Tobar’s unique use of MetaPack improves multi-channel fulfilment
Tobar are harnessing the MetaPack Delivery Management system in a new way which assists the visibility in their multiple fulfilment channels. As well as supplying to trade, Tobar have a number of divisions; Hawkins Bazaar, Letterbox, Stocking-Fillers and Something Personalised who sell to the end consumer through their online sites and mail order catalogues. They also operate more than 60 physical stores for their Hawkins Bazaar and Letterbox brands.
Store stock is replenished from their warehouse in Suffolk and sent out via courier. In the past Store Managers have had very little information on these consignments except what they could potentially expect as inbound to them, which was often found to be inaccurate or affected by delays with the carrier. To solve this problem Tobar have provided their stores with individual log-ins to their MetaPack system, which among other things, manages the delivery of stock to store. The Store Managers now have a wealth of accurate and up-to-date information at their fingertips: they can see the status, size and contents of any consignment bound for them as well as immediately pinpointing any problems in the delivery as they arise and proactively take steps to mitigate the situation. Neil Springall, Head of Warehouse Operations, explains, “Our store managers can now log into their own store account on a daily basis and search for all consignments specifically for their postcode. The stores can then search on statuses, for example seeing all of the consignments that are actually out for delivery and exactly how big the consignment is in boxes. By selecting other statuses such as ‘Allocated’ they can see what is currently being picked and packed in the warehouse ready for despatch to them i.e. what is likely to arrive within the next 24-48 hours. This is great in our peak season for planning of staff in the stock rooms.” He goes on to say, “MetaPack has been fantastic in that it allows the stores to have almost total control of what is coming, what is about to come and see where any delays or issues arise.”
As well as this inventive use of the system, Tobar have made use of the multi-carrier platform to speed up despatch and eliminate bottlenecks as staff can now use any pack-bench for every carrier rather than being limited to each carriers’ own system. In this way there has also been a marked decrease in the need for staff training where it now only take approximately one hour to teach someone use MetaPack competently rather than the several hours needed for the various different carrier systems. Furthermore, with the automatic allocation feature, Tobar have experienced increased accuracy and reduced costs with all consignments being allocated to the correct service and carrier based on pre-defined criteria, rather than relying on the packer’s judgements.
Springall concludes, “MetaPack has truly revolutionised our business, it’s saved us both time and money. It’s just so simple to use and it has increased productivity and efficiency throughout our warehouse operation. Even Customer Services have experienced the benefits with tracking emails reducing inbound queries by 14% and through feedback we know there is a greater level of customer satisfaction too.”