Santa Fe Warehouse implements Logimax WMS to improve inventory and 3PL operations for complex apparel manufacturer
Third Party Logistics Company takes control of labor costs with better inventory visibility and warehouse automation.
Commerce, CA — When third party logistics companies work for clients with thousands of SKUs and millions of inventory items, operations get complicated. Problems compile when inventory expands and new distribution channels need to be served.
Santa Fe Warehouse in Commerce, California faced these challenges with one of its larger clients, an apparel manufacturer with an expansive inventory in the millions of items and an ever growing SKU/UPC count.
Adding to the complexity was the need to provide shipping services in different units of measure to support the client’s omnichannel requirements. In addition to bulk shipments to retail distribution on pallets, Santa Fe also ships cartons to retail stores and individual parcels directly to consumers.
“Finding inventory to fill orders became a real challenge,” according to Barry Oppenheim, Santa Fe’s co-founder and CEO. “The cost of labor kept rising because we had people running around the warehouse, looking for products. We needed to take control.”
So they set out to investigate warehouse management systems that would give them better control of inventory and provide more efficient operations for product locations, receiving, picking and packing. They selected Logimax, a full featured WMS that supports 3PL and distribution operations with automated location rules, receiving, picking, electronic data interchange (EDI), and integrated 3PL services billing.
They began implementation in late 2015 and took the system live in February 2016, focusing on the large apparel client.
“The system put us in the driver’s seat almost immediately,” Oppenheim explained. “Our labor costs for this client went down significantly and it became a much more profitable account. A 3PL’s major costs are labor and space,”
In addition to reducing labor, having tighter control over inventory will help reduce space costs. A physical inventory, done during implementation revealed that Santa Fe was storing a large amount of product that the client didn’t know existed. So they have worked together to make inventory and operational improvements.
The warehouse team and customer service reps adapted rapidly to Logimax and there was very little disruption. Santa Fe will look for opportunities to on-board other clients to the system as it becomes mainstream.
“We were very pleased when Santa Fe Warehouse selected Logimax,” said Chris Anderson, general manager of Logimax. “The implementation was successful and the system is performing to meet and exceed their needs.”
Logimax is deployed at Santa Fe as an on-premise solution. It is also available in the cloud. In addition to the base WMS system Logimax provides modular extensions including EDI & ecommerce; Logimation (wireless task automation); assemble-to-order; yard management; multi-carrier transportation management (TMS); and terminal cross docking.
About Santa Fe Warehouse
Created in 2007, Santa Fe Warehouse has grown from its original 17,000 square feet of space to it current facility of 225,000 square feet which is expanding next year to more than 300,000 square feet. The experienced team at Santa Fe is led by Barry Oppenheim, a long-term veteran of the apparel industry. The company provides third party warehouse services for multiple shippers and also provides value added services including ticketing, marking and bundling; quality control inspection; SKU/UPC verification and application; hanger, sizer, polybag application; steaming, pressing and label changes, EDI; and pick ticket, invoice and UCC label printing. For more information, visit www.santafewarehouse.com or call 323-888-0050.
About Logimax WMS
Since 1995 Logimax Inc. has provided customers with a robust, reliable and affordable solution to the challenges of the distribution and manufacturing industries. Logimax offers a browser-based solution and an uninterrupted growth path for customers. Based in Jacksonville, Florida, Logimax also has offices in Chicago and San Francisco. For more information, visit www.e-logimax.com or call 855-253-8855.
Logimax is a subsidiary of Friedman Corporation, an operating division of Constellation Software, Inc. Friedman Corporation specializes in complete ERP solutions for manufacturers and distributors of “make to order” and “engineer to order” products in the building products, capital equipment, and consumer goods sectors. The Friedman Operating Group also has a complementary portfolio of software offerings across multiple hardware platforms, including the IBMi, for transportation management, material optimization, supply chain management and direct-to-consumer distribution. To learn more, visit www.friedmancorp.com.