Varsity ShipSoft and PeopleSoft World WMS Deliver Shipping Success for Jameco Electronics |
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Jameco Electronics is a leading online and catalog distributor of electronic components and computer products. Jameco's inventory of more than 16,000 items is warehoused at their 50,000 square foot headquarters in Belmont, California.
Since their founding in 1974, Jameco has delivered customer service that exceeds industry standards. Orders placed by 6 p.m. EST are shipped the same day to corporate, educational, and hobbyist customers located around the world.
On average, Jameco ships 700 packages a day with two staff in the shipping department. During the last three hours of the day the company picks, packs, labels, and loads fifty percent of the entire day's shipping volume. "At the end of the day everything has to come together in the warehouse so that we meet our service commitments," states Doug Dolge, MIS Director for Jameco. "We just can't afford to have a shipping system that slows us down."
However, as their business expanded, Jameco's Windows-based shipping system could not keep up. The outdated shipping system relied on screen-scraping technology to transfer shipping data into their PeopleSoft World ERP. When Jameco made minor changes to their ERP, they would have to contact their shipping system vendor to schedule an onsite visit to make modifications. This process was slow, inflexible, and simply no longer a viable option.
Frustrated, Jameco undertook a comprehensive search of Windows-based and iSeries shipping systems. Their requirements checklist included reliability, minimal technical complexity, exceptional service and support, international document preparation capabilities, and seamless integration with PeopleSoft World.
During the review process, Varsity's iSeries-based multi-carrier shipping software, ShipSoft, consistently ranked first. Several technical demonstrations revealed that ShipSoft had the lowest complexity of integration. This assessment was supported by Jameco's visit with a local ShipSoft customer, "What really got my attention is when I heard that Varsity ran right out of the box and worked without any problems," recalls Dolge. "As an IT person with a small staff, that was music to my ears."
Finally, a return on investment analysis provided the financial return Jameco required. They found that in productivity savings alone, the system would pay for itself within four months.
Varsity was onsite to help with the implementation and integration between ShipSoft and PeopleSoft World. Provided and maintained by Varsity, the PeopleSoft World Interface seamlessly exchanges shipment and order data between the two systems. Varsity pulls the required shipment data such as the order header and detail files directly from the PeopleSoft World database. It then passes back shipping details including the tracking number, package ID, weight, and freight charges. This process, notes Dolge, "is smooth and simple."
It didn't take long for Jameco to realize they had made the right choice. The fifth day after going live with their new ShipSoft system, Jameco set a record for the number of packages shipped in one day. "We were fifty percent above our normal volume and Varsity behaved flawlessly," recalls Dolge. "The shipping department is my ally forever."
The company has increased productivity in the picking department as well, where international documents were previously prepared by hand. "Varsity's international document preparation automated this task," notes Dolge. "We've increased our picking effectiveness by four to five percent. And our documents look a lot more professional as well."
Reflecting on Jameco's decision to purchase Varsity ShipSoft, Dolge concludes, "Once in awhile you make an absolute right choice—Varsity ShipSoft was one of those choices. There is not a single person on the Executive Staff, in the shipping or in the IT department who doesn't think Varsity ShipSoft is a dramatic improvement over our prior shipping software."
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