Willow House

When you bring the pages of Southern Living magazine to life through home parties, your distribution operation has to provide good, old-fashioned southern hospitality.

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:

50%increase in order volume

30%reduction in labor costs

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.

Key Services Employed Early-Stage Planning Facility Performance Analysis Supply Chain & Distribution Strategic Master Planning Supply Chain Network & Inventory Optimization Distribution Center Design & Implementation Automated Material Handling Systems Warehouse Control System (WCS) Software Distribution Facility & Systems Reconfiguration