaar, around 3km from the border with Germany and on a major European motorway system. It has 7,000m3 of storage space (around 9,500 pallets).

They are currently almost at maximum capacity, as are many warehouses in NL due to Brexit and many other UK suppliers wanting an EU base for their goods to be distributed. The warehouse is extremely well maintained and clean, with multiple truck loading bays and one container loading dock.

What happens when our spas arrive

Our containers are always scheduled to arrive at 12:00.  We are able to book spas out from the day after arrival/ once they have been checked in.  We currently hold between 100-150 spas at their Zevenaar location . Due to the size of our product, it is only held in one aisle on the ground floor, and also in a special location at the side of the warehouse where there can keep same models /colours together for easy picking. 

All orders are given a barcode on arrival. This will now always be used to select the correct spa for dispatch.  This will eliminate any wrong models/ colours being sent and will be followed by Superior Wellness and Tiemex.

All covers and steps are shrink-wrapped to the reverse of the spa, to avoid losses and damage to the goods. The only exception is when a partner is taking a full load of more than 12 spas, the covers and steps will have to be loaded around the truck.  The partner must be aware that this is at their own risk.

How to request a collection

Collection requests should be sent by partners to the logistics team at Superior Wellness.  Once full payment has been received by us, please email 24 hours in advance of the collection date to make the request via [email protected]

Tiemex will not take any instructions from the partner until we have requested the reference and provided barcodes. The hours of collection are 07:30 – 19:00.

Please note that the warehouse does not pick until the driver arrives, so we only need to give 30 minutes notice however the 24 hours’ notice gives us time to receive and provide the reference. We have agreed there will be no cancellation charges charged to us or put away fees for our products.

The warehouse uses a modern WMS (Warehouse Management System) where the goods are scanned in and out and can be tracked by barcode. Weekly stock reports are issued on Fridays at 12:00 local time.

Future opportunities

We have agreed to start sending cover lifters to the warehouse. These will be available to purchase as orders with spas, which will save our partners having to purchase separately from the UK.  Costs for this are pending but they will work on a small item picking cost.

Tiemex are looking to build another larger facility next to the current warehouse in 2023 which will allow us to increase our stock levels and keep more of the most popular models available for immediate dispatch, as well as swim spas.

Conclusion

The overall conclusion was that Tiemex are very happy with us as a client.  They feel that our product despite the size, is easy to store and manage.  They are looking forward to working with us in the future and helping us increase our capacity to supply European partners.