Companies Deliver Catalog and Internet Retailers Merchandise When Their 3PL Goes Out of Business

Dart Warehouse and Integrated Warehousing Solutions (Downers Grove, Ill), have successfully completed the delivery of millions of dollars in merchandise belonging to 80 catalog and Internet retailers left high-and-dry when a major third-party logistics company went out of business last month.

The small to mid-sized non-store retailers learned on July 25 that the failed 3PL would not deliver on its contracts, leaving these companies without any way to deliver customer orders. Almost immediately, order-processing giant Ultra-Cart recommended Dart Warehouse to the failed 3PL's customers. Within days, the team at Dart had trailers, equipment and supplies in place at the failed facilities to move inventory and was creating e solutions for each customer, using the IRMS warehouse management system from Integrated Warehousing Solutions (IWS).

"These companies needed action more than answers," says Herb Duggan, general manager of Dart Warehouse, based in Naperville, Ill. "With IWS, we knew we could scale quickly to solve the problem with a much higher level of service and reliability." Within just two weeks, Dart Warehouse coordinated delivery of thousands of products -- from gourmet kitchenware to books, CDs and DVDs -- to thousands of consumers worldwide. Dart was able to establish a process that could scale quickly at its state-of-the-art 721,000 square-foot facility, with operations management infrastructure powered by the IRMS warehouse management system.

"The team at Dart Warehouse has an outstanding reputation for customer service," says Carl Brewer, president of Integrated Warehousing Solutions. "We're proud to be a part of this effort and commitment - delivering operational excellence every single day of the year."

With the IRMS' integration toolset, Dart Warehouse was able to quickly and easily integrate with each new account's business system. After loading the master files, Dart was ready to coordinate the transfer, in-bound, storage and distribution of current orders as well as the backlogged orders, in less 48 hours. For the final touch, Dart used the IRMS system to create shipping documentation and labeling, including customized printing, multiple label sizes, UCC-128 and customer logo specific labeling on reports and labels.

Source: Integrated Warehousing Solutions