MYOB Exo
Client Windsor Wholesale | Partner Acacia Consulting Services
Location AUS | Product Exo Business | Industry Wholesaling
Growing business picks the right stock solution
Windsor Wholesale is a wholesale distributor based in the northern suburbs of Melbourne. They operate a large warehouse and distribution facility, servicing their customer base of retail businesses throughout Australia.
Continually improving stock turnover is crucial for Windsor. Reducing the amount of time stock sits on the warehouse floor awaiting sale not only reduces costs, but also reflects Windsor’s ability to get product quickly to their customers, who expect their goods within 48 hours of order.
For Windsor to maintain its growth, it was challenged with replacing its slow and error-prone manual stock picking with an efficient and automated process.
“You must deliver great customer service and the right product – because great profitability is not going to come any other
way.”
Ian Hirons, General Manager, Windsor Wholesale
Problem
Stock picking is the priority
Windsor was receiving sales orders into their office via fax and then converting into packing lists. Workers would then use these pieces of paper to move through the warehouse picking products off the shelves. The selected items were loaded into a box and a hand written label attached. The worker had to then ring up the freight
company to come and collect.
The process was not only labour-intensive and time-consuming, it was creating pick errors that were costing money. When Windsor pulled the wrong items off the shelf and delivered it to the wrong customer, they had the expense of resending the correct item or generating a credit note for the returned goods. Both of which lead to dissatisfied customers and threatened future orders.
“Success for Windsor in the long-term revolves around managing stock turn”
Ian Hirons, General Manager, Windsor Wholesale
Solution
Scan & Pick for MYOB Exo
Windsor moved from a series of paper-based, manual processes to fully digitised system, where people are picking on a tablet computer and scanning barcodes.
Windsor worked with Acacia Consulting Services to develop a simple, but powerful, stock scanning solution using iPads and Bluetooth scanners, integrated with their ERP, to pick the correct items to deliver to customers.
- Orders come in from the website and, once payment is automatically verified, seamlessly load onto a tablet.
- A sequential pick scan process based on bin location plots the most efficient path through the warehouse.
- Built-in barcode validation using audible prompts ensures the correct items are picked and confirms when the order is accurately completed.
- Once complete, labels are automatically generated and an invoice is sent straight to the freight dispatch company.
“You really cannot underestimate the value of picking accurately”
Greg Ayton, IT Operations & Systems Development
Outcome
Windsor is meeting their client delivery turnaround expectations
Orders into Windsor are dispatched the same day with the customer receiving delivery the following day. Pick errors have been reduced to virtually zero, eliminating the need to regularly issue credit notes.
The data produced by the system now provides a meaningful set of measures that are tracked and used to make efficiency improvements and develop new processes.
“Acacia get involved in your business and they get a good understanding of what you want and they look at the problem from a customer point of view.”
Greg Ayton, IT Operations & Systems Development
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