A Sustainability-driven Division
Panasonic’s European HVAC Division, PHVACEU, operates with a clear mission: to create healthy, comfortable lives and societies by advancing air-quality and air-conditioning technologies, while supporting a more sustainable world through solutions such as heat pumps.
Its product portfolio spans residential air conditioners, commercial HVAC systems, natural refrigerant heat pumps (for space heating and domestic hot water), plus wider air-related systems including ventilation and air purification units.
For operations teams, this breadth translates into complex inventory profiles and a distribution footprint that needs to keep pace with growth, new product lines, and evolving market demand across Europe. Stock availability, picking accuracy, and on-time dispatch are not only service metrics, they influence customer confidence and brand performance in a highly competitive sector.
As PHVACEU continues to expand, the need for a warehouse management system (WMS) becomes less about replacing manual tasks and more about building a resilient operating foundation: live visibility, repeatable process, and scalable control that supports both performance and sustainability goals.
A strategic partnership begins
PHVACEU selected Clarus WMS to enhance operations across key warehouse environments, a decision positioned around reliability, usability, and the ability to automate and optimise core warehouse processes.
The partnership is significant in two ways. First, it signals an operational commitment to modern, cloud-based warehousing capabilities. Second, it reflects PHVACEU’s emphasis on building a system experience that supports internal teams and elevates customer service through transparency and control.
PHVACEU is the hero at the start of a new stage, stepping toward a more data-led, scalable warehouse operation. Clarus WMS enters as the guide, providing the structure, tooling, and partnership approach needed to turn that ambition into daily reality.
Overcoming WMS Challenges
Complexity without clutter
PHVACEU’s warehousing needs are shaped by variety and scale. Managing large inventories across multiple product types, with different movement profiles and service expectations, demands a system that can organise complexity without creating unnecessary operational friction.
A common failure mode in WMS programmes is replacing one problem with another: swapping manual effort for rigid workflows that slow teams down, or adopting platforms that bury vital information behind complexity. PHVACEU’s decision criteria shows clear intent to avoid that trap.
Intuitive execution matters
PHVACEU has experience with multiple WMS platforms. That context matters because it suggests the selection process was not driven by novelty, it was driven by practical warehouse reality: what users need to do, how quickly they can do it, and whether the system supports the day-to-day flow of inventory.
“Having used various WMS platforms in the past, I was impressed by how intuitive and adaptable Clarus is. It’s a system that does exactly what we need it to do, manage our inventory efficiently, without unnecessary complexity.”
– Mick Mooney, European Warehouse Operations Manager
This statement captures the core challenge PHVACEU needed to solve: improving inventory efficiency and execution while avoiding a bloated system experience that reduces adoption or slows the operation.
Visibility to prevent bottlenecks
As PHVACEU scales, operational success increasingly depends on visibility. Teams need to see inventory levels, order status, and warehouse performance quickly enough to make decisions before issues become delays.
A WMS cannot simply record what happened. It must show what is happening now, so warehouse managers can respond to bottlenecks early, coordinate between departments, and protect service levels as volume increases.
Traceability as assurance
Traceability is both an operational and governance requirement. PHVACEU needs to ensure every SKU is trackable through receipt, put-away, picking, packing, and shipping. That capability supports compliance expectations, improves audit readiness, and helps teams resolve exceptions with evidence rather than guesswork.
From a customer standpoint, traceability also becomes a service advantage. When questions arise about an order, stock status, or product movement, the WMS should provide a clear audit trail quickly, without slowing operations.
Scalability without overhaul
Growth introduces a structural constraint: systems that cannot evolve force expensive replatforming, disrupt teams, and create repeat change fatigue. PHVACEU’s scale and product evolution require a platform that can expand to new markets, support new product lines, and adapt to process changes without constant upheaval.
This is where cloud WMS strategy matters: updates, enhancements, and performance improvements can be delivered without the operational burden of repeated, disruptive upgrades.
Guiding PHVACEU Toward Transformation
Why Clarus WMS
Clarus WMS was selected to provide a cloud-based platform that supports automation, optimisation, and live transparency, while remaining adaptable enough to fit PHVACEU’s evolving requirements.
The system is positioned to improve core warehouse workflows end to end, including order picking, packing, shipping, goods receipt, and stock put-away. The aim is not simply to digitise, it is to build a repeatable operating model that reduces manual error, minimises downtime, and supports consistent performance at scale.
Real-time warehouse control
A critical factor highlighted in PHVACEU’s decision is real-time visibility. That visibility enables warehouse managers to make data-driven decisions and address issues before they affect service, such as capacity constraints, slow-moving exceptions, or picking delays.
Real-time control also supports better cross-team coordination. When the same live data is accessible to warehouse leaders, customer service, and planning teams, the operation becomes more aligned and less reactive.
Traceability by design
Clarus is positioned to ensure that every SKU is fully traceable, providing end-to-end visibility. This supports compliance and auditability, but it also improves day-to-day management through clear transactional history and accessible proof of movement.
For PHVACEU, traceability is not an isolated requirement. It reinforces customer satisfaction by enabling fast, confident answers to stock and order queries and supporting a consistent service experience across warehouses.
A platform to scale
Scalability was a key consideration. PHVACEU is growing, and the WMS needs to grow with it, across new markets and new product introductions. Clarus is positioned as a flexible platform that can adapt without frequent system overhauls or costly upgrade cycles.
Mick Mooney, European Warehouse Operations Manager
“As we continue to grow, having a system like Clarus, which can scale with us and offer real-time visibility, will be a game-changer for our operations.”
– Mick Mooney, European Warehouse Operations Manager
This quote reinforces the turning point: the decision to modernise is not only about solving current challenges, it is about building a warehouse operating model capable of supporting future growth with confidence.
Implementing The Solution
Collaborative rollout approach
At this stage, the partnership is in its early implementation phase. The project is described as not yet fully begun, with teams closely collaborating to implement the WMS across PHVACEU facilities.
This matters because warehouse transformation is not purely technical. Successful WMS adoption requires careful planning across workflows, data structures, user roles, training, and operational governance. The objective is to deploy a system that teams can adopt quickly, trust daily, and extend as requirements evolve.
Automation priorities
The planned focus areas include automating goods receipt, stock put-away, and order picking, plus using barcode scanning to improve inventory tracking speed and accuracy.
These priorities follow a clear logic. Goods receipt and put-away determine location truth. Picking determines service performance. Scanning enforces confirmation at the point of action. Together, these elements form a strong baseline for improving warehouse control and reducing avoidable errors.
Reducing manual workload
PHVACEU’s goal includes reducing manual workload so staff can focus on higher-value tasks. This is a practical transformation outcome when implemented well: less time spent on rework, manual reconciliation, and hunting for information, more time spent on managing flow, improving performance, and supporting customer needs.
“Partnering with Panasonic is a significant achievement for us. We’re proud to support such a prestigious company in optimising their warehouse operations.”
– Ben Percival, Clarus WMS
This quote works best in the story as a signal of intent and commitment from the guide, rather than as evidence of outcomes. It sets expectations for the delivery relationship, particularly around implementation support and value realisation over time.
Client Reflections And Lessons
Usability drives adoption
PHVACEU’s emphasis on intuition and avoiding unnecessary complexity is a useful lesson for any large-scale WMS rollout. The best-designed workflows fail if teams cannot adopt them quickly. A system that feels intuitive reduces training friction, improves compliance with process steps, and helps warehouses realise value sooner.
Visibility changes decisions
Real-time visibility is not only a reporting improvement. It changes operational decision-making. When teams can see live inventory, live order progress, and live performance signals, they can act earlier, reduce bottlenecks, and prevent problems that would otherwise surface as missed service levels.
Traceability supports trust
End-to-end SKU traceability supports compliance and auditing, but it also strengthens customer confidence. In practical terms, traceability reduces the time and uncertainty involved in answering “what happened to this product” questions. That speed and clarity often becomes a differentiator in complex supply chains.
Your Path To WMS Success
PHVACEU’s decision to partner with Clarus WMS reflects a modern warehouse reality: growth and complexity require live visibility, SKU-level traceability, and scalable systems that can evolve without constant overhaul.
At this stage, the partnership story is a commitment to transformation, with clear priorities: automate core warehouse processes, reduce manual error, use scanning to improve tracking, and provide customers and managers with real-time visibility.
If your organisation is facing similar pressures, increasing volume, higher customer expectations, more complex product ranges, and the need for reliable reporting, the lesson is consistent. The right cloud WMS can provide the operational foundation to scale with confidence, while improving accuracy, transparency, and service.
Discover how Clarus WMS can help your operation build real-time warehouse control, end-to-end traceability, and a scalable platform that supports growth without unnecessary complexity.