“Having a system like this gives customers confidence that their product is being well looked after. Customers are empowered and feel like they have complete control.”
- Renea Johnson, National ISP Customer Service Manager, OracleCMS in West Melbourne, Australia

Company Overview

Company Overview

OracleCMS is a young and fast-growing customer management service company based in Melbourne Australia with 25 employees. It specializes in customer service and call centers, providing fulfillment logistics for diverse companies - like Reuters, Kraft, and Novartis Pharmaceuticals - that require 24/7 visibility into inventory levels.

The Challenge - Inventory Accuracy and Visibility

The Challenge - Inventory Accuracy and Visibility

OracleCMS was in need of bringing its operational efficiency to a higher level. According to National ISP Customer Service Manager, Renea Johnson: While it worked for a while, Markley Enterprise’s existing distribution system could not keep pace with the needs of its customers, as Markley explains: “Accuracy was a huge issue with our spreadsheet technique”, said Johnson, “one typo and that was it! You might drop or mistype a single figure and have a discrepancy with your handhelds when you came back later to the spreadsheet. And, it takes a lot longer to go back through every single order manually [once an error has been made] than to automate the process at the outset".

Accuracy wasn’t the only area impeding the company’s efficiency. Operations also suffered due to a lack of automation – a situation made worse by the fact that OracleCMS receives hundreds of new products each week, resulting in an ever-increasing inventory. Three full-time warehouse operators performed manual inventory counts, all while trying to keep up with the inventory spikes. In a nutshell, the team needed to find a solution that would:

• Automate Excel-based inventory management process
• Reduce time spent on inventory reconciliation
• Increase customer visibility of inventory

Customer service representatives were fielding countless phone calls from customers checking on inventory status. While Johnson always had access to the master inventory spreadsheet, the company’s partners did not, yet visibility was crucial to continued growth and stronger partner relationships. After two years in business, OracleCMS was growing by leaps and bounds and hungry for a more efficient inventory management system.

Finding a Solution With SmartTurn

Finding a Solution With SmartTurn

After nearly eight months searching for the optimal solution, the OracleCMS team chose the SmartTurn Inventory and Warehouse Management System to improve efficiency and better serve its customers. “It’s a simple equation, really. Efficient products equal efficient systems equals an efficient company”, explained Sandra Denys, National Operations Manager with OracleCMS. SmartTurn provides the ability to see, direct, and manage the movement of inventory, thereby streamlining key operational processes and eliminating the arduous and fallible practice of manual spreadsheet management.

Prior to using SmartTurn, OracleCMS dealt with a cumbersome process: After each product was shipped, Johnson had to update the inventory levels manually in Excel. Using SmartTurn, however, OracleCMS now creates the shipment online, and the SmartTurn system updates inventory levels automatically and in real-time.“It’s all about the numbers, about not losing a penny. SmartTurn gives [us] the option to concentrate on the accuracy of the system – not on entering data into a spreadsheet”, said Denys.

After the SmartTurn implementation, OracleCMS saw an immediate drop in the number of errors and the hours spent on data reconciliation.“When it comes to man-hours, SmartTurn is saving us a lot of time. It means not having to pull our staff off the phones to do manual inventory counts”, said Denys. In fact, OracleCMS was able to re-deploy two of its three full-time warehouse operators. “In the end, not having as many staff members involved in inventory counts offers cost efficiency. And, the way we look at it is this: If we save money, then the customer saves money”, said Denys.

The Results - Better Customer Service

The Results - Better Customer Service

Due to SmartTurn’s secure, on-demand web-based solution, OracleCMS can provide each customer with real-time visibility into each inventory item’s quantity, location, status, and history within one warehouse or across multiple warehouse sites, facilities, locations, and even supply-chain partners. For example, one customer, a health food manufacturer, outsourced product fulfillment for over 100 customers to OracleCMS. The health food manufacturer’s products are shipped more quickly, and the appropriate personnel at the customer site can view inventory levels and shipment status in real-time.

In short, SmartTurn provided OracleCMS with:

• Automated inventory and warehouse processes
• Reduced manual administration and inventory counts; cut inventory management costs and floor operating resources
• Provided 24/7 self-service inventory visibility to their customers

SmartTurn helps position OracleCMS for rapid growth by enabling employees to focus on adding value to the business.“We can do more with current or fewer resources using SmartTurn. That’s critical because the inventory process has to keep up with our growth", said Denys, “Our partners wanted 24/7 visibility into their inventory so that they could look up information on their own. Now, it’s no longer just Renea with access to the inventory levels, because our critical partners also get full visibility”. The system ensures the essential flow of up-to-the-minute information between departments, customers, and vendors. Today, eight OracleCMS employees use SmartTurn internally, along with six external partners. Thanks to SmartTurn, the entire partner network is enjoying brilliant visibility and collaboration.“It has to be an effective solution for our customers and SmartTurn is that”, explained Denys.

To find out more about OracleCMS, visit its website: www.oraclecms.com