How Tesco manages the distribution function Available to Purchase

Tesco's distribution operation exceeds 2 million sq feet of warehousing and employs over 1,500 people. It has a vehicle fleet consisting of 250 commercial vehicles and 600 trailers. The direct cost of this operation exceeds £30m a year and moves a total of 125m cases each year. In this paper David Kirkwood looks at the radical changes in the retail sector which have taken place in the past ten years, and hazards some guesses as to what will happen in the next decade. Against this background he outlines “the Tesco review” — the changes which Tesco found it necessary to make to its distribution operation. David Kirkwood was speaking at a conference entitled “Towards excellence in distribution management”, jointly presented by the Institute of Physical Distribution Management and the Centre for Physical Distribution Management. This is a slightly abridged version of his paper.