Order Volume for Willow House Increased More Than 50% & Labor Costs Decreased by 30%

The Challenge
As one of the fastest growing companies in direct sales history, Willow House and its third-party logistics provider Custom Marketing Services, needed to keep up with the rapid pace of growth with increased capacity, reduced labor costs, improved customer service levels and increased order fulfillment accuracy.

The Solution
FORTE designed and implemented a new 500,000 sq. ft. automated distribution center in Calera, Alabama with pick-to-light technology. A WMS needs analysis was performed, as well as vendor evaluation, selection and implementation.

The WMS was integrated with the material handling system utilizing FORTE’s Automation Director™ WCS. The new operation was designed to handle a 500% increase in throughput in a three-year period.

The Result
While order volume increased by more than 50%, labor costs decreased by 30%. Order fulfillment accuracy improved dramatically and order turnaround time improved from a high of more than three weeks to less than 48 hours, transforming the customer experience.

“We are very satisfied with the way FORTE has brought us to our current optimized state…increased capacity, near 100 percent order accuracy, reduction in labor.” Willow House