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Client: Leading Manufacturer of Home Soda Makers (HSM)
Our client is the world's largest manufacturer of home soda makers (HSM). Founded in 1991, the products of this international soft drinks company can be found today in over 10 million homes across the globe. The company's In-Home Beverage Carbonation Systems are distributed in the United States and Canada by its North American subsidiary, as well as through a network of authorized dealers.
Business Goal: Support Market Growth, Focus on Core Competencies
In 2006, HSM's products continuing to grow in popularity, the company was looking to better manage and support its growth by outsourcing its internal warehouse and fulfillment operations. Internal operations, which included 10,000 square feet of warehouse space and employee resources that were shared with another company, could no longer support HSM's current and future goals for timely, highly quality fulfillment of customer orders. Moreover, HSM wanted to focus its time and resources on growing its business – and not on managing ever increasing needs for warehousing, fulfillment and logistics.
Having made the decision to outsource, the company was looking for a third party fulfillment partner that could provide precision, on-time fulfillment; manage complex return/reverse logistics; support its advanced technology requirements; offered scalable operations; and matched its customer-satisfaction driven culture.
Solution: Full-Service, Technology Savvy Fulfillment Partner
As a proven outsourced fulfillment partner with over 20 years of experience, EchoData Group brought the focused expertise, quality orientation and information technology (IT) resources, to help get HSM's new fulfillment and logistics program up and running quickly and seamlessly – in under 2 months.
At its East Coast fulfillment center, EchoData manages HSM's needs through a complete range of warehousing, inventory management, assembly, and fulfillment services. Currently, EchoData processes 100 orders per day with an average of 9 line items per order. Shipped with each order is the company's Alco2Jet 110 Carbonator – a canister filled with C02 gas used in the home soda making process. The inclusion of the CO2 canisters in the order fulfillment process requires EchoData to properly label each customer shipment in accordance with hazardous material shipping requirements. Once empty, the C02 cylinders are returned by customers to the fulfillment center, where EchoData's dedicated fulfillment team processes and readies them for eventual re-use.
Unique Challenges: Seamless Integration of Internal and External Systems
For HSM, one of the key criteria in the selection of an outsourced fulfillment provider was the ability of the partner to work with its existing front-end Oracle-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. Leveraging the experience of its team of internal IT professionals, EchoData diligently worked to understand the flow of orders out of HSM's Oracle system and devised a solution that combines the use of the EchoData Manage 2000 ERP system and eLink customer web portal. Through an interface built by the EchoData IT team, the two ERP systems are seamlessly integrated, facilitating a more streamlined order and fulfillment process. With eLink, HSM management can also check on order status, monitor inventory levels, and create real-time reports, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Results: Delivering the True Promise of the Outsourcing Partnership
Leveraging EchoData's expertise, HSM has achieved measurable improvements in customer satisfaction, reduced costs, and more effective resource utilization. Since EchoData ships orders within 24 hours of receipt, HSM has improved service levels by as much as 20 percent and reduced time responding to shipping inquiries by approximately 6 hours a week. By taking advantage of EchoData's volume pricing with major carriers, HSM has also been able to lower freight costs. With EchoData's first in first out inventory control system, HSM has also reduced obsolescence/scrap on its perishable products by approximately 5 percent per month.
Leaning on EchoData's fulfillment experience has freed up the company's team to focus on the big picture issues of product development, sales and marketing that are core to its future expansion. "EchoData's core competency in third party fulfillment provides a trusted and sophisticated resource we can count on, enabling us to focus our time and resources where we want to the most," notes the Operations/Logistics Manager for HSM's North American subsidiary.
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