C Brewers: Allocation through API’s
The Challenge
C Brewers found their despatch process extremely labour intensive. Owing to utilising multiple carriers, personnel had the arduous task of copying and pasting the delivery details into the separate despatch systems. Labels were also printed individually, further impacting on productivity.
Tracking parcels was another laborious process; first they had to ascertain which carrier the goods were sent with and then contact the carrier for a status update before being able to advise the customer. C Brewers were therefore looking for solution where they could seamlessly input their delivery information irrelevant of which carrier they were choosing.
The Solution
Having heard about MetaPack through industry press, C Brewer immediately saw the benefits of using MetaPack with an API (Application Program Interface). An API is a language that enables communication between computer programs which with the help of a developer, found it extremely easy to write. Implementation of the software was completed within a matter of weeks, and the benefits were noticed straight away.
Information is now passed seamlessly between the two programs with minimal manual intervention and goods are automatically allocated to a carrier by pre-defined criteria; order number barcodes are now included as part of the pick note and with one simple scan the label is produced.With MetaPack in place, C Brewer have seen productivity increase by 93%.
Tracking information for all carriers is now available through one interface and email notifications are sent through to their customer with a link to the relevant carrier’s website. With the improved tracking facility they have seen their inbound customer queries reduce by 20% and these improvements have contributed to an overall growth of 70%.
"MetaPack has played a crucial part in our continued growth in our online businesses. It has enabled us to increase our productivity dramatically and helped us give our customers an improved level of customer service. This in turn has helped us increase the level of returning business.”
Les Sandys, Network Administrator
