Just has opened a herbal therapy products warehouse in Argentina

Health and wellness products

Just is a pioneer in natural cosmetics made from restorative essential oils and medicinal plant extracts from the Alps. CIt has been on the market for almost 90 years and has production centres in Switzerland and Argentina. Products are distributed from the Argentinian warehouse to national customers and, through a trading company, to other countries of the American continents such as Chile, the United States, Mexico, Colombia or Peru, among others.

Sales have steadily increased in recent years. According to Germán Darío Schubert, from Just's procurement and logistics department, “the company is in an unprecedented stage of growth” because millions of people purchase its products every day to enhance their physical, emotional and mental well-being.

Warehouse features

In response to this expansion, Just has opened a warehouse in Buenos Aires (Argentina), very close to its production centre. It occupies a 1,681 m² area and is dedicated to housing raw materials and finished products, as well as product packaging to be used.

“Initially, we needed a storage solution that could accommodate 2,500 pallets,” explains Schubert. Said solution had to be adapted to the company's wide variety of products, all diverse in size, weight and dimensions.

With this in mind, Mecalux has installed pallet racks, a versatile solution so that Just can manage the multiple SKUs its catalogue holds. They use virtually the entire warehouse area with its 14 m vertical height and storage capacity for 3,800 pallets (more than the company expected).

The racks were also supposed to help with the daily work: this warehouse receives and dispatches 150 pallets per day. On the one hand, pallets arrive from suppliers that have sent raw material and packaging which, depending on demand, are sent to the production centre. On the other hand, finished products are placed in the warehouse, pending the preparation of customer orders.

One of the advantages of the racks is that it provides direct access to products, which yields great agility in managing goods and preparing orders.

Germán Darío Schubert - Supply chain and logistics department at Just
“We decided to work with Mecalux because of the company's track record in the market. We have also opted for pallet racks due to their quality and sturdiness. We are very pleased with how our business has benefited.”

Warehouse organisation

In order to achieve greater productivity, it is essential to have a good organisation of the materials and, ultimately, of the operations.

“We place the raw materials on the lower levels of the racks because they involve heavier pallets,” states the warehouse manager. These locations are also more accessible, so operators can collect the raw materials set there and send them to production with minimal effort. Contrarily, lighter products and also packaging are put in the upper levels of the racks.

The warehouse has been divided. One area is reserved for raw materials and another for finished products. This speeds up storage tasks, because when they receive a product, the operators already know in which area they should deposit the product.

Operators use trilateral forklifts, which are ideal for storing pallets at high rack locations. These units have a rotating head that allows the pallets to be picked up and left in three positions: one frontal and two lateral.

Putting the ‘O’ in organisation

Just’s warehouse has dual functions: sending raw materials into production and receiving and distributing finished products. Therefore, the proper organisation of operations is fundamental to avoid any interference or chance of errors.

The racks installed by Mecalux are very tall (they measure 14 m high) so that they exploit all the available surface area and provide the greatest possible capacity. Furthermore, by virtue of direct access, merchandise management is much more agile.

The company delivers natural cosmetics to dealers as quickly as possible, meaning the customers can purchase them at their usual points of sale. Thus, customer have them when needed and benefit from the restorative properties of the medicinal plants promptly.

Advantages for Just

• Easy stock management: the direct SKU access helps to store products and prepare orders easily.
• Well used space: the racks optimise the entire 14 m high warehouse surface, thus, providing storage capacity for 3,800 pallets.
• Goods distribution: the arrangement of goods in the warehouse is designed to facilitate operators' tasks. As a result, heavy products and raw materials are deposited in the bottom levels of the racks because they are more accessible.