Leading U.S. embroidery business Z Customization houses more than 3,000 items in its 24,000-square-foot headquarters in Carlsbad, California for some of the biggest names in sporting goods. With business booming, it needed a more effective and accurate fulfillment process for its customers, one that could help maintain cash flow and deliver superior customer service. The solution also needed to be implemented in a short amount of time and work for a mid-sized business, with the ability to scale as the company grew.

Within 12 weeks, Z Customization’s manual order fulfillment processes were seamlessly transitioned to SnapFulfil, provider of a cloud-based warehouse management system (WMS). At the same time, the company’s proprietary system and enterprise resource planning (ERP) suite were successfully integrated.

The goal was to facilitate easier transmission of orders and receipts between the WMS and customers. Because a large number of orders go through embroidery or heat transfer before fulfillment, SnapFulfil also customized a routing method that optimized picking and helped employees move items through production more efficiently.

As a result of the implementation, Z Customization says it has enjoyed considerable improvements in its order-fulfillment processes, with shipping accuracy now greater than 98%. The advanced cloud WMS has also allowed the company to thrive as a third-party logistics (3PL) provider, via much effective management of its customers’ SKUs. Year-on-year 3PL revenues growth has almost been quadrupled.

“One of the best things about this WMS is the ability to automate tasks,” says Jon Leposky, director of operations and logistics at Z Customization. “Rather than organizing things only at a shipment and receipt level, it allows us to break down tasks directly to the operators, and this has helped to streamline operations tremendously.

“SnapFulfil also has one of the best implementation processes and support systems I’ve ever worked with, from weekly status calls during completion to troubleshooting any issues or answering questions as they arise,” Leposky adds. “We know we can rely on the SnapFulfil team at any given time, and that is truly invaluable when it comes to managing fulfillment processes.”