Traidcraft Plc

A new computer system became necessary to help manage significant growth within the company. Following an extensive analysis of systems on the market, Traidcraft chose Maginus Software. Lesley Heeley, Head of IT at Traidcraft commented: "We saw Maginus in action handling very large volumes on a number of reference visits and this gave us every confidence in choosing it."

In just the first week of live operation, Traidcraft despatched 3,500 parcels, more than 10% above the peak levels achieved with the old system. This was achieved because Maginus handles packing more efficiently than the old system, smoothly integrating with parcel carriers' systems, keeping despatch costs to a minimum and taking out manual intervention. Bottlenecks in the old process, production of high-volumes of despatch documentation for example, have been eliminated.

Maginus runs three main warehouses for Traidcraft: a main distribution warehouse with bulk storage and mail order picking faces; a separate bulk store used to supply supermarkets; and an outsourced wine warehousing facility. Maginus automates stock movements between the sites.

A condition arising from Traidcraft's multi-channel B2C and B2B operations is that many orders are quite heavy, but Traidcraft's parcel carrier arrangements are advantageous if parcels don't exceed 18kgs in weight. Maginus holds the details of each product in terms of size and weight and provides an algorithm to plan picking by splitting and optimising parcels to this maximum. The required product data was imported quickly and accurately into the system using the Maginus Dataload tool, which will also be used to import new products and updates.

The main warehouse is location-controlled. During the implementation project, Traidcraft reconfigured the racking to allow another Maginus algorithm to automate the walk sequence of pickers round the warehouse. Pickers drop the goods at a packing station where a barcode on the picking document is scanned to call up the order details for pick confirm. Maginus then automatically prints out the parcel carrier label (the carrier is automatically selected by customer type, but can be manually overwritten during order entry). Traidcraft use a special carrier for deliveries to supermarkets to handle the timed deliveries essential in this market.

At the third party wine warehouse, Maginus allows UK import duty and excise payments to be deferred until goods are sold, by holding stock 'under bond' and automatically calculating payments due. These improvements in the warehouse have already significantly increased the number of orders handled and this figure is likely to improve in the future as marketing activities generate new customers and increased business volumes.

Traidcraft buy, manufacture and sell various food products. Some, such as coffee, are simply bought and sold, some are packed on site and others are manufactured by third parties using Fair Trade ingredients supplied by Traidcraft. Maginus works order processing controls the quantities of each ingredient required to produce a specific number of 'end products', such as cakes, and receipts the goods back into the warehouse as a different product code. Food products are held in a separate food storage area of the warehouse, picked by expiry date (use by date) and have full batch traceability allowing efficient product recall, if necessary.

Traidcraft is a true multi-channel business selling to volunteers (Fair Traders) who buy at a reduced price from mail order prices and then sell on to end consumers, supermarkets and independent retailers, who buy in bulk, and B2C mail order customers who place orders by post, phone and over the internet. As Maginus is a multi-channel system it automatically handles orders from any source including internet, telephone, retail and wholesale, allowing all areas of the Traidcraft business to be controlled from a single, integrated system. This results in improved customer service, stock control and reduced costs within the business.

Tim Morgan, Financial Director at Traidcraft at the time, commented, "Our customer service staff save time because they have access to all the information they need on one system, where historically this wasn't the case. Staff have visibility of orders across all channels and information across all departments, so our customer service has also improved".

Traidcraft's existing web site has been redeveloped using Maginus Webstore and this further increased efficiency. Maginus Webstore uses the same business rules as Maginus Commerce Server with access to up-to-date information regarding stock availability, prices, etc. Orders are taken automatically into Maginus and handled in the same way as orders from other sales channels. Currently 60% of all orders are taken over the phone, but Traidcraft plan to encourage customers towards 'self service' over the internet which will allow them to increase turnover without significantly increasing costs.

Whilst a core of Traidcraft's product range remains the same, a significant percentage changes from catalogue to catalogue. The purchasing and catalogue production is complicated because the goods are sourced and manufactured in the third world which often results in an 18 months' lead time from product identification to delivery. Unlike most companies, Traidcraft pay for goods before manufacture so that the producers in the third world have the capital to pay for materials. Goods from different suppliers are frequently consolidated into containers at overseas ports and tracking these arrangements used to be particularly difficult. The expediting functionality within Maginus allows Traidcraft to track containers easily, so that potential problems in the supply can be identified and addressed early.

Managers within Traidcraft are impressed with the new management reports. "The improved access to reports is fantastic. It's really encouraging that we are seeing such immediate improvements following the installation of Maginus", continued Lesley Heeley. Over a period of time Traidcraft will build a bank of information by switching on Maginus' square inch analysis and campaign and media code tracking features. This will help to inform and drive future marketing initiatives.

One of Traidcraft's main requirements of the new system was that it had a strong technical base as their existing system had significant database administration overheads. Maginus is built around an Oracle database, which offers a robust platform capable of handling very high volumes. The modern component-based design of Maginus provides database objects and API layers which make it easy to integrate other applications with Maginus.

The go-live with Maginus Software was a complete success, with everything completed and installed on time and on budget. The success of the project was the result of well-defined roles, a well-planned project, good communication and excellent teamwork. Lesley Heeley commented, "Everybody involved, in both companies, knew what their responsibilities were and really worked together well as a team. All this resulted in a successful system from Day one".

A significant element of the project was the identification and managing out of key challenges and risks during the implementation process, and a pilot run before go-live played a big part.

Traidcraft has had four successful years using Maginus software and are now seeking to upgrade along with upgrading their e-commerce solution.There have been a number of staff changes at Traidcraft, with the appointment of Mags Vaughan as the Operations Director and Simon Grant as the new Finance Director during the last couple of years. Traidcraft are working on improving and updating their Maginus solutions which will enable them to use the latest technologies and reporting tools to fulfill the organizations business requirements for the next few years. This is an exciting time for Traidcraft and they see the use of the Maginus systems as a way of helping them to achieve their mission statement of ‘fighting poverty through trade’.