THE PROBLEM
Fanatics is a global supplier of sports fan merchandise including football shirts, shorts, socks, baseball caps, mugs and other souvenirs. From its warehouse in North Manchester an average of 7,500 items are dispatched every day to meet demand from its hugely popular fanatics-intl.com website. This rises to approximately 28,000 orders a day during its peak period in the run up to Christmas.
THE SOLUTION
Fanatics Operations Manager, Andrew Crozier, explains: “The four Autobag® 850S™ machines have transformed the way we pack items and are now handling about 75% of orders coming through the warehouse.” “The main reason for installing the machines was to save space while allowing us to meet some fairly ambitious growth targets.
Initially we moved eight of the manual packing stations out and replaced them with two Autobag machines, adding two more about 10 months later. The built-in printers on the 850S allow us to print straight onto the bag, eliminating the need for a separate printer for this part of the process.”
“Crucially, Automated Packaging Systems were able to ensure we could meet the specific font and character requirements of many of our important Far Eastern markets including China.”
“They’ve also supplied mail order bags with the Fanatics logo printed on them which facilitates new promotional opportunities for the brand.”
THE RESULTS
The deployment of four Autobag 850S machines at Fanatics’ Manchester warehouse has enabled the company to keep pace with its fast growing order book. Packing operatives were able to process between 45 and 50 orders per hour under Fanatics’ old manual system. Now that figure has increased to between 200 and 250 packages per hour.
Automated Packaging Systems
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