Opportunity
Rareform designs and manufactures backpacks, totes, duffles and wallets from recycled vinyl billboards. After airing on NBC’s hit show Shark Tank, they experienced a 10x increase in order volume. To keep pace with demand they needed to upgrade their inventory storage, order fulfillment and shipping systems.
Challenge
Preparing for and managing spikes in order volume is challenging even for the most sophisticated eCommerce businesses -- let alone dealing with the “Shark Tank effect”. Moving to a larger facility was not an option for Rareform, so we needed to redesign the warehouse layout for improved storage density and increased order picking throughput.
Solution
We designed a new warehouse layout by focusing on two goals: increase storage capacity and improve the flow of goods. After performing a slotting analysis to determine optimal product placement, we added racking for inventory, upper-level replenishment shelving, and MHE for pick carts and pack tables. Dedicated workstations were created for material cutting, photography, and fulfillment. To improve inventory accuracy, we added product-specific storage bins as well as upgraded shipping software with barcode scanning capabilities to reduce fulfillment errors.
Results
Storage capacity increased by 65% and fulfillment throughput improved by 32%. Rareform successfully handled the biggest Q4 in the company’s history.
About Us
We're former startup operators with deep experience in logistics, order fulfillment, warehousing, supply chain and inventory control. We’ve helped multiple high-growth product companies locate capable fulfillment partners, optimize warehouse efficiency, upgrade operations technologies and improve overall operating performance.