Learn how our Total Packaging Management Service has helped support the rapid growth of a major supplier of ecommerce fulfilment solutions.
The partnership between the customer and Hazel 4D started in 2013, and the companies enjoyed a good working relationship during an initial two-year contract. Following a short break using another supplier, the distribution specialist quickly returned to Hazel 4D and our Total Packaging Management (TPM) service, and we have enjoyed helping them make the most of the incredible growth opportunities of the past few years.
Ecommerce sales have increased exponentially across the UK, particularly during the Covid pandemic, and the distribution specialist has benefitted from this explosion in business. As a result, they have experienced a huge increase of packaging requirements – including a 150+% increase over 2 years on some cardboard box lines.
Growth on this scale brings many challenges, including for packaging – particularly during a period when there have been world-wide paper shortages, and Brexit has caused delays in main supply chains. Unlike some of their competitors though, one area that the team has not had to worry about is ensuring that they always have the packaging they need to keep up with rapidly rising demand.
The distribution specialist has taken full advantage of Hazel 4D’s TPM service, which has enabled our talented procurement team to plan ahead and prepare for unprecedented increases in demand. This has meant that we have always held advance stock for the customer and, combined with first class communication between our two businesses, has meant that our warehouse team has been able to provide the distribution specialist with exactly the packaging they’ve needed, just when they’ve needed it.
Interestingly, a dramatic (and ongoing) increase in online demand for wine deliveries has meant that 2020 saw the customer’s use of Hazel’s innovative Vivino 6 bottle wine boxes grow by almost 70%… We’ll certainly be raising a toast to Simon, who masterminds the account, and our hard-working teams who have managed to deliver perfectly – every time!
