Bissell signs new 3PL contract

Bissell, a well-established brand in floorcare, known for its deep cleaning appliances and formulae, was the inventor of the world's first carpet sweeper and has a heritage spanning almost 130 years. The UK arm of the still privately owned US headquartered business is based in Old Windsor, Berkshire. Its UK supply chain manager Jon Sayles said: "In the past, our supply chain has perhaps taken a back seat in the business. However, earlier this year, we carried out a full supply chain evaluation exercise in the UK. Although we've been with our existing UK warehouse provider for more than 10 years, we felt that we needed a new partner that could help us achieve our ambitious sales growth targets over the next three years. As a result of this evaluation exercise, in October 2010 we appointed RCS Logistics as our new UK warehousing provider on a three-year agreement." At Corby, Northamptonshire-based RCS, commercial director Steve Gray said: "We are providing a total warehousing solution to Bissell, from receipt of containers, to order picking, palletising and spare parts distribution to meet their customer requirements. We've also invested in dedicated warehouse staff and a contracts manager, as well as new EDI warehouse interfaces, which enable customer orders to be uploaded directly from Bissell, providing 24/7 online access, so that Bissell can view stock levels and have full traceability and tracking of customer orders."