Customer Success Story – atrikom fulfillment
atrikom relies on effective software solutions
for optimized e-fulfillment
Alaiko and Descartes pixi digitize fulfillment
Industry: Logistics Services
Locations: 4 (Germany: Ginsheim-Gustavsburg , Bischofsheim, Mainz-Hechtsheim, Bodenheim)
Year founded: 1992
Team size: +180 employees, +250 freelancers
Overview
atrikom fulfillment has been established on the market for over 30 years. Starting out as a lettershop and service provider for advertising materials, atrikom fulfillment’s range of services now covers various areas: Advertising material logistics, e-fulfillment and print on demand, and the service is rounded off with call center services. At four locations in the Rhine-Main region, atrikom handles around three million shipments a year and supports well-known brands not only in logistics but also in customer service.
“We offer three services from a single source: printing, call center, logistics – this is how we always ensure the best service.” – Thorsten Schmidt, Member of the Management, atrikom fulfillment
For more than 10 years, e-commerce fulfillment has become an increasingly important pillar of atrikom’s business model, further accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic and the associated boom in online retail.
Challenge
However, competition is particularly fierce in e-fulfillment. In addition, online retailers have particularly high expectations of their 3PL logistics service providers.
High demands in e-commerce fulfillment
E-commerce fulfillment in itself is characterized by speed – orders must be processed and shipped quickly, but at the same time without errors, only then will consumers be satisfied. However, it is not only in terms of speed that e-commerce stores have high expectations of their fulfillment service providers.
Online retailers want transparency about warehouse processes at all times and, above all, direct intervention options. The software must also be able to cope with rapidly scaling volumes at peak e-commerce times. This is where the warehouse management software solution developed by atrikom reached its limits.
“Operational stability is a decisive cost factor: if the software is not running, operations come to a standstill and that costs money. With Descartes pixi and Alaiko, we can rely on the software running smoothly and order processing flowing.” – Thorsten Schmidt, Member of the Management, atrikom fulfillment
Thorsten Schmidt, Member of the Management, atrikom fulfillment
-90%
routing code errors
with automated address corrections
100%
software stability
15-20%
time saved in replenishment
Solution
In order to bring more stability to the software processes and at the same time automate the warehouse processes and optimize them perfectly for e-commerce fulfillment, atrikom opted for the combination of Descartes pixi as the warehouse management system and the Alaiko Operating System as the logistics software platform. E-fulfillment places high demands on a warehouse and its processes: Data, speed and the sheer volume of orders. Since Descartes pixi and Alaiko, these worries are a thing of the past: Both systems run continuously and stable.
Transparency and control of warehouse and logistics processes with the Alaiko OS
The Alaiko OS sits on top of Descartes pixi WMS and connects the warehouse directly with the online stores and their end customers. The mammoth project of integrating the two systems was completed at atrikom in a record time of just five weeks. Detailed project plans and daily coordination ensured that the first stores quickly went live on the new system combination.
Orders are now processed much faster and more efficiently. The optimizations that Alaiko has brought in the area of customer communication are particularly clear. E-commerce stores can now solve many of their challenges themselves – or they are solved fully automatically by the Alaiko OS.
Automated address corrections reduce routing errors
One example of this is automated address correction. If the software detects an incorrect address, e.g. a missing house number, it blocks it for the fulfillment process in the warehouse and automatically sends an email to the end customer. They can then enter the correct address directly via a self-service portal. Alaiko forwards the order directly to the warehouse, where the fulfillment process continues. The result is fewer passive returns, but also time savings for the warehouse, which does not have to wait long for blocked orders. Since using the Alaiko OS, atrikom has reduced routing errors by 90%.
For atrikom, this means satisfied e-commerce stores and less communication effort. In the past, stores had to contact atrikom directly if they had any problems or special requests, but now they can solve them themselves and proactively.
Automation and digital processes are also noticeable in the speed of order processing. Replenishment processes used to be very manual – today they are digital. The time saved is also noticeable here. An example process: if the picking warehouse was empty when an order was placed, a forklift truck often had to come first to replenish the product. During this time, the picking process could not be continued. Since the introduction of Descartes pixi and Alaiko, replenishment works automatically – the pickers always go to a full picking compartment. This means a time saving of 15 to 20 percent!
Atrikom can now also tackle the issue of optimizing internal processes much more flexibly: Pick lists and pick routes can be easily changed without additional IT resources in order to quickly test and introduce new processes.
Outlook for the future of atrikom with Alaiko and Descartes pixi
In the future, atrikom plans to expand the new systems to other locations and migrate both existing and new e-commerce customers to them. Thanks to the partnership with Alaiko and Descartes pixi, atrikom can continue to grow in the area of e-commerce fulfillment and rely on strong, stable software.
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