ELIZABETH ARDEN

The Challenge:

INTERNATIONAL GROWTH

Elizabeth Arden had a problem. Its international business was growing, but its 10-year old system for generating documentation was not able to keep up. Plus, with more and more restrictions being placed on shipping some of the ingredients used in their products, they needed a system that would ensure compliance with hazardous material regulations.

A project team was put together to explore the options available. A list of requirements was produced and a number of vendors were asked to submit their responses. Out of this process, QAD Global Trade and Transportation Execution (GTTE) was selected. 

The Solution:

AN ADAPTABLE SYSTEM WITH A GLOBAL PRESENCE

Meanwhile, major changes were underway at Elizabeth Arden. The company had been acquired by French Fragrances, Inc. {As of 2016, the company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Revlon, Inc.} The new management team decided to consolidate all shipping operations from their facility in Miami to the Elizabeth Arden warehouse in Roanoke, VA. When QAD GTTE went live for the first time, it was in an expanded environment that was shipping more products than ever before. Plus, the timing was critical: Elizabeth Arden’s sales are highly seasonal, so implementing late in the year meant that nothing could be allowed to go wrong or the international orders would not get out in time for holiday sales.

What started out as a trial at one packing station has spread across 10 packing stations for two shifts. QAD GTTE is now being used for all international shipments leaving the Roanoke facility. However, coping with the volume that the old system could not handle and being able to fulfill the new HazMat requirements are not the only ways that QAD GTTE was able to help Elizabeth Arden.

Under the old system, an order was picked into separate cartons and the cartons were routed to the dock. Once all of the cartons were full, they would be sent to the export packing stations for assembly onto a pallet. The packing person would then go to an office and give the pick slips and other information to a shipping clerk who would then create the packing list. This was all done manually which took more time and created more opportunities for error. Now, the re-keying of information has been eliminated with a “Scan Pack” system that Elizabeth Arden has built using the workflows within QAD GTTE. When the cartons come off of the sorter, they are palletized and staged in the export operations area. Upon packing, a new QAD GTTE pallet label is created to represent the pallet. The operator scans each carton UCC128 label against the new pallet label to systematically build the packing list. Once the packing list is completed, other documentation like the shipper’s export declaration, shipper’s letter of instruction, the bill of lading and invoice, along with all of the hazmat materials, are generated.

The Benefits:

SHIPPING EFFICIENCIES REDUCE COSTS, SPEED ORDER-TO-CASH PROCESS

Elizabeth Arden’s unique Scan Pack system shows the flexibility of QAD GTTE, and the way QAD GTTE customers can use the power of its rule-based workflow engine.

In a study done by Barry Brady, the Export Packing Operations Supervisor, overtime in his area dropped by 25% in a month-to-month comparison since implementing QAD GTTE. And that was in spite of a 25 percent increase in volume!

Results included:

• Improved customer satisfaction
• Reduced labor (overtime dropped by 25%)
• Elimination of errors through automation
• Productivity gains through simplification and standardization of the shipping process

*QAD Global Trade and Transportation Execution (GTTE) was formerly known as Precision Software