HIGHLIGHTS:

n Reduced labor byeliminating manualprocesses

n Accelerated fulfillment witha solution that auto-captures dimensions,compares carrier rates andgenerates shipping labels.

n Reduced freight costs byeliminating carriersurcharges on invoices.

Wholesale Marine Streamlines and Accelerates Order Fulfillment with the IDIM 300 Dimensioning SystemAn online retailer since 2006, Wholesale Marine embraces the motto “We are boaters.” With nationwide distribution and the best prices for high-quality products, Wholesale Marine stocks approximately 20,000 different SKUs in its Cincinnati, OH warehouse.

The company often ships more than 2,000 items in a single day during the peak of summer. Most products are individually packaged and shipped, resulting in a huge range of parcel sizes and weights (from boat seats and fishing accessories to stainless steel, sea-faring anchors and complete pontoon packages).

CHALLENGETraditionally, Wholesale Marine’s shipping costs were based exclusively on actual package weight. However, when several small parcel carriers expanded their dimensional weight (dim weight) freight rating programs to better maximize capacity, Wholesale Marine became susceptible to additional fees, back charges and freight compliance issues from miscalculated package dimensions.

“Dimensional weight was really hurting us,” says Wholesale Marine owner Jim Stewart. “We were manually sorting products and grouping them according to what we thought was the cheapest shipping option. We’d look at an order and say, ‘this is probably small enough for this type of shipping,’ but we weren’t capturing the dimensions.”

WASTER MANPOWERAdditionally, determining the dimensional weight by manually measuring a package and calculating the formula was labor-intensive, especially as Wholesale Marine was shipping hundreds (or thousands) of packages daily. “It was wasted manpower. We were pulling someone away from another job to figure out the best shipping price for a package,” said Stewart. It also left room for human error.

Reverting to shipping based solely on package weight was tempting, but risky. “If we tried to ship something using an actual weight that had a bigger dimensional weight, we’d get a huge ding on pricing because we were basing it only on weight,” Stewart said. “That was one big downfall for us.”

Also, manual dimensioning was making it difficult to challenge shipping charges on the carrier invoice. “We were getting an after-the-fact surcharge and had no way to dispute it,” said Stewart. “We had a scenario where we shipped three different orders for the exact same item. One carrier bill came in smaller, another was what we predicted, but the last one was huge! It included hundreds of dollars in back charges for dimensional weight shipping, and we had no way of truly going back on it to say what the exact dimensions of the package were.”

After a year of struggling with new dimensional billing requirements, frustrating shipping experiences and extra fees, Stewart began the search for a solution to their dim weight woes.

SOLUTIONAs a first step, Stewart’s team analyzed their current process to see where it was breaking down and realized that the company needed a reliable and efficient system to document package dimensions and weights to help them get the best shipping rates for every item shipped. As an online retailer, speed, efficiency, and reliability were important factors in looking for a dimensional weight solution. After reviewing their options, the company selected the iDimension™ 300 or iDim 300.

The iDim 300 is a 3D imaging and sensing technology system that instantly captures dimensions of normal packages like boxed Yeti® coolers, as well as irregular shapes such as shrink-wrapped anchors and polybags filled with fishing accessories. It is an easy addition to almost any warehouse or shipping department, and since it operates on imaging technology with no moving parts, maintenance is virtually non-existent.

“We’ve streamlined our shipping operations, and I have confidence that I am getting the least expensive shipping method, especially when we offer free shipping,” Jim Stewart states.

COMPLETE AUTOMATION FROM A CENTRAL WORKSTATIONWholesale Marine installed the iDim 300 over their pre-existing shipping conveyor line and synced it with third-party postal software. Now, dimensions, package images, and weight data, as well as rate comparison and label printing are streamlined to one central workstation. With iDimension, Wholesale Marine can ship with confidence, and at the best rates.

“It’s awesome,” says AJ Stewart, the company’s web developer. “In our old process, we were sending packages that were too big for the carrier. Now we have the ability to ship at the best price, and we’re not getting those dings on fees anymore. Everything is automated as it goes through shipping.”

After just a short period of time using iDim 300, Wholesale Marine can definitely see the value. “We’ve streamlined our shipping operations, and I have confidence that I am getting the least expensive shipping method, especially when we offer free shipping,” said Stewart.

Logistyx Technologies, LLC877-755-2374 info@logistyx.com www.logistyx.com

““Now we have the ability to ship at the best price. We were sending packages that were too big for the carrier based on our old process. We’re not getting those dings on fees anymore. Everything is streamlined and automated as it goes through shipping.”

—AJ Stewart, Web Development

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