QUEENSLAND'S GERMAN CONNECTIONS - PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

“What you put in, you get out” It took a year to research and install the eight-zone belt system, its efficiencies such that Crest achieved Return-on-Investment within two years. Dexion was so impressed, it’s been shown-off to other clients, and they’re not alone: when Crest handled Sony products, Australian management came to inspect the Brendale operation, and promptly summoned a team from Tokyo headquarters to check it out! Crest is one of only six fully EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) compliant wholesalers in Australia for order replenishment, its systems delivering 99.8% accuracy; put another way, out of 70,000 order-picks, just a dozen may need to be revisited. Stocktake, done on a rolling basis across three inventory classes, achieves equally impressive figures, one example being a $180.00 discrepancy in $5.5million worth of stock (that’s a percentage requiring three decimal places before there’s a digit other than ‘0’). One-third of the 12 warehouse staff have 10 years’ service, most at least five, and no time has been lost to injury or workplace accident for almost seven years. “I am as proud of both my families today as I am of my very first audio cassette and VCR head cleaning products,” Wolfgang says, adding, with a mischievous twinkle in his eye, “Will you need to explain what ‘cassettes’ are to the younger readers?”

Now for a brief look at the business in action: we meet Warehouse Manager Rainer Globke – about as Aussie in speech as his name is German and another name on the long-service honour roll (he’s been with Crest since 1993). He’s master of a domain just about big enough to house a Boeing 737 were it not for the two dozen aisles stacked over three storeys high. Around 80% of Crest’s throughput is handled by the awesome automated capabilities of the ‘Pick to Light’ system which supplier Dexion customised to Crest’s needs, able to process volumetrics and units, calculate quantities, assess stock and identify number and size of boxes required to pack orders.

If you have a home entertainment system at your place...

we’re most likely behind it.

. AV CABLES . SURGE PROTECTION . CLEANING & CARE . ANTENNAS . TV WALL MOUNTS . IT ACCESSORIES .

From humble beginnings 35 years ago, Wolfgang Olbertz and his sons Dirk and Ralph have turned Crest into one of Australia’s leading AV accessory businesses providing a complete range of products to maximise your home entertainment experience. www.crest.com.au

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