Crate & Barrel Reduces Order Fulfillment Costs by 38% with FORTE Material Handling Systems Design

The Challenge
A Chicago-based multi-channel retailer of house wares, home furnishings, gift ware and fine foods, Crate & Barrel needed to increase direct-to-consumer capacity by 40%, as well as provide faster service to all customers.

With two distribution centers—one for store fulfillment in Cranbury, New Jersey and a hybrid for both store and direct-to-consumer fulfillment in Naperville, Illinois—Crate & Barrel could shift a portion of its web and catalog fulfillment to Cranbury to reduce order fulfillment times for East Coast customers.

The Solution
FORTE planned, designed and implemented an expansion to the Cranbury distribution center, including process development, material handling systems design and technology integration, for increased capacity and capabilities to support the growth in the direct-to-consumer channel.

In parallel, FORTE implemented more efficient processes and material handling, specifically in picking and packing, for faster order processing and more efficient use of labor in the Naperville DC.

The Result
Crate & Barrel significantly increased throughput to meet current and future demands, gaining the ability to provide two-day ground service to most of their customers. Order fulfillment costs in picking and packing were reduced by 38% for greater labor efficiencies.

“FORTE was in direct competition with more traditional logistics consulting services. The presentation to Crate & Barrel provided a new approach to our projects. This single point of contact and complete turnkey solution impressed the project team.” Crate & Barrel