Lorna Jane are one of the most recognisable Aussie brands around. They've gone from strength to strength, starting up as a small niche market entrant serving the female gym-goers of the local area and are now, just a few years later, emerging as a key player on the global landscape in the activewear space, selling across the Asia Pacific and European regions.
Theirs is a complex and sophisticated logistics operation, with both e-commerce and physical retail presence in multiple markets. A China-based distribution centre runs as their core operating hub for all direct-to-store fulfillment and replenishment, and this works alongside regional warehouse facilities for ecommerce orders serving their local markets. These are the three warehouses that have Peoplevox running as their direct to consumer WMS. Separating out the operational landscape of the business in this way allows Lorna Jane to divide out focus areas with purpose-built solutions, rather than trying to combine efforts with a clunky all-in-one set up.
That's the set-up now, but let's wind back the clock and look at what Lorna Jane were after when it came to a purpose-built system for their ecommerce fulfillment centres. Lorna Jane had a very basic, analogue system running their warehouses, and knew they needed a digital, tech-first approach to transform the way they worked and allow them to grow. They wanted not only a system that would drive increased productivity, but also a way of measuring those improvements and tracking progress in the short and longer terms.
Looking ahead, Danny and the team are excited about the future of the business, and feel safe that the tech stack they now have in place will see them through for the long run:
'I know that we could double in size quite easily, and still be very sound within the system.'
And as for those all-encompassing Black Friday sales events that spike order volumes and typically create massive headaches for any ecommerce operation:
'Last year I remember on Black Friday, everyone was walking out the warehouse, sweating, totally wrecked. We were all exhausted, and I'd been running around the office asking all team members, regardless of department, to come down and help out in the warehouse as we were so overwhelmed.
Then this year, things felt odd. In fact, I was starting to second guess the numbers... are we really that far ahead and on target? The new found productivity we gained meant the operation was a breeze. Honestly, it was an absolute pleasure, and all the hard work we'd put in to get to this point had come to fruition at our busiest time. We cruised through, and still pumped out significantly more orders than the previous year. We'd had the nightmares before, but this time, it was kinda fun!'
We got a 35% increase in productivity for our picking immediately. That alone was phenomenal for the business!
Danny Hancock, Global Operations Director120 Randall Drive
Waterloo, Ontario
N2V 1C6
Canada
info@descartes.com