Major book retailer’s sortation error rate reduced by 83%

2 Minute Read

Beautiful girl is holding stack of books while standing among books in the bookshop

The Challenge

A major book retailer wanted to increase the number of customers receiving their orders on time.

Ensuring customers in their more than 300 bookshops received the correct order on time was a vital aspect of the retailer’s customer promise. 

A crucial part of accurate deliveries is ensuring a minimal sortation error rate, so Unipart was challenged with reducing the rate, which was at 3%, to less than 1.2% as soon as possible. 

To reduce the rate, Unipart would need to improve the accuracy of the contents of totes by transforming the process from a time-consuming paper-based one to a digitised one. 

The Solution

Unipart’s operational excellence experts implemented the following:

  • The tote accuracy checks process was digitised and automated where possible
  • The work sequence was enhanced to increase alignment between the physical contents of the tote and the details on the system 
  • Visual management was improved to better identify defects prior to the tote being checked.

The workforce was then coached to ensure they were utilising these new processes for optimal accuracy and speed.

83%

reduction in error rate

The Impact

Unipart’s solution achieved the following impact:

  • Error rate reduced by 83% (3% down to 0.5%)
  • An estimated 152,000 units of errors were prevented in the first 3 months
  • Efficiency of tote checks increased by 50%.
Beautiful girl is holding stack of books while standing among books in the bookshop

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