Papyrus Corp. (Fairfield, Calif.), a leading distributor and retailer of specialty papers, has saved substantial time and money since the implementation of RedPrairie Corp.’s (Waukesha, Wis.), RedPrairie DLx Warehouse software for distribution management. Papyrus, formerly known as Schurman Fine Papers, has experienced significant improvements in inventory accuracy, warehouse throughput and customer service, while simultaneously capitalizing on the labor savings realized from the implementation of this solution.
Papyrus' vision for streamlining its supply chain coincides with the thoughts of many top executives from around the world who rate supply chain issues as the top threat to their own revenue growth. In a report published in late 2005 by FM Global and Harris Interactive, and referenced in the February 1 issue of USA Today, 20% of 600 financial executives surveyed from leading companies across the world, cited supply chain issues as a major disruption to their top revenue driver.
With more than 100 corporate-owned retail stores, Papyrus ships to thousands of retailers throughout the U.S. and Canada. The company manages all distribution through its 210,000-square-foot facility in Goodlettsville, Tenn. In the summer of 2004, Papyrus completed a large warehouse expansion and consolidated inventories from two off-site facilities. Inventory accuracy began improving exponentially. In 2003 accuracy rates were a respectable 97.5%, and in 2005 that rose to 99.99999% on a total inventory of over 2.7 million units.
"Labor is another area of significant savings since implementing RedPrairie,” says Mark Lacey, director of distribution for Papyrus. “We have reduced our labor by half since the beginning of 2004, and we do more work. Before implementing the RedPrairie system our forklift operators averaged five to seven drops per hour. Now we average 30 drops per hour with fewer drivers. Plus we no longer use temporary labor. We regularly used 30-40 additional people during seasonal peaks, but now the efficiency of the system eliminates the need for temporary staff," said.
Papyrus has also substantially streamlined the cartonization and shipping process. In 2004 the company shipped 415,000 cartons. Since then, it has consolidated how it ships to customers and has reduced the total number of cartons by about 40%. "With the average cost per carton of shipping parcels at $3.50, we've saved over half a million dollars just in shipping costs, in addition to the savings in packaging, handling and labor. The total savings is phenomenal. I believe in 2005-2006 the RedPrairie solution will pay for itself twice," Lacey explains.
Source: RedPrairie Corp.
