Online action sports retailer, Freestyle Xtreme, which operates 20 international websites and ships to more than 60 countries across the world has implemented a cloud-based warehouse management system from Snapfulfil.
The implementation follows a rapid period of growth which has seen the company grow by more than 100% in the last twelve months. The rapid growth meant that the warehouse management module of the retailer’s ERP system was no longer adequate. The company’s 15,000 sq ft warehouse in Bristol stocks around 30,000 SKUs and 100,000 items and typically handles in the region of 800 orders per day, a figure which can more than double in the run up to Christmas peak.
Freestyle Xtreme’s customer experience director Ben Richardson said: “Our needs had grown beyond what our old system could handle and the warehouse had become a ‘black hole’ for inventory with little visibility of stock once it was received.”
“Due to the lack of process, we also relied heavily on the experience of our people to know how to work around the limitations of the old system and it was taking a good couple of months for new people to get fully up to speed, creating a lot of room for errors.”
Compared to the same time last year, the operation is handling 108% more volume with only three additional people, working an eight, rather than a 12-hour shift. Richardson said that despatch and stock accuracy had also improved. “We’re picking and packing much more quickly since implementing Snapfulfil and despatching the majority of orders the same day. We’re also expecting to realise further efficiencies as we utilise more of the functionality within the system. After years of manual counting in of stock, Snapfulfil has also given us vastly improved stock accuracy and integrity and another major benefit is the ability to use the system to conduct a rolling stock take, eliminating the need for a manual stock take and saving five people two weeks of work.”
Image credit: Freestyle Xtreme
