Toying with efficiency
The Toysmith story began in 1981, and for over 38 years, the company has built a reputation of trust and customer service within the toy industry, manufacturing and distributing high-quality toys and gifts. We are proud and humbled by our legacy of delivering best-in-class customer service and apply that standard throughout Toysmith. Toysmith brands and products are sold to toy retailers, education markets, museums, zoos, aquariums, national parks, attractions, theme parks, gift stores, specialty catalogs and internet retailers.
We had recently transitioned to a new Warehouse Management System (WMS). As part of this transition, the primary shipping process was to include pre-manifestation along with a cartonization routine. Unfortunately, the WMS routine was not delivering the fill rate as expected, and we saw an average fill rate of only 68%. This resulted in an increase in our labor, materials, and most importantly, our freight spend. Essentially, we were headed in the wrong direction.
Things needed to change. Our team at Toysmith reviewed several different options, and after careful review, we chose to work with MagicLogic.
How MagicLogic helped
MagicLogic encouraged us to test their product, and our initial test was a proof of concept. We took one month’s cartonization data from our shipping within the WMS and re-ran it through the BlackBox solution. Those results were then run through our existing freight analysis. The results showed a significant improvement in all areas, an overall reduction in the number of cartons per shipment, increased fill rate per carton, and a decrease in our freight spend.
Once we realized the opportunity at hand, we quickly partnered with Accellos and MagicLogic for customization to introduce BlackBox as our cartonization solution. Both teams were outstanding. It was a quick process, and the solution was tested and delivered to us within 45 days. In our final test, we ran a similar analysis to what we had run before, with a smaller sample size. This confirmed what we hoped to see, a consistent fill rate and an improved freight percentage.
Results
We have reviewed the results in a couple of different manners. First, and perhaps the most simple, was the eye test. It is obvious now through visual observation that the cartons look significantly more full. Additionally, we are seeing a consistent—rather than highly variable—fill rate. We currently have set our fill rate at 83%, which is up from 68%. Now all cartons are being filled close to the top of each box. This has reduced the time at packing. We are no longer spending as much time cutting down our boxes to pack out the carton. In most cases the packers now add a small amount of void fill the box and then send it down the shipping line. We have also analyzed our average revenue per carton, which has increased by 12 to 15 percent.
Ultimately, one great benefit to this whole endeavor is the partnership that has been formed between Toysmith and MagicLogic. The team at MagicLogic listened carefully to the goals of our company and were readily available through every step of the project. We continue to use the BlackBox tool for further analysis. Toysmith looks forward to completing additional projects with Tim Smith and the MagicLogic team.
