nShift helps Hemimex cut time spent on deliveries from 4 hours a day to 1
Sawing bronze and copper products to precise specifications, and sending them out in extremely diverse packages to customers across Europe, is a highly complex business. So Hemimex seek to make the delivery process as simple as they possibly can. That’s why they use nShift.
The Challenge
Hemimex trades in non-ferrous products such as bronze and copper. Nick van Rossum, Interim Consultant at Hemimex, explains: "We buy our products from abroad and store it in our warehouses. These products meet high-quality requirements and there is a lot of variation. Our customers themselves do not stock these products, so it is very important that everything is always in stock with us. Another advantage of doing business with us is that we always provide customized products based on our customers’ wishes."
But while customization provides a great point of differentiation for Hemimex, it also presents a significant challenge. "The fact that we deliver everything to measure means our packages vary enormously in length, thickness and in weight,” Nick explains. “As a result, we have to work with five different carriers to process the 80 or so orders we have a day. Selecting the right carrier each time and putting these special packages on transport properly is a very time-consuming task."
This is especially true when the task is being performed manually. Specifications have to be entered differently in each system (because, for example, dimensions will be displayed in mm by one carrier and in cm by another), which was costing Hemimex an enormous amount of time and was resulting in a great many errors.
The Solution
Hemimex considered two possible solutions for automating their delivery management process. One was a web-based solution that would save the company 1 hour (out of a total of 4 hours) a day. The other, slightly more expensive, solution involved an integration of nShift with the company’s ERP package, M-Soft, which would save 3 hours (out of 4) every day. Hemimx opted for the latter option and the new system went live in early December 2020.
While there were some early issues with implementation, Nick was pleased with the proactive support he received. “The test environment that [nShift] offers is really a hit. It was excellent for simulating and testing the interaction with our customers, most of whom are in the background during this process."
The Results
The new system has proved a huge hit at Hemimex. Nick says: “The environment is very nice and completely personalized. An example of this is the track and trace emails. Previously all carriers communicated with their own system to our customers, but now all communication to the customers is uniform.”
He continues: “It was also great to see how employees and customers reacted to the new system. Everyone was very enthusiastic! And the promises are being kept – we are achieving the expected savings!"
“It was great to see how employees and customers reacted to the new system.”- Nick van Rossum, Interim Consultant at Hemimex
