How did a fulfillment center manage customer shipping charges through accurate dimensioning with the vMeasure DWS System?
Industry
Product
Process
Use case
Integration
Case Study Summary
The client is a fulfillment center providing same-day to 2-day delivery. They deployed vMeasure both in the packing and receiving stations to capture the volume occupied by a case and reduce shipping costs by providing accurate dimensions.
vMeasure Static Parcel Dimensioner enabled customized workflows that captured product attributes like fragility and special handling requirements to enable appropriate slotting measures.
The client has now improved slotting mechanisms and warehouse space utilization enabled by the volume data captured in the inbound stage. Their customers are also protected from unnecessary surcharges as our client provides accurate shipping charges.
Problems faced by the Client
- Business Problems
- Logistics Problems
- IT Problems
The company lost revenue since its warehouse space was underutilized because it did not have the actual volume occupied by an inbound case (The client billed clients on the volume occupied in the warehouse)
SKU damage was common, as their WMS couldn’t help slot items at the right place without accurate SKU dimensions and attributes
The company spent more on packaging since the orders went out in oversized boxes because they couldn’t get the right DIMs.
The orders usually went out in slightly oversized boxes, increasing dunnage and further adding to the shipping costs and surcharges.
Picking efficiency was reduced because the slotting mechanism was unoptimized during the inbound stage.
Absence of a simple picking process further led to delays in loading the trucks. Thus, the company could not meet its promised delivery deadline.
The company did not have a suitable solution to handle eCommerce orders
The IT team could not provide the resource to handle complex integration for the logistics team
There was insufficient space for an additional desktop for rate shopping if the dimensioner was installed
The company lost revenue since its warehouse space was underutilized because it did not have the actual volume occupied by an inbound case (The client billed clients on the volume occupied in the warehouse)
SKU damage was common, as their WMS couldn’t help slot items at the right place without accurate SKU dimensions and attributes
The company spent more on packaging since the orders went out in oversized boxes because they couldn’t get the right DIMs.
The orders usually went out in slightly oversized boxes, increasing dunnage and further adding to the shipping costs and surcharges.
Picking efficiency was reduced because the slotting mechanism was unoptimized during the inbound stage.
Absence of a simple picking process further led to delays in loading the trucks. Thus, the company could not meet its promised delivery deadline.
The company did not have a suitable solution to handle eCommerce orders
The IT team could not provide the resource to handle complex integration for the logistics team
There was insufficient space for an additional desktop for rate shopping if the dimensioner was installed
Why did the customer choose vMeasure Dimensioning Weighing Scanning – DWS System to solve the above logistics problems?
- Dimensioning Capability
- Software Integration
- On-Screen Customization
- Physical Characteristics
vMeasure Dimensioner covers all the major SKU sizes which need to be dimensioned
The accuracy and repeatability metrics aligned with the Operations teams' expectation
vMeasure enabled easy integration with their WMS and barcode scanner. The barcode scanner was used as a trigger for measuring the inbound SKUs. This allowed them to improve pack speed as the warehouse associate needn’t interact with the touch screen for each measurement
The captured SKU dimensions were automatically set to clear after 3 seconds to limit the additional step of manually clearing the measurement before proceeding to another
The UI was customized to include a field that could capture the SKU attributes, which was then pushed to the WMS
The volumetric weight was displayed along with the SKU dimensions
vMeasure Dimensioner was small and compact, fitting right into the packing station
The touch screen allowed the system to work standalone without needing a separate computer/laptop, thereby saving packing station space
vMeasure Dimensioner covers all the major SKU sizes which need to be dimensioned
The accuracy and repeatability metrics aligned with the Operations teams' expectation
vMeasure enabled easy integration with their WMS and barcode scanner. The barcode scanner was used as a trigger for measuring the inbound SKUs. This allowed them to improve pack speed as the warehouse associate needn’t interact with the touch screen for each measurement
The captured SKU dimensions were automatically set to clear after 3 seconds to limit the additional step of manually clearing the measurement before proceeding to another
The UI was customized to include a field that could capture the SKU attributes, which was then pushed to the WMS
The volumetric weight was displayed along with the SKU dimensions
vMeasure Dimensioner was small and compact, fitting right into the packing station
The touch screen allowed the system to work standalone without needing a separate computer/laptop, thereby saving packing station space
The vMeasure Dimensioning Solution
- The order details, along with the SKUs to be packed for the order, are displayed.
- The warehouse associate then scans the individual FNSKU to verify.
- Once all the items are verified using the FNSKU, the warehouse associate then packs the order and places the package on the vMeasure system.
- The warehouse associate scans the confirmation barcode to trigger the measurement on the vMeasure system.
- Once the measurement is triggered, the vMeasure system automatically dimensions the package and updates the corresponding data to Ship-Station
- The vMeasure system returns to the order ID scan screen automatically once the data upload to ShipStation is complete.
Benefits accrued by the client by using the vMeasure DWS System
- Business
- Operational
- Administrative
The company was able to make better use of its warehouse space since the WMS had accurate DIMs and product attributes for slotting
Improved customer experience and lowered packing expenses as the products went into the right-size packages and the items were not damaged
The throughput rate in the receiving station increased since the staff felt it easy to measure inbound SKUs
The company’s profitability grew as it lowered shipping costs with zero capital outlay
The pick and pack time was reduced by 30% because of the efficient slotting mechanism in the inbound stage
The SKU attributes were visible to the picker. Therefore, additional caution was given to that order during pick if the SKU called for it
Warehouse staff could push accurate dimensions to the shipping software easily
Reduced the efforts needed to dimension the parcel as it entered the warehouse
Reduced the time and resources spent on carrier chargebacks as the team shared accurate DIMs
Improved SKU safety during the put-away process since the WMS had SKU attributes to slot items at appropriate places
The team knew the volume of each item which enabled better warehouse space planning and utilization
The company could now rely on its records and data because of the accurate information derived from vMeasure
What makes vMeasure the only DWS System capable of solving your needs?
- Small SKU Mode
- All Parcel Mode
- White Goods Mode
- Mount Height
- Minimum Measurable Size
- Maximum Measurable Size
- Measuring Accuracy
- Dimensioning Size Range
- Mount Height
- Minimum Measurable Size
- Maximum Measurable Size
- Measuring Accuracy
- Dimensioning Size Range
- Mount Height
- Minimum Measurable Size
- Maximum Measurable Size
- Measuring Accuracy
- Dimensioning Size Range
- Small SKU
- All Parcel
- White Goods