From Transport to Supply Chain
Magnum Logistics began as a transport business providing palletised network services via the Palletways Network. Over time, the business expanded beyond haulage into a broader warehousing and supply chain role, redefining what it offers customers.
Today, Magnum positions itself as a one-stop shop that can support customers from customs clearance through to handling, deep sea movements, and into the domestic market. That shift changes expectations. A transport-led operating model can work on experience and local knowledge. A multimodal supply chain provider needs consistent process, shared data, and customer-grade visibility.
This evolution was accelerated by a premises move. With a new, much larger site, Magnum needed a system that could monitor freight moving in and out at scale, and give customers confidence that what they were seeing matched reality.
“We are traditionally a transport business that can provide palletised network services via the Palletways Network. We have now become a warehouse supply chain provider, which is now changing our parameters and what we do, it’s almost a one-stop shop.”
– Christian, Managing Director
The mission is clear: deliver a higher standard of end-to-end service with the transparency and operational control that blue-chip customers expect. But that mission exposed a gap between ambition and tooling. Magnum’s warehouse processes were still anchored in spreadsheets and experience-led decision-making.
Overcoming Warehouse Traceability Challenges
Excel created friction
Prior to implementing a dedicated WMS, Magnum was working with an Excel spreadsheet-based warehouse approach. That is common in businesses that have grown quickly, but it creates problems at the exact point a business becomes more complex. Spreadsheets can record activity, but they struggle to provide live truth, consistent process enforcement, and a single version of reality across teams.
As Magnum’s operation expanded into multimodal workflows, the cost of those limitations increased. Inefficiencies became easier to create and harder to spot. Exception handling became more time-consuming. And perhaps most importantly, customer confidence became harder to earn without a system that could evidence exactly what was happening.
Trust needs transparency
For Magnum, the biggest driver was customer trust. In logistics, trust is often built through visibility. Customers do not just want assurances, they want to see what is happening, and they want confidence that the data is accurate.
“Clarity is very, very important and it’s immediate clarity as well. It’s for our customers to make sure that they can actually trust us to do the job that they’re asking us to do.”
– Eddie, Commercial Director
When you are speaking to blue-chip customers, that expectation is even higher. Magnum needed the ability to show transactions, trace goods in and out, and present an operational picture that could stand up to scrutiny.
Scale demanded control
The move to a larger premises increased the urgency. More space can unlock growth, but it also increases operational risk if systems are not strong enough to keep stock movements controlled and visible. Magnum needed to organise putaway, track movement, and provide reliable data to customers across a bigger footprint.
This is where the Hero’s Journey tension rises. Magnum’s ambition outpaced its tools. The business needed a system that could replace experience-led workarounds with repeatable process, and replace spreadsheet fragmentation with one unified source of truth.
Guiding Magnum Toward Cloud WMS Transformation
Choosing a software partner
Magnum’s leadership framed the decision as more than buying software. In a multimodal business, the right software partner is vital because operational success relies on continuous development, alignment, and a shared commitment to evolve.
Magnum viewed that partnership lens as central, not optional. A system provider must be there tomorrow, must support the business through growth, and must have the long-term ambition to keep improving the product.
“It’s vital to have the right software partner in a multimodal business… having seen our operation prior to utilising a fully inclusive warehouse management system, sometimes it can be very difficult and it adds inefficiencies.”
– Eddie, Commercial Director
Clarus WMS was selected as part of that long-term view, offering cloud-based capability and the potential to evolve through ongoing development that benefits multiple customers, including Magnum.
Future-proofing the operation
Magnum specifically wanted to future-proof. The goal was not simply to resolve today’s issues, but to choose a platform that could be updated over the next five to ten years and continue to support new requirements as the business develops.
“We looked at various different systems but what I wanted to do… is to future proof. I wasn’t interested in just doing something that’s going to resolve my problems now.”
– Eddie, Commercial Director
This mindset shaped the direction of travel. Magnum was building a supply chain operation designed to grow, and it needed a WMS that could scale, integrate, and support increasingly sophisticated customer needs.
Implementing The Solution: From Planning To Execution
From spreadsheets to one system
The transition from an Excel-based approach to a fully integrated, cloud-based warehouse management system was not a minor step. Magnum described it as a rapid acceleration in capability, especially in the ability to see and monitor transactions and trace goods through the operation.
“Moving from an Excel spreadsheet based warehouse management system to a fully integrated cloud-based warehouse management system, it’s not like taking a step up, it’s like running up a flight of stairs.”
– Eddie, Commercial Director
With Clarus WMS in place, Magnum could track goods in and out, monitor stock movements, and provide internal teams with consistent access to the same data. That consistency reduces conflicting versions of truth and supports better execution across colleagues and shifts.
Customer access and visibility
A core part of Magnum’s implementation outcome was customer visibility. Clarus enabled customers to access the system and see their stock, creating transparency and strengthening the trust relationship.
“Clarus allows us to do that. It’s allowed us for a greater level of transparency, not only for ourselves and our colleagues but for our customers, and they’re able to actually access the system and see their stock.”
– Eddie, Commercial Director
This is especially important when serving customers who need proof, not promises. Providing portal-style visibility helps customers feel in control and reduces the operational friction of routine status queries.
Process over experience
Magnum also made a crucial operational point: scaling requires process, not just experienced people. When work is done based on individual knowledge, it becomes harder to replicate and harder to train consistently. A well-rounded system supports a process that can be taught to anyone and followed by every colleague.
“The real challenge is process over experience. You must have a process that can be fed to anybody… and having a good, well-rounded system that is in place is absolutely critical to us.”
– Eddie, Commercial Director
Magnum described the power of one unified system with a memorable analogy. With a single system, teams share one version of truth: they can all see stock movements, transactions, who entered them, and when. That creates control.
“Man with one watch knows the time, man with two is not sure… by having one unified system we’ve all got access to the same data… and that is giving us a real sense of control.”
– Eddie, Commercial Director
Responsive support
Implementation success is also shaped by how quickly users can get help. Magnum emphasised user friendliness and the value of immediate support through chat when questions arise. This reduces adoption friction and keeps day-to-day operations moving.
Results Achieved: WMS Success In Action
Immediate clarity and traceability
Magnum’s results are described in operational terms focused on transparency, traceability, and customer confidence. With Clarus WMS, the business can see transactions, monitor transactions, and trace goods moving in and out of its operation, which Magnum described as “worth its weight in gold.”
“The ability to see transactions, to monitor transactions, to actually trace those goods in and out of our operation is absolutely worth its weight in gold.”
– Eddie, Commercial Director
This capability is especially relevant when working with blue-chip customers, where visibility, control, and professional-grade systems are part of the buying decision and ongoing service expectation.
Supporting growth through control
Magnum framed its warehouse transformation as one of the most important developments in the business over the past 10 to 15 years. That statement signals the strategic value placed on warehousing as a growth engine, not a back-office function.
Eddie, Commercial Director
“The warehouse for us is probably one of the most important things that we’ve done in our business in the past 10 to 15 years. We needed someone to support us in that growth.”
– Christian, Managing Director
With organised putaway, shared data access, and customer visibility, Magnum is building an operation designed to scale while maintaining control and service consistency.
Partnership and agility
Magnum also highlighted alignment between Clarus and Magnum in terms of long-term ambition and development focus. The goal is agility: the ability to adapt processes and even develop new products, with system development feeding back into customer value.
“The alignment between Clarus’ long-term ambition and Magnum’s long-term ambition is really the fact of development and working in partnership… it’s got to be agile enough to actually help us adapt what we do.”
– Eddie, Commercial Director
Client Reflections And Lessons Learned
Customers feel the benefit
Magnum repeatedly positioned the WMS benefits through a customer lens. The system matters because it improves customer confidence, gives customers visibility, and supports a service experience that stands up to enterprise expectations.
“It’s not about the benefit to us, it’s about the benefit to our customer.”
– Christian, Managing Director
This is a strong reflection of a mature supply chain mindset. The more customers can see and trust what is happening, the more likely they are to expand scope, deepen partnership, and commit long term.
One system creates control
Magnum’s “one watch” analogy highlights a wider lesson. Multiple tools and spreadsheets often create conflicting truths. A unified WMS reduces uncertainty by giving everyone access to the same data and the same transaction history. That supports better execution and faster decision-making.
Supplier longevity matters
Finally, Magnum placed high value on supplier stability. They wanted a partner that will be there tomorrow, with the ambition to keep developing the product in ways that benefit customers over years, not months.
Your Path To WMS Success
Magnum Logistics’ journey shows how a transport-led organisation can evolve into a multimodal warehousing and supply chain provider, but only if systems evolve too. Moving from Excel to a fully integrated cloud WMS gave Magnum immediate clarity, transaction-level traceability, and customer-facing transparency, helping the business present a professional, auditable operation to blue-chip clients.
If your business is shifting toward broader supply chain responsibility, managing more complex flows, or scaling into larger premises, the lesson is clear. Process must replace experience-led workarounds, and one unified system must replace fragmented versions of truth.
Discover how Clarus WMS can help your organisation build the traceability, transparency, and agility required to scale confidently, while giving customers the visibility they need to trust you with more of their supply chain.