Avant Improves Customer Satisfaction By Eliminating Picking and Packing Errors
London-based skincare brand Avant successfully streamlined its order picking and packing process with the aid of Zebra devices. The company, founded in 2016, experienced significant growth which necessitated an expansion of its operations.
Zebra Success Story: Avant
Overview: Warehouse & Distribution Challenge
Avant Skincare needed an order picking, packing and processing solution that could improve packing and shipping accuracy, and increase worker confidence, while also helping reduce costs and be scalable.
Benefits / Outcomes
- Eliminated picking errors, increased packing accuracy
- Increased customer satisfaction
- Near-zero customer order complaints
- Increase in worker confidence and decrease in anxiety – and staff turnover reduction to zero
- A scalable solution that can fit into more parts of the business in the future
Customers
Avant
London, England
Partner
The Barcode Warehouse
WorX Software
Industry
Cosmetics/Skincare
Solutions
About Avant
Founded in London in 2016, Avant is a prominent skincare brand specialising in the creation of innovative skincare products suitable for all. The company follows a skincare-to-share™ ethos, representing a pivotal approach in the skincare industry that aligns products and brand with scientifically proven skin care needs. Additionally, all Avant products carry the PETA Cruelty-Free certification, ensuring that neither finished products nor raw materials have undergone testing on animals.
Avant offers an array of products spanning fragrances, lotions, oils and eyecare. The brand is dedicated to addressing every skincare need comprehensively. And that commitment has paid off, with product sales experiencing remarkable growth since the company’s inception, necessitating expansion of its operations. Avant operates production hubs in Milan, warehouses in Bristol and France and serves customers around the world.
The Challenge
However, the process of scaling has not been simple. Avant faced challenges post-Brexit and encountered challenges associated with strained global logistics. As such, Avant had to establish a robust system capable of facilitating smooth operations, efficient order picking & packing and timely order deliveries.
Navigating these challenges is demanding in a macroeconomic environment characterised by disruption. While previous solutions may have worked well for Avant when it operated on a smaller scale, its global reach required a system capable of meeting global needs.
“What we needed at this juncture in our growth was a way to improve how our warehouses were run,” explains Timothy Rossillion, Avant’s Logistical Operations Manager. “Our warehouse was our main bottleneck, which made sticking to our customer satisfaction commitments challenging. What we sought was ultimately a way to make order picking & packing and shipping from our warehouses a breeze.”
We could not be happier with our new solution. The fact that the collaboration between four separate businesses led to such an incredible outcome is deeply impressive and the results of the outcome – our improved warehouse operations – even more so.
The Solution
To address these challenges, Avant reached out to The Barcode Warehouse, a Zebra Premier Solution Partner, to put together a solution.
One of the main challenges any solution needed to solve was simplifying the order processing, picking and packing tasks for Avant’s workers. This was crucial due to notable similarities among Avant’s products. Differentiating between two similar-looking creams for example, posed a challenge and during busy periods; there was always a risk of mistakenly including them in a shipment intended for a different destination. While infrequent, picking and packing errors did happen, especially during these peak periods, leading to delays, customer dissatisfaction and ultimately, lost revenue for Avant.
To meet this challenge head on, The Barcode Warehouse suggested the use of Zebra’s TC21 mobile computer, a robust solution known for its ruggedness, ease of use, 5-inch display and Bluetooth™ capabilities. This device was ideal for Avant’s warehouse order picking and packing needs.
Enter WorX Software—a pivotal player in the project and a Zebra ISV Premier Partner. WorX develops customised asset management and inventory software that provides cost-effective solutions to streamline operations and for this project, deployed its TagworX platform. Quick to install and easy to implement, the TagworX platform is versatile, and compatible with any device and location. It supports both barcode and RFID data capture, with the flexibility to switch between the two modes at the click of a button.
“We explained to WorX what we needed our new Zebra devices to do,” says Rossillion. “WorX got to work building the solution we’d described based on the TagworX platform and added in a few extra functions that met those needs. As a result, our TC21 devices were loaded with software that met every challenge we had been dealing with, which helps our workers do their work better, and helps new employees get up to speed much quicker than they could have before.
The Zebra Difference: Outcome and Benefits
Between Zebra’s devices and the TagworX platform – and the entire project rollout managed by The Barcode Warehouse – Avant now possesses an advanced scanning, picking and packing solution that has elevated its operations to the next level.
“Our workers are operating at a level I’ve never seen before,” says Rossillion. “Everyone is now totally confident in their work as they know they’re picking and packing the right orders. Anxiety about packing mistakes has decreased considerably.”
Specifically, the precision of the new devices has eliminated errors and accelerated order processing. In practice, this translates to nearly zero customer claims regarding incorrect orders and a rapid onboarding process for new team members. The solution has eliminated picking errors and vastly improved packing accuracy, and thus reduced staff turnover to zero.
The project has been so successful that Rossillion and his team plan on expanding the new system’s use within the business.
“For now, we’ll be using the devices in our warehousing operations,” concludes Rossillion. “But it won’t be long until we start using it in our production process too."
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