Pharmacy Online have shipped more than 400,000 orders and over a million packages since going live with our WMS in late 2019
Case details
Pharmacy Online is Australia’s leading online pharmacy retailer selling an extensive range of products found in traditional retail pharmacies direct to the consumer via their websites Pharmacy Online and Chemist Direct. They also fill prescriptions via mail (there is no online prescription service yet in Australia).
Drowning in Success
A few years ago, Pharmacy Online was drowning under the weight of their own success. They supply not only the Australian market but also direct to customers in China and they were shipping up to 2,000 orders per day. Their premises were overcrowded with stock and people and they needed two things – a new warehouse and a new system. We designed the layout of their new site in the old Swisse Vitamins warehouse, and later helped them implement NextWMS integrated with their SAP Business One system.
Note: Logistics Cloud Co. WMS is a special version of Upimium NextWMS hosted in the Cloud and curated by us for small and medium business.
The key factors influencing their decision to use NextWMS were:
- The need for improved warehouse management features not available in SAP:
- Real time tracking of stock movements.
- Multi-location tracking and zone control of stock.
- Pick face replenishment.
- Advanced batch picking methods for eCommerce fulfillment.
- Stocktake and cycle-counting.
- Shipping system integration.
- Visibility of labour productivity.
- The highly visual mobile app allowed staff to see pictures of the products they are picking which is a huge aid to accuracy.
- The ability to customise the mobile workflow to their specific needs.
We managed the implementation project from start to finish, setting up and testing the system and integration with SAP and training their front line managers in the operation and maintenance of the system. We were with them every step of the way to ensure their success. We continue to provide ongoing support to help them refine and improve their warehouse operations and get the best out of the system.
Winning at Warehouse Productivity
Pharmacy Online have shipped more than 400,000 orders and over a million packages since going live with our WMS in late 2019. One of the challenges Pharmacy Online face is managing the productivity of new and casual staff to provide training and coaching or performance management. This is a significant problem for frontline managers in most warehouses as the workforce is distributed around a large area and data about process issues and performance is not available without direct observation. This is where the labour tracking and productivity measures in the Logistics Cloud Co. WMS are helpful to assess both individual and group performance. An example of how powerful this information can be is shown in the graph below where over a six month period they were able to improve their group picking productivity by 67%. Their average pick rate for all pickers went from 150 units per hour to 250 units per hour with a target pick rate of 180 units per hour.
We think there are still a few more refinements that can be achieved and will continue to work with Pharmacy Online to achieve even more.
