Leading Australian online retailer Catch looks to enhance warehouse and labor operations as it prepares for opening of second fulfillment center.
Catch.com.au, one of Australia’s leading online retailers, has selected Blue Yonder’s cloud-based warehouse management system (WMS) and labor management solution to support its high-volume e-commerce business.
Open Sky Group, one of Blue Yonder’s WMS implementation partners, will help design, configure and deploy both solutions.
Catch.com.au has been serving Australia since 2006 through a single fulfillment center based in Victoria, and now due to surging Australian e-commerce demand, a new fulfillment center is scheduled to open in Sydney in Q1 2022.
The new fulfillment center is part of its long-term customer first strategy and will enable Catch to serve customers more quickly and efficiently, helping them get the products they need when they need them, right across Australia.
Due to this booming e-commerce demand, the company’s existing WMS was no longer able to meet its shifting business requirements. Catch was looking for a long-term strategic supply chain provider to bring together all parts of its warehouse operations to meet the dynamic, high-growth e-commerce market.
By implementing Blue Yonder, Catch will be able to:
- Improve customer service through increased efficiency and agility in its warehouse operations
- Deliver stability and scalability via the solutions to support future growth
- Reduce cost to serve, enabling lower prices and faster delivery for customers
- Increase employee performance and engagement
“When we made plans to open a second fulfillment center to better serve our customers, we knew that we needed to upgrade our WMS and labor management solutions. With Blue Yonder, we can continue our customer-first strategy of delivering what our customers need faster and at the lowest price,” said Richard Whetton, Catch.com.au spokesperson.
Blue Yonder’s Luminate Platform, backed by Microsoft Azure, powers the WMS that will drive change for Catch with real-time transaction processing, optimized storage and selection strategies, and integrated labor management. Now, Catch will be able to create a standard methodology for associates to do their jobs more effectively and for the operations to decrease costs, improve throughput and increase productivity.
“Today’s retail e-commerce market is challenging for many reasons and Catch recognized that they need all parts of their business working together to serve their shoppers. We are looking forward to developing a long-term relationship with Catch to help improve their warehouse operations and better manage their warehouse labor, so that their customers can continue to experience an easy and convenient e-commerce shopping experience,” said Rod Hall, Account Manager, Blue Yonder.
“With such a strong WMS implementation record, we are uniquely suited to help Catch deploy their Blue Yonder solutions in a way that helps them meet their customer-first strategy and do so in a more condensed timeline than a traditional implementation,” said Ian Drummond, CEO of Open Sky Group Pty Ltd.
“With our deep team culture, we have already demonstrated our ability to work very collaboratively as one with Catch, Blue Yonder and contractors.”
We asked Catch.com.au spokesperson, Richard Whetton, further questions to find out more.
How is Blue Yonder enabling you to increase efficiency in your warehouse operations?
Catch.com.au has seen an increase in demand over recent years with millions of customers choosing to start their online shopping journey via the website and Catch Mobile App. This expansion of both customers and products has driven a need for an additional fulfillment center based in Sydney and improved efficiency in operations to drive market leading customer service. Blue Yonder WMS will enable Catch.com.au to improve customer service through increased labor efficiency and agility in its warehouse operations, while increasing automation and increasing employee performance and engagement levels. Key planning and execution functions will be fully managed by the system which optimizes tasks and reduces the risk of human error.
How scalable does the solution promise to be?
Blue Yonder WMS runs some of the largest and most complex warehouses in the world and delivers unmatched stability and scalability to support Catch’s future growth. When combined with the flexibility and scalability of the Microsoft Azure backbone, we can seamlessly accommodate both growth and seasonal scalability requirements without incurring the cost of an over-engineered solution during non-peak periods.
Blue Yonder’s solution has a proven ability to manage global networks with visibility down to the local level. As Catch expands in the future, we can rely on Blue Yonder’s solution to provide complete visibility over the entire warehouse and peak system performance whenever it is required.
What benefits are being passed on to your customers?
Catch’s vision is to become the place where Australians start their shopping journey, and part of that is continuing to offer our customers great savings on their favorite brands. The Blue Yonder platform will greatly increase efficiency and agility in the warehouse, and enhance the level of automation, leading to a reduction in labor costs and significant productivity gains, which ultimately results in even lower prices for customers.
Furthermore, by increasing visibility and efficiency in the warehouse, Blue Yonder will enable us to deliver higher quality customer service over the entire delivery journey. Catch will know the status and whereabouts of an order right from the warehouse shelf, to the customer’s doorstep, resulting in superior customer service, fewer stock outs and faster delivery times.
How is the solution increasing employee performance and engagement?
Today’s retail eCommerce market is particularly challenging for many reasons. With a sudden increase in demand for online shopping, and rising customer expectations, there is more pressure than ever before to fulfill orders as quickly as possible. Warehouse staff don’t want to be burdened with a system that is slow or lacking important information, making their job harder to complete. The Blue Yonder solution not only automates some of the more manual and repetitive tasks for staff, it also enables them to complete other tasks much more efficiently, by giving them all the information they need to perform at their best and improving their satisfaction levels.
Why did you choose to work with this provider?
Catch decided to work with Blue Yonder due to its proven capabilities and global experience in supporting complex and high-volume eCommerce-based businesses. Blue Yonder spent the time with us to develop a detailed understanding of how things work today and provided practical recommendations on where to focus to support rapid future growth. This collaborative approach with Blue Yonder’s engagement team gave us the confidence that we could rely on Blue Yonder as a long-term strategic partner to support us throughout this journey.
What are the advantages delivered by real-time transaction processing?
Real-time transaction processing ensures everyone is given an accurate picture of order status and stock levels. With no delays in order processing, there is reduced opportunity for out-of-stocks to occur in between the time the customer made the order, and the time it was processed. More accurate inventory levels and less stockouts result in happier customers, while allowing for reductions in safety stock and working capital.
Real-time transaction processing means there is no delay in information reaching warehouse staff. With data scanned automatically into the system, staff are able to manage all orders by exception as they come in. If there is a problem with a particular order or group of products, staff can rectify the issue immediately rather than waiting until the next day, by which time more incorrect orders are likely to have been made. Seeing errors as they happen enables warehouse staff to deliver better quality customer service, and therefore encourages customers to keep returning to our store.
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