A new delivery management system is proving its worth for the UK bicycle retailer

Evans Cycles has recently gone live with MetaPack Delivery Management System and has reported time and cost savings. 

Evans operates a multichannel strategy through 46 stores and a transactional website launched in 1999. It now offers a leading range of multichannel delivery options such as store collect (order online and collect instore), home delivery (order instore and deliver to your door) and an international collection point.

The retailer has taken on MetaPack to speed up and improve accuracy in its manual consignment allocation as well as produce faster, more accurate commercial invoices.

Automating and streamlining process

The MetaPack system now automates allocation and label printing, as well as increasing accuracy through integration with its Microsoft Navision order management system. This integration allows a file transfer of all customer and order details directly into MetaPack, speeding up the process while improving the accuracy by removing the possibility of human error.

Since implementing MetaPack Evans Cycles have managed to reduce the number of people required at packbench, saving approximately five man days per week.

Adding new carriers has also been made much easier. Stuart McGhee, direct sales operations manager at Evans, explained: “We have found that by using MetaPack it’s very easy to add carriers as we only require a simple development to bring them on board. The beauty is then you do not have to import another portal, courier printer, label or indeed train the staff in yet another process.

“Also the contact centre use MetaPack for tracking, so again integration is quick and up to speed ASAP.” He added: “We save at least three man days on training costs and around £500 on internal development costs with each courier addition.”

Fulfilment provides competitive advantage

For its growing international deliveries, increasing the quality of its commercial documentation, which were previously handwritten, has resulted in quicker customs clearance. 

Moreover, by using the intelligent allocation engine allocating to different couriers for certain countries, it has managed to achieve the most economical delivery. It has used this saving as a competitive advantage by providing customers with lower international delivery rates, as well as offering free international delivery on clothes and accessories.

McGhee concluded: “The courier world is fast paced and you need to be prepared to try new couriers and keep abreast of the latest delivery developments, MetaPack allows this. It works out cheaper to use MetaPack than trying to integrate all couriers into your own warehouse management tool.”