When NPFulfilment Needed Speed to Support Spikes in eComm, They Turned to OPEX®
“The footprint of the Sure Sort is so small; I can fit it under a Mezzanine and take advantage of all the space in the warehouse.”
Rodney Bartley, CEO, NPFulfilment
The Background
NPFulfilment started in 2002 in Sydney, Australia. At that time, the Company serviced direct mail auto-fulfilment. As ecommerce grew, so did NPFulfilment, a 3PL, that has since opened six warehouses across Australia and New Zealand. NPFulfilment uses the world’s smartest technology, to guarantee orders are picked, packed and ready to ship within two hours of receipt. With all of this growth, having a solution that was easily assembled and disassembled was important. More importantly, they needed a more efficient way to consolidate orders.
The Challenge
Implementing advanced technology to guarantee the best service offerings to their customers has always been a top priority for NPFulfilment. That is why Rodney Bartley, CEO at NPFulfilment wanted to find the latest solution to improve how items were sorted to individual orders. Their earlier method included between 16 to 20 steps to batch pick items and consolidate those items into individual orders. This required eight people to support completing those orders. Bartley knew there was a better way. They also needed a way to scale without adding labour and wanted to be able to tell a compelling story to attract new clients profitably.
Key Challenges
Growing business which meant moving to new warehouse space regularly
Guarantees same day shipping for clients despite volume
Pandemic saw peak volumes of 4x pre-pandemic volume
The Solution
The OPEX Sure Sort’s iBOT® robotic delivery technology caught Bartley’s eye while attending a retail trade event. It was then, that he decided this was the answer to their sorting challenges. Australia’s very first Sure Sort system was installed at NPFulfilment in 2018. The Sure Sort allows NPFulfilment to quickly consolidate orders with only one person inducting those orders. The small footprint of the machine allows them flexibility to move the equipment as necessary to accommodate for more clients’ goods. The batch pick and order consolidation process that previously took eight employees now only needed three. The biggest test came in 2020, when on Black Friday their orders surged from 12k to 40k. With the help of their automated solutions, NPFulfilment met their same day shipping guarantee without having to add expensive labour.
Key Results
3
Number of employees needed to sort orders with Sure Sort
8
Number of employees needed to sort orders without Sure Sort
4X
Increase in orders that were still manageable with same amount of labour
The Future
Ecommerce continues to grow and so does NPFulfilment. The OPEX Sure Sort serves as a showcase to attract new clients which in turn demands more automation and more Sure Sort systems in the future.
Other Resources You Might Find Helpful
Overcoming Common Challenges in Warehouse Automation
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From Bottlenecks to Breakthroughs: Optimizing Warehouse Operations with Technology
AMRs vs OPEX® Sure Sort® X for Sorting Operations
Starting Your Warehouse Automation Journey: What You Need to Know
Sustainability in Warehouse Automation
How AS/RS Supports Just-In-Time (JIT) Manufacturing
Why Your Business Needs an Automated Sorting System
How Automation Can Enhance Accuracy and Speed in Payment Handling
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