Totes Isotoner (UK)’s products make for thoughtful gifts during the winter season, triggering a significant upturn in online orders. To cope, their e-commerce team resolved to invest in an automated packing solution.
Prior to the investment, the despatch of online orders involved a manual pick and pack process. This proved problematic during peak periods when demand would outstrip physical capacity or when staff absence would threaten productivity.
Our bagging expert, Tom Hill, attended totes’ facility to gain an in-depth understanding of their needs. totes stipulated target speeds of 12 packs per minute and a strong package of after-sales support was non-negotiable. Most importantly, the proposed solution needed to allow totes to stop relying on Royal Mail’s data system, replacing it with a GDPR compliant, in-house alternative for the courier label printing.
Tom recommended our innovative Flexo 500 E-COM horizontal automatic bagging unit, manufactured by German automation specialists Hugo Beck, with an internally mounted VULCAN direct apply labeller from Clearmark. This solution is high-speed, high volume and highly data secure.
Far outstripping the target speeds, at sign off, the E-COM 500 achieved a hugely impressive 18 packs per minute. totes have reported output five times greater than pre-install. The machine has also reduced dependency on manual operators and patchy data systems, reduced material waste and produced snug fitting, aesthetically pleasing mailing bags.
Karl Blackburn, Operations Director at totes ISOTONER (UK), enthused
“Investing in this equipment from YPS has proven to be a gamechanger. We’ve radically increased our throughput, allowing us to complete more online order despatches in a faster timeframe and pleasing more of our customers. The support offered by the team at YPS has been second to none; every technical query has been answered and resolved quickly and professionally, allowing us to run at peak performance around the clock.”
