Dimensioners at the price of a coffee per day

Case Study

How did a telecom parts manufacturer automate data entry on shipping software with vMeasure + UPS WorldShip integration

Industry

Technology and Telecommunication
Product
Automated Dimensioning Systems

Process

Outbound Logistics

Use case

Outbound Logistics Automation
Integration
UPS WorldShip

Case Study Summary

The client is a manufacturer of telecommunication devices who upgraded from manual to automated dimensioning system to measure small and irregular-shaped electronics products at their outbound station.
The vMeasure device integrated with UPS WorldShip and eliminated manual data input by auto filling the shipping details under respective fields on UPS WorldShip’s application at the trigger of a barcode.
In addition to the UPS integration, the vMeasure team provided keyboard navigation that reduced interaction with the vMeasure Touchscreen. Thus, improving productivity, accuracy, and automating data entry.

Problems faced by the Client

Challenges in managing customer SLAs

The company was struggling to meet the SLAs with customers because of the laborious and time-consuming manual dimensioning process. This resulted in many lost contracts and reduced order volume.

Working capital issues

The delays at the outbound station increased the inventory carrying cost and warehousing cost which adversely affected the company’s ability to use working capital efficiently. This had a negative impact on its financial performance.

Product Damage

The sensitive telecom parts inside their devices were frequently damaged due to mishandling but the company could not identify the source. This decreased customer satisfaction.

Deviation from carrier standards

Manual dimensioning process made it difficult for the company to adhere to carrier norms with respect to packaging, labelling, and documentation. This led to additional handling fees and even shipment rejections.

Inaccurate Volumetric weight calculations

Since most of the electronic products were irregular, it was challenging to determine accurate dimensions and therefore, there was huge deviation between the values of the carrier and the company, leading to higher shipping charges.

Inefficient workflow

The manual dimensioning workflow had many redundancies and became slow as the warehouse staff switched tabs frequently to manually enter the shipment details on the UPS WorldShip portal.

Inability to automate shipping notifications

Since most of the data collection at the warehouse was on paper and inaccurate, the IT team were unable to provide real time shipping notifications to the customers.

Challenges in achieving KPIs

The IT manager’s KPI of expanding the IT infrastructure and security had major roadblocks because of data silos and the surge in inaccurate and scattered data.

Integration challenges with carrier’s API

The team did not have a compatible system that could easily integrate with the UPS WorldShip API because of sparsely available digital data.

Business Problems
Challenges in managing customer SLAs

The company was struggling to meet the SLAs with customers because of the laborious and time-consuming manual dimensioning process. This resulted in many lost contracts and reduced order volume.

Working capital issues

The delays at the outbound station increased the inventory carrying cost and warehousing cost which adversely affected the company’s ability to use working capital efficiently. This had a negative impact on its financial performance.

Product Damage

The sensitive telecom parts inside their devices were frequently damaged due to mishandling but the company could not identify the source. This decreased customer satisfaction.

Logistics Problems
Deviation from carrier standards

Manual dimensioning process made it difficult for the company to adhere to carrier norms with respect to packaging, labelling, and documentation. This led to additional handling fees and even shipment rejections.

Inaccurate Volumetric weight calculations

Since most of the electronic products were irregular, it was challenging to determine accurate dimensions and therefore, there was huge deviation between the values of the carrier and the company, leading to higher shipping charges.

Inefficient workflow

The manual dimensioning workflow had many redundancies and became slow as the warehouse staff switched tabs frequently to manually enter the shipment details on the UPS WorldShip portal.

IT Problems
Inability to automate shipping notifications

Since most of the data collection at the warehouse was on paper and inaccurate, the IT team were unable to provide real time shipping notifications to the customers.

Challenges in achieving KPIs

The IT manager’s KPI of expanding the IT infrastructure and security had major roadblocks because of data silos and the surge in inaccurate and scattered data.

Integration challenges with carrier’s API

The team did not have a compatible system that could easily integrate with the UPS WorldShip API because of sparsely available digital data.

Why did the customer choose vMeasure dimension system
over other dimensioners?

Telecom products varying in different structures and sizes was never a barrier for vMeasure as it is known for dimensioning almost anything from an envelope to a refrigerator.

Apart from dimensioning wide range of SKU units, vMeasure exceled in getting the right dimensions in <1 second.

vMeasure seamlessly integrated with the UPS WorldShip application to speed up and automate the shipping process. Additionally, the keyboard navigation feature enabled the staff to navigate between the vMeasure screens without having to interact with the touchscreen, allowing more mobility.

The warehouse associate was able to populate the shipment details at a trigger of a barcode, eliminating manual data input and an additional step of switching screens.

vMeasure Forge is a cloud-based application for storing, accessing, auditing, and retrieving of data across multiple devices from anywhere at anytime.

Apart from cloud access, Forge assisted in creating customized workflowsas per the dimensioning needs of the company without requiring technical knowledge since it functioned on a no-code basis.

The vMeasure device took a smaller footprint at the company’s outbound station, therefore, providing more mobility for the warehouse associate.

With adequate training, the vMeasure Parcel Ultima device could be assembled and prepped for dimensioning within 20 minutes.

Dimensioning Capability

Telecom products varying in different structures and sizes was never a barrier for vMeasure as it is known for dimensioning almost anything from an envelope to a refrigerator.

Apart from dimensioning wide range of SKU units, vMeasure exceled in getting the right dimensions in <1 second.

Software Integration

vMeasure seamlessly integrated with the UPS WorldShip application to speed up and automate the shipping process. Additionally, the keyboard navigation feature enabled the staff to navigate between the vMeasure screens without having to interact with the touchscreen, allowing more mobility.

The warehouse associate was able to populate the shipment details at a trigger of a barcode, eliminating manual data input and an additional step of switching screens.

Forge

vMeasure Forge is a cloud-based application for storing, accessing, auditing, and retrieving of data across multiple devices from anywhere at anytime.

Apart from cloud access, Forge assisted in creating customized workflowsas per the dimensioning needs of the company without requiring technical knowledge since it functioned on a no-code basis.

Physical Characteristics

The vMeasure device took a smaller footprint at the company’s outbound station, therefore, providing more mobility for the warehouse associate.

With adequate training, the vMeasure Parcel Ultima device could be assembled and prepped for dimensioning within 20 minutes.

How did the client benefit from vMeasure dimension system?

There were fewer billing disputes, both with the carrier and the customers, resulting in better cash flow management as payments were made and received in time.

The customer retention rate increased as more commitments were duly fulfilled because of increased productivity and order fulfillment rates. All these factors factors improved the brand perception, which was one of the major KPIs for the CEO.

The company started to eliminate all the redundancies in their process, which ultimately put them on a fast lane to become more competitive in the market.

Automation of dimensioning process had a multi-fold effect as it improved data accuracy, decreased labor costs, shipping costs, and operational expenses, gradually boosting the company’s bottom line.

The customized workflow and keyboard navigation feature combined with the ease of automated data entry on the UPS WorldShip to drastically improve warehouse productivity, reducing the time spent per package.

The logistics team were now able to comply better with the shipping policies of the carrier and this made it easy to negotiate better terms, creating a win-win situation for all.

Throughput rate increased since all the shipping data entry were done at the trigger of a barcode.

The transition to automated dimensioning solution brought more visibility to the operations and it helped the Director of Operations to identify bottlenecks and deploy resource appropriately.

The vMeasure + UPS WorldShip integration eliminated paperwork and increased visibility of every shipment as the process became digitalized and an audit trail was easily established.

The admin team kept the insurance and liability costs at a minimum because of reduced damage during transit or any other claims during the process.

Better visibility into the process improved resource allocation to deploy adequate budget for improving aspects of the outbound process where they will have significant impact on efficiency and performance.

The admin manager was able to exercise better regulatory compliance such as export control, materials handling, and customs requirements, eliminating the risk of non-compliance penalties.

What makes vMeasure the only vMeasure dimension system
capable of solving your needs?

vMeasure is an highly adaptable dimensioning as a service solution which can capture the height, length, width, weight and image of the parcel/SKU in <1 second. With an ability to dimension anything from envelopes to refrigerators using three different mount heights/modes (Small Sku Mode, White goods mode, All Parcel mode) all starting at just 130 USD a month. Check out the complete dimensioning range in the interactive below
vMeasure Parcel Ultima Specifications
Minimum Dimensions
(L – W – H​)
1.2 x 1.2 x 0.8 in*
3 x 3 x 2 cm
(* For items below 0.8 inches in height, a special envelope base plate is required)
Maximum Dimensions
(L – W – H​)
39.4 x 29.5 x 17.7 in​
100 x 75 x 45 cm
Accuracy
Cubes/Cuboids – 0.2 in / 0.5 cm​
Other Objects – 0.4 in / 1 cm
Mounted on
Table / Mobile Cart / Mechanical Conveyor
Data captured
  • Annotated SKU/Parcel image​
  • Additional SKU/Parcel image​
  • Custom fields for additional data capture during measurement
* For items below 0.8 inches in height, a special envelope base plate is required​
vMeasure Parcel Ultima Specifications
Minimum Dimensions
(L – W – H​)
2 x 2 x 2 in​
5 x 5 x 5 cm
Maximum Dimensions
(L – W – H​)
53.1 x 41.3 x 33.5 in
135 x 105 x 85 cm
Accuracy
0.4 in / 1 cm
Mounted on
Table / Mobile Cart / Mechanical Conveyor
Data captured
  • Annotated image
  • Multiple angles of SKU/Parcel
  • Custom fields for additional data capture during measurement​
vMeasure Parcel Ultima Specifications
Minimum Dimensions
(L – W – H​)
3.9 x 3.9 x 3.9 in​
10 x 10 x 10 cm
Maximum Dimensions
(L – W – H​)
78.7 x 59.1 x 55.1 in​
200 x 150 x 140 cm
Accuracy
0.6 in / 1.5 cm​
Mounted on
Floor / Mechanical Conveyor
Data captured
  • Annotated image
  • Multiple angles of SKU/Parcel
  • Custom fields for additional data capture during measurement
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