The old WMS gave too little insight
XXL Nutrition supplies consumers and, for a few years now, retail as well. Consumer orders are still the largest part, but most of the growth is in retail. The warehouse still works manually with scanners. There is no mechanization yet, although XXL Nutrition wants to look into it in the longer term.
“We were looking for a partner who could look along with us using data, so we could see what was happening on the floor. Our old WMS did not give that insight, so we were always behind the facts.”
Stephan Beekhuizen, logistics manager at XXL Nutrition
Several parties presented themselves, but Stephan and his colleagues had the best feeling with Diract. What tipped the balance was what Diract could do with data.
A reference visit to Sidekix gave confidence
Before XXL Nutrition made its final choice, Stephan and a few colleagues went on a reference visit to Sidekix, also a Diract customer. Sidekix ships different products, but like XXL Nutrition works with large volumes and pallets full of the same items. At XXL Nutrition, a thousand jars of creatine of a single product sometimes have to go out the door.
“There we saw that thought had gone into it”, says Stephan. “So it can be done this way.” What he saw at Sidekix, XXL Nutrition wanted for itself too. According to Stephan, they succeeded.
Live in half a year without downtime
In November and December 2025 XXL Nutrition started looking at a new WMS. After a few months of preparation came two to three intensive months in which XXL Nutrition and Diract determined what had to change, down to the layouts in the warehouse. On 19 June 2026 Ceyenne went live. Order processing simply continued during the switch, without major problems.
“The fact that the go-live went so smoothly is mainly thanks to Diract's good guidance in the implementation sessions.”
Stephan Beekhuizen, logistics manager at XXL Nutrition
In those implementation sessions XXL Nutrition and Diract agreed together on exactly what XXL Nutrition wanted. Diract also gave a tip that helped: keep the whole company informed. For the employees the switch was a bit of a shock at first. XXL Nutrition therefore played with open cards: something is going to change, we don't know exactly how it will turn out and we may run into something. That openness worked. The employees showed understanding and after the go-live positive reactions came in, especially from the team leaders on the floor.
ProGlove scanners free up the hands
New scanners arrived at the same time as the WMS. The order pickers walk a lot with carts, which they pull or push, and when packing too, employees always had a scanner in hand. With the big handheld scanners of the past they did everything with one hand. Now they wear a ProGlove scanner on the wrist and have both hands free.
Here too, employees were hesitant at first: did something now have to go around their hand or arm? “They saw very quickly that this works better than how we did it before”, says Stephan. You always have the scanner with you, and that makes the work easier. Stephan compares it to the switch to the WMS: a bit of getting used to first, then positive reactions from the floor. Diract was not yet working with ProGlove at the start, but included the scanners in the implementation, with an extra supplier on board. According to Stephan, that went almost without delay.
Workforce planning based on data
For Stephan the data revolves around one question: how many people does he need for the forecast of a day? Monitoring employees has never been the goal.
XXL Nutrition works with small, medium and large carts, divided by order size. Previously XXL Nutrition only saw an overall overview per cart. Now Stephan sees exactly when orders come in, where the peak of the large orders is and when the small ones arrive. XXL Nutrition combines orders more smartly, so pickers walk fewer meters. The company also receives advice on the placement of products. If certain products are located together, the picking round gets shorter and a picker with one cart sometimes only has to pass two rows. XXL Nutrition has already gained a lot from that, says Stephan.
“Before, it was a bit of guesswork, now we simply read it off.”
Stephan Beekhuizen, logistics manager at XXL Nutrition
With those figures XXL Nutrition can set fair KPIs for the first time. In the past the team worked on assumptions. “That isn't entirely fair to the people either”, says Stephan. Employees want to know for themselves what their goal is and what the average is. They indicate that they don't mind being spoken to when their pace falls behind.
Diract challenges established ways of working
XXL Nutrition has traditionally liked to do things its own way. During the implementation Diract regularly suggested trying something different. According to Stephan, without those suggestions XXL Nutrition could not have taken the steps it has now. “We never had that”, he says. “We always did everything ourselves.”
“XXL Nutrition thought for years that its own way was the best. A partner who occasionally says ‘try it this way’ delivered more than the company had expected.”
One example is replenishing the pick locations. Because XXL Nutrition does not want to stack products too high, the parties agreed on multiple locations per product. This way an employee does not have to replenish a hundred pieces in one go, which takes a quarter of an hour.
The dashboards look different now as well. XXL Nutrition always showed the number of orders, but order sizes vary widely. Diract therefore suggested showing order lines: the products employees actually pick. Stephan calls those suggestions refreshing, and the employees also liked that things were done differently for once.
The next step is a packing system
XXL Nutrition wants to mechanize step by step: first put something small in place and only continue if that works. As a first phase the company is considering a packing system that closes the parcels itself. Picking stays as it is for now.
“For a packing system we really need Diract. With their data we determine what fits in a box, which heights we need and how we control the labels.”
Stephan Beekhuizen, logistics manager at XXL Nutrition
With earlier partners XXL Nutrition did not dare to take that step. After that the company may look at picking or at automated storage. For every step Stephan wants a proper business case, based on what really happens on the floor.
Short lines during and after the implementation
Asked about Diract, Stephan first mentions the short lines. If XXL Nutrition runs into something, there is quick contact and a solution, without waiting for weeks. That is how XXL Nutrition wants to treat its own customers too. Ceyenne has meanwhile been accepted throughout the company, and trust in the consultants who did the implementation also grew quickly. “That trust is simply there”, says Stephan.
Stephan hopes other companies get something out of this story. According to him, some companies are stuck in their own way of working, while there is still room to do it differently.
“For years we thought our way was the best. A partner like Diract, who says: try it this way, then delivers more than we had thought ourselves.”
Stephan Beekhuizen, logistics manager at XXL Nutrition
