Varsity ShipPack Powers Top Packing Performance at GL Services |
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From their 200,000 square foot warehouse in Cincinnati, Ohio, GL Services
assists Christian publishers and ministries with the assembly and distribution
of millions of units of printed materials each year.
In recent years, GL Services' shipping activity has expanded to over 1,500
packages per day. In addition to the growing volume, many GL Services customers
now require Advanced Shipment Notices (ASNs) as part of their regular shipping
protocol. In an effort to reduce inefficiencies and remain compliant with
customers, Peter Bundy, Operations Director at GL Services and long-time
Varsity user, chose to update his warehouse to control the pick/pack process
and shipment preparation with ShipPack.
ShipPack, Varsity's pick/pack module, provides compliant barcodes, labels
and packing lists. It automatically generates ASN messages (EDI 856), and
makes details about each shipment easily accessible, including description,
size, weight, container information and contents. ShipPack can also produce
custom forms (e.g. packing lists) or UCC-128 labels, which are often required
by
large retailers.
Prior to implementing ShipPack, GL Services had little or no control over
order accuracy. Without pick/pack process automation, the number of shipment
errors they experienced resulted in the loss of significant amounts of time
and money. Another major limitation was the inability to produce the necessary
ASNs required by some customers. Because of this, shipping productivity
suffered and the resulting fines and routing guide penalties impacted their
bottom line.
As a result, adding ShipPack greatly improved order accuracy. Today, all
GL Services' order information is downloaded from daly.commerce A+ directly
into ShipPack to verify orders at pack time. The physical items being packed
are reconciled against order information in ShipPack, capturing container
and content details. With the line-item and container visibility that ShipPack
provides, GL Services is able to guarantee order accuracy long before shipment.
Simultaneously, ShipSoft uses the given shipping instructions to select
the optimal carrier, rate the shipment, and pass back all relevant shipment
data into daly.commere A+.
ShipPack also gives GL Services ASN capabilities. Many of GL Services' larger
clients, including Multnomah Publishers, sell to the secular marketplace
through stores such as Barnes & Noble and Sam's Club-all of which require
their vendors to produce ASN (EDI 856) messages. GL Services utilizes ShipPack
to automatically prepare the 856 for Multnomah Publishers, based on the
contents of the order, then they transmit the ASN to each of Multnomah's
trading partners via their own
EDI VAN.
To enhance their shipping processes even further, GL Services utilizes new
ShipPack features, including a palletization tool that enables them to build
pallets on the fly, without having to consolidate the shipment later. Other
new features include the ability to perform a least cost routing decision
before the order is released to the warehouse; an invisible C.O.D processing
tool; and a modified UCC-128 style label that lists actual contents for
customers, who do not require actual UCC-128 labels.
GL Services implemented ShipPack in September of 2001. To date, Varsity
has made shipping at GL Services more accurate, simpler, and more productive.
ShipPack item and quantity verification has improved order accuracy by 33
- 50 percent. In addition, GL Services has seen productivity improvements
of 10 - 15 percent in the inspection, packing, and shipping processes resulting
in faster shipping times and less labor requirements.
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