Stellar Industrial Supply

An Activant Prophet 21 Success Story

Features

Activant's Wireless Warehouse Management Solution Takes Distributor to the Next Level

"Anyone should be able to pick an order."

Rene Savage, chief technology officer at Stellar Industrial Supply, an industrial and safety supply distributor based in Tacoma, WA, knows that a warehouse does not have to be an impenetrable labyrinth. "In our old system - which was set up alphabetically/numerically - orders had to be picked almost entirely from memory, so it could take employees six months before they were proficient at pulling orders."

Looking to gain speed, efficiency, and simplicity in their warehouse, the executives at Stellar Industrial decided recently to implement Activant's Wireless Warehouse Management Solution (WWMS).

Challenge:

Help a Tacoma, WA-based industrial and safety supply distributor increase efficiency in the warehouse

Solutions:

Activant Prophet 21: Wireless Warehouse Management Solution

Benefits:

Integrated seamlessly with Activant Prophet 21, making implementation quick and painless
Increased inventory accuracy, which means fewer errors and better customer service
Shortened learning curve

A Short Learning Curve

A wireless solution that integrates seamlessly with the Prophet 21 solution, WWMS streamlines warehouse processes, increases control over warehouse tasks, and improves customer service.

John Hibbard, vice president of operations at Stellar, talks about the seamless transition they made upon going live on WWMS: "We shut down our old system on Friday and started the WWMS on Monday, and not a customer of ours knew we had implemented a new system - it was an easy transition."

Besides being easy to implement, the Wireless Warehouse Management Solution boasts a short learning curve. "Recently, one of our customer service representatives expressed interest in moving to the warehouse," says Savage. "We had her in there right after go-live and she picked up WWMS in a day."

An Increase in Accuracy

When asked what aspect of Stellar's business WWMS has affected the most, Savage answers without hesitation: "Inventory accuracy." Hibbard concurs: "Gaining accuracy in the warehouse means better service for our customers. Since we scan every item we pick, the likelihood of us shipping the wrong products is reduced, which amounts to less returned merchandise."

According to Savage, WWMS has a habit of keeping employees honest as well: "WWMS actually forces us to fix unit of measure problems," she says. "For example, if a customer orders a case of something that we thought was set up in the system as a box, we have to reconcile that so the units match up and we can get the right items to that customer."

"Oohs and Aahs"

With their newfound efficiency and accuracy in the warehouse, Stellar just achieved their best full inventory in the company's history. "We've always had a one to two percent discrepancy figure, and when you have $5 million in inventory, that can be a fairly large number," remarks Hibbard. "With WWMS we've been able to reduce the adjustment, and that is an immediate return on investment."

It's clear that WWMS has helped Stellar reach the next level of technology utilization. "If our customers come into our warehouse and they see our guys scanning items with a handheld device, they feel that they're dealing with a company that is forward thinking in the technology field," concludes Hibbard. "We get a lot of 'oohs' and 'aahs' when they go through our warehouse."

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