Supplier Consolidation, E-Commerce Site Launch Streamline Operations | Manufacturing

4/30/2024

RRD partnership delivers cost savings, efficiencies, and system enhancements for leading lighting company

CHALLENGE

A global leader in energy-efficient lighting innovations had previously partnered with numerous providers for their print marketing and promotional materials. A network of partners facilitated printing, warehousing, and fulfillment — including RRD, which had long served as their warehousing partner — while the company’s e-commerce site enabled internal collateral orders.

Over time, however, the company began experiencing challenges with their e-commerce site. In addition, they determined that it would be prudent to seek out ways to save costs and increase efficiency by working with fewer proven, trusted partners. 

SOLUTION

To meet these challenges, the company turned to RRD and its extensive network of print, e-commerce, inventory management, warehouse, and fulfillment capabilities. By eliminating materials transport between the various providers, the company was able to realize immediate time and cost savings. 

RRD additionally built a new e-commerce site, leveraging a proprietary document management solution. Featuring a robust back-end system, updated technology, and a seamless user experience, the new site includes:

• Single sign-on (SSO) for a secure, simplified user experience
• A user-friendly experience, simplifying the process of adding items to the cart and editing the cart; adding new files and items to the inventory; and inventory management
• Enhanced site speed
• Accurate inventory quantities and management with real-time review and reporting capabilities
• Simplified user admin tools to add or remove users and manage permissions

Throughout the site build, the team held weekly meetings and demo sessions. Upon launch, RRD provided training and onboarding sessions to nearly 100 company employees. 

RRD also assumed inventory of the company’s existing 150-plus items, then conducted a thorough review to discern current and outdated items. All matched inventory was organized in the warehouse for fast, accurate fulfillment.

To improve order fulfillment and back-end logistics, the company collaborated with RRD to establish and implement business rules within the order platform — ensuring cost management and process adherence. 

In addition, the team put in place several cost-saving processes. From an order management standpoint, RRD reports in-stock vs. used quantities and identifies opportunities for distribution and other solutions to minimize inventory waste. RRD works with the company to leverage print-on-demand solutions to minimize waste and inventory-management costs. 

RRD also replaced pay-as-you-go with monthly billing reporting — as a result, orders could be consolidated and the number of skids minimized, resulting in lower company costs. 

RESULTS

Through a combination of supplier consolidation, updated technologies, and new processes, the company has realized several improvements:

• Lowered costs and reduced turnaround times by eliminating inter-vendor material transfers
• Enhanced inventory management system with improved real-time data, reporting, and administration
• Sales team has immediate access to their choice of materials
• Faster to-market time for marketing and promotional materials
• Significantly reduced wasted materials and inventory
• Significantly reduced print and storage costs