SPECIAL OCT ‘21 EDITION
With Gratitude to ASCLA Gold Sponsor Blue Yonder Silk Logistics Optimises Warehouse Service Levels and Cost With Blue Yonder In the competitive landscape of landside logistics, standing out from the crowd is crucial. This is something Silk Logistics Holdings (SLH) understands well, having carved out its unique approach known as “The Silk Way.” By marrying people, processes and technology, SLH delivers a customised, seamless experience for its customers that includes some of the world’s biggest names in retail, agriculture and manufacturing. One element of “The Silk Way” is a finely tuned warehouse management solution provided by Blue Yonder. This platform not only supports process customisation for individual customers but also facilitates process standardisation that enhances efficiency and productivity. “Blue Yonder allows us to make any process tweaks quickly, keeping customers happy and costs down,” explains Matt Hannah, Chief Information Officer of SLH. For SLH, a homegrown Australian company, the move to Blue Yonder’s solution marked a significant turning point. Faced with the challenge of maintaining their stellar customer service while also accommodating significant growth, SLH realised the need for a system that could standardise, automate and hasten warehouse workflows and tasks. The legacy systems they had in place were simply not cutting it. Enter Blue Yonder’s Warehouse Management System, designed to cater to the most complex of warehousing needs. This solution has not only allowed SLH to optimise daily processes but has also facilitated the seam-
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less onboarding of new customers through scalable deployment templates. Hannah adds, “Our new customers can choose any warehousing provider, so our goal is to deliver an experience where they never want to leave. Thanks to Blue Yonder, today we can get a customer set up on our system in less than 24 hours.” One of the most significant improvements brought about by Blue Yonder has been the streamlining of third-party billing. SLH has capitalised on the system’s extended billing capabilities to transform a once tedious, manual invoicing system into a smooth, automated process. “It took days or even weeks to finalise the numbers. Today, using Blue Yonder’s fully integrated solution, every week up to 500,000 billing transactions are processed and converted to invoice lines within three days,” reveals Hannah. This not only means faster invoice delivery but also quicker payments and fewer billing disputes. The results speak for themselves. By leaning into Blue Yonder’s proven technology, SLH has not only maintained its commitment to personalised customer service but has also significantly improved operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. This case stands as a testament to the power of aligning the right technology with strategic business objectives. In doing so, companies like SLH are not only able to set themselves apart from the competition but also pave the way for future growth and success.
