Over one-third of all daily passenger rail journeys in the UK are conducted on an Alstom-built train, while two-thirds of the trains on the London Underground are made by Alstom. This means that on-time deliveries and real-time traceability are critical for making sure people across the country can complete essential daily journeys.
Alstom and Wincanton have worked in partnership since 2018, with Wincanton providing a dedicated service to manage and control the flow of materials for the maintenance and refurbishment of passenger trains in the UK.
First-class service
A major expansion of the partnership took place in 2021, with Wincanton providing full logistics support for the UK’s largest ever train refurbishment project; the £117 million interior refurbishment programme of the 56-train strong Class 390 Pendolino fleet for Avanti West Coast at Alstom’s Widnes Technology Centre.
The programme is transforming all 56 of Avanti West Coast’s Pendolinos which have served routes between London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow, and Edinburgh for close to 20 years and the upgrade will return the whole Pendolino fleet to an ‘as new’ condition.
Wincanton is supporting the UK’s largest ever train refurbishment project with an optimised storage solution for the inventory and service demands of the Class 390 Pendolino fleet refurbishment programme. In addition, the facility will be used for both recycling and waste management from site.
The Haydock warehousing solution went live in summer 2021 and provided the opportunity to consolidate Alstom’s warehousing footprint, delivering increased efficiencies and cost-savings for both parties.
As a result, Wincanton continues to undertake inventory management for Alstom from a 44,000 sq ft shared-user facility in Blackburn, servicing its ground transportation business, while managing all associated transport movements and depot deliveries.
Keeping on track
The partnership between Wincanton and Alston is focused on transforming the efficiency and effectiveness of operations.
Since 2018 Wincanton has reduced the overall number of vehicles required for the transportation of parts, minimising carbon emissions and reducing carrier costs by 18%. It also achieved its sustainability target of 0% of waste to landfill.
All stock movements controlled via WMS, compliance to accounting requirements has been exceptional. Stock held at both Blackburn and Haydock saw sample checks achieve 100% compliance following an external audit.
Wincanton’s outstanding health and safety record is built on solid foundations, encompassing robust compliance frameworks and a comprehensive management methodology. The Blackburn site has recorded four consecutive years without an LTI (lost time injury). The migration was completed with zero safety related incidents or accidents and with zero stock losses.
Both parties have benefited from a reduction in overall cost benefits. Inventory stock previously held at Warrington has been consolidated in Haydock using a more efficient storage solution, leading to a 20% reduction in the overall amount of space required with a corresponding reduction in warehousing overheads.
The consolidation of inventory to Haydock was completed with no disruption to Alstom’s business throughout the transition.
What the customer says
What the customer says:
“Alstom set Wincanton a significant challenge to define and deploy a fully SAP enabled warehouse and logistics solution. Wincanton stepped up to the challenge and, working collaboratively with Alstom, completed the deployment on plan and to budget. Wincanton has subsequently delivered a number of additional cost saving initiatives which have further delighted Alstom.
“Our relationship is thriving and Wincanton’s commitments to continuous improvement and operational excellence provides confidence to Alstom that our ambitious logistics strategy will be supported in full.”
Jonathan Roberts, Head of Logistics UK and Ireland, Alstom
18%
reduction in transport costs
20%
reduction in space required
0%
of waste to landfill
100%
compliance following external audit
33%+
of all daily passenger UK rail journeys are on an Alstom-built train
4
consecutive years without LTI
