The Challenge

Operating in 63 countries, World Duty-Free provides world class one-stop duty and tax free shopping for travelers worldwide. With over 2,200 shops in operation, World Duty Free has established itself as a leader in the international shopping space. To further cement their dominant presence in the travel shopping industry, World Duty Free took the initiative to review their warehouse processes to increase efficiency and ensure their warehouse teams were optimally supporting their customer-facing shops.

To support World Duty free in this warehouse analysis, Propel Solutions conducted a business review of the warehouse operations, warehouse layout and overall management systems to provide insight into maximizing benefits to all stakeholders involved.

The Objective

  • Process Review – Propel conducted process mapping sessions to create a baseline for the “as-is” model of World Duty Free’s warehousing operations.  Key Processes were mapped in their current state and critiqued by managers and staff to highlight any opportunities in the processes that could enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the warehouse.  The Propel team interviewed key positions involved in the process and conducted process observations of the activities of the warehousing department.
  • Financial Driver Analysis – Propel worked with World Duty Free to highlight linkages between drivers of costs and revenues of the organization.  Using this model, World Duty Free was able to clearly see the opportunities resulting from moving towards a more defined warehousing operation.
  • Management Toolkit Analysis – Through a comprehensive Management Toolkit Analysis, Propel reviewed the current tools managers used to oversee performance in their areas.  Through this analysis World Duty Free was able to reveal a clear line of accountability to their company goals.

The Result

Through their analysis, Propel was able to highlight over 30 opportunities for process improvement and forecast an expected increase in productivity of 47%. These improvements will not only allow for a more streamlined warehouse operation but also translate into direct benefits for the end consumer.