Mississippi Company Leaves Warehouse Errors Behind Thanks to PickRight

Mississippi Company Leaves Warehouse Errors Behind Thanks to PickRight

Blake Nasif, Operations Manager at Vicksburg Specialty Company, felt like his warehouse was in the stone age with its paper-based picking and order checking. Picking orders with paper was slow, inefficient and resulted in too many picking errors leaving the building every day. The Mississippi based company was growing and knew they needed to have reliable picking if they were going to maintain the confidence of their new customers. Nasif wanted an up-to-date picking solution that would reduce errors, eliminate unnecessary work, and improve productivity in the warehouse.

Nasif was aware of the PickRight order picking solution by ProCat Distribution Technologies. It had been recommended by his host software provider for years and was being used by many of the companies that used the same software that he used at Vicksburg. Nasif called ProCat to bring Vicksburg Specialty into the 21st Century. It took exactly eight weeks from the date Nasif committed to implement PickRight until the system was up and running in his building. The result was nothing less than amazing. The ProCat installer arrived at Vicksburg on Monday and by that Friday morning all 12 of his pickers were trained on the new solution.

“It is by far the best investment we have made in my forty years with the business.” George Nasif, Jr, President

Accuracy

Claims for picking errors dropped immediately. “By the end of the second week we were very surprised with the reduction in the number of calls we were getting from customers reporting picking errors,” recalls Nasif. With their previous system, Vicksburg Specialty Company had up to a dozen picking mistakes reported every day. After implementing PickRight, claims from customers for picking errors became a rare event.

This dramatic reduction in errors is due to PickRight’s scanning technology. As each pick is made, the item barcode gets scanned and the picker gets immediate feedback about the pick. A chime tone tells the picker they selected the correct item. A buzzer tone alerts the picker that the scanned UPC does not match what was expected. The result is a high confidence level in the picking staff. No more looking at items and wondering if it is the correct item to pick. Just one quick scan and a chime or buzzer answers the question. The picking staff loves the simplicity of the solution. Nasif reports that claims from customers for picking errors have declined by 90%. “The impact on the company has been wonderful” says Nasif. Less “credits, less phone calls, less wasted time fixing errors and most importantly, customers have confidence that accurate orders are being delivered to their stores. PickRight has been a really good thing for our company.”

Satisfied Customers and Staff

Customers have reported to Blake that drivers are in-and-out of their stores faster than ever before. With PickRight, orders are picked correctly so there are no issues to slow down deliveries. Drivers are not writing credits or calling the office with angry customers standing next to them. Extra deliveries to correct errors are dramatically reduced and pickers are much happier knowing that they are doing their jobs correctly every time. The easy to read package delivery labels help drivers deliver packages to the correct store. Packing lists that are printed for each box as the orders are picked, make check-in a quick and easy process for customers. PickRight’s detailed reporting system tracks the contents of every container. Drivers can call the warehouse when something seems to be missing in a shipment and the office can tell the driver exactly which box the items are in, reducing unnecessary delays.

“The impact on the company has been wonderful” Blake Nasif, Operations Manager

More Time, More Money

Picker productivity improved by over 20% after only two months of using PickRight. Vicksburg Specialty was able to implement a picker incentive program based on PickRight data that has improved staff morale and boosted their performance. Labor costs are lower and customer claims have been significantly reduced. Because he has confidence that orders are being picked correctly, Blake no longer feels the need to spend his time checking orders every day. With PickRight helping his team to do their jobs accurately the first time, Blake can focus on managing his company.

Blake has nothing but positive feedback for ProCat and PickRight. The introduction of PickRight into the Vicksburg Specialty Company warehouse has reduced mistakes, increased productivity, and stopped waste throughout the company. And that is a combination for success.

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