Blog Posts Faster Fulfillment for KURU Footwear
Key Takeaways
- A fast-growing online footwear store partnered with Saddle Creek Logistics for high-volume order fulfillment.
- They worked together to redesign packaging to increase efficiency and reduce costs.
- Adding mobile printing and point-of-pick packing helped to achieve a 20% improvement in productivity.
What if you could improve productivity by 20% while using less labor in your order fulfillment operations? Saddle Creek recently helped KURU Footwear to do just that.
A packaging redesign and mobile printing technology have helped the rapidly growing direct-to-consumer (D2C) company to accommodate growing demand for its stylish, supportive and incredibly comfortable shoes.
An in-depth case study details these initiatives and more. Following is an excerpt…
Continuous Improvement & Innovation
Growth is a constant for KURU, so Saddle Creek is always on the lookout for opportunities to create efficiencies and improve operations.
“Saddle Creek comes to the table with innovative solutions to help us surprise and delight our customers and make it easy for them to do business with us,” Carlin explains.
When increased order volume drove up shipping costs, Saddle Creek worked with KURU to design a shoe box that could serve as a self-mailer. Eliminating the need for additional packaging allowed for faster order processing. And since the new, environmentally friendly box is optimized to reduce dimensional (DIM) weight, the change resulted in significant cost savings.
Saddle Creek comes to the table with innovative solutions to help us surprise and delight our customers and make it easy for them to do business with us.”
~ Joel Carlin, Supply Chain Manager, KURU Footwear
Saddle Creek comes to the table with innovative solutions to help us surprise and delight our customers and make it easy for them to do business with us.”After implementing the new box design, the Saddle Creek team identified an opportunity to increase efficiency even further by incorporating point-of-pick packing and mobile printing technology for packing slips and mailing labels. They collaborated with KURU to convert its traditional paper packing slip to a 4-inch by 6-inch format that is compatible with mobile technology.
After implementing the new box design, the Saddle Creek team identified an opportunity to increase efficiency even further by incorporating point-of-pick packing and mobile printing technology for packing slips and mailing labels. They collaborated with KURU to convert its traditional paper packing slip to a 4-inch by 6-inch format that is compatible with mobile technology.
Point-of-pick packing and mobile printing technology require 26% less labor and improve productivity by 20%.
Now, when associates pick KURU orders, they print and insert the packing slip in the box and print and apply the mailing label right there in the aisle. This process requires 26% less labor than traditional pick/pack – a definite win in the current labor market. What’s more, Saddle Creek was able to improve productivity by 20%.
Read the full case study to learn more about this successful partnership.
Related to: Footwear Fulfillment, Fulfillment Technology, Increasing Productivity, Managing Growth, Selling Online