Together with Pivot Point back to school
Pivot Point helps people with a passion for hair. They assist hair salons and hairdressing schools to bring out their best. They came to us with an urgent, logistical challenge. Urgent, because the peak months were coming and their existing logistics solution was no longer adequate.
The key question of this case was clear. Can we assemble a large volume of packages despite a limited time frame? Of course we can!
After a thorough analysis, these logistical pain points and challenges emerged:
70% of the volume centralizes in the months of August and September.
Some of the orders are delivered directly to students.
The other part of the orders must be delivered in the respective schools, but the orders must be identifiable at the student level.
Can orders be delivered at correctly agreed upon times? In fact, many schools and its staff make themselves available specifically to receive these orders.
Give us a smooth and good understanding of our stock.
Stock management in the WMS (Warehouse Management System)
All products are barcoded, which already simplifies the process somewhat. This allowed internal transport to run smoothly and initial stock is correctly recorded in the system. In addition, different levels of packaging are barcoded , making it easy to receive future deliveries based on the barcode on the outer packaging. In this way, our smart order picking system can distinguish between individual packages and bulk deliveries for schools. Processing orders at the package level naturally saves time and improves efficiency.
To assemble or not to assemble?
In order for assembly to go smoothly, we need to know what a student pack consists of. Once we set this up within the Warehouse Management System, we were able to smoothly assemble the individual pieces into a finished product. And this despite the relatively short time between delivery of the products and the actual delivery of the orders.
Until corona disrupted this process. Deliveries were significantly delayed, making it almost impossible to receive the goods on time, assemble the packages and deliver them to the customer on time. We had to get together quickly to find a solution. We found it by making a small adjustment in the process.
Instead of assembling student packages in advance, we now apply the Pick To Box principle. Here the customer still creates their student packages in our WMS, but we no longer assemble them in advance. Instead, we process them at the time of delivery through our scan-driven picking process. In this way, Pivot Point maintains the flexibility to adjust packages at any time and can better track and utilize their inventory.
Thanks to this adjustment, we managed to provide each school and student with their teaching materials on time. Many thanks, and delicious Aarschot chocolates, from Pivot Point!
Accommodating annual peak demand
The moment of truth. There is no better description for the months of August and September. We know the end result by now. We were able to handle a fivefold increase in volume without compromising on quality. BME satisfied, the customer satisfied, everyone satisfied!
This success is possible thanks to: a strong preparation and follow-up discussion with the client, a good understanding of the procedures and a strong technological environment that can switch quickly when needed. And most importantly: a fast and short communication line between us and Pivot Point.
Delivering to schools
Another big challenge was in correctly supplying the schools in Belgium and the Netherlands.
Challenge: pallet shipments where all individual orders are readily identifiable at the student level AND the schools must receive the pallets by an agreed upon date.
The date in itself was not a problem and just a matter of adding delivery dates. Identifying orders, going to the same school, was a challenge though!
The solution: we ran the orders as if we didn't need to consolidate them. The trigger to consolidate was co-integrated at the packing table, redirecting these orders to a specific consolidation zone. Once all packages are scanned we get the green light and the order is complete. Thanks to our transportation partners, the pallets arrive at the desired time.
CONCLUSION
At the end of October, we evaluated the logistics with Pivot Point. There are certainly areas for improvement, but the feedback was positive on both sides. The schools were very satisfied from the correct and timely deliveries. As a result, less pressure ended up at Pivot Point. Everyone happy!
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