UPS improves European distribution of Something Different American giftware
(28/05/2008)

Something Different specialises in the European wholesale and distribution of American giftware. The company acts as a European hub for selected established USA-based manufacturers of t-shirts, greeting cards, gift bags, angel figurines and related giftware. Since its creation in 1990, the company, based in Bridgwater, Somerset, UK, has expanded considerably and now distributes to retail businesses in 23 countries across Europe.

Between 2003 and 2004 Something Different entered a phase of major expansion resulting in a huge increase in package volume. Previously the company was only shipping a few packages a day, but this increased to a daily volume of more than 60 packages in peak periods, equating to the distribution of over 10,000 packages a year.

During this time, the company also changed from shipping only within the UK to becoming a full European distributor. This resulted in further challenges in terms of distributing across borders and made the shipping process increasingly complex and time consuming. With the huge growth in volume and distribution area, it also became increasingly important for Something Different to be able to fully tracking and have total visibility of its packages — the company needed to know where their goods were at any given time and guarantee they would arrive safely.

The company uses UPS Worldship, a product that simplifies the shipping process and saves Something Different precious time when operating in the demanding retail environment. UPS Worldship is specifically designed for customers with high volume shipping needs; it allows Something Different employees to conduct all their shipping activities right from their desktop, generating shipping documentation and labels to enable easier and faster processing.

The company also uses UPS Quantum View, a visibility tool allowing Something Different to regularly check the status of their packages. Employees are proactively notified if any problems arise, allowing contingencies to be planned if necessary.

The most valuable aspect of UPS’s solution for Something Different is the seamless integration of shipment tools into their internal IT infrastructure. The interface between the two company’s systems via XML allows fast and automatic access to shipment information and status updates. The two systems talk to each other and are able to automatically generate shipments when necessary. Customers are automatically informed when their order has been processed for shipment, which plays a significant role in the company’s customer service level agreements.

The technology and shipping solutions provided by UPS have saved Something Different critical time which can be reinvested back into its core business. Previously, employees would spend time reactively sourcing and communicating shipping information to customers. Customers are now proactively notified of the status of their shipment and Something Different has visibility of goods at every stage of the shipping process. The XML link between the two companies’ systems has removed duplication of information and has been crucial in managing the dramatic increase in package volume.

Alfred van Pelt, operations manager, Something Different said, “UPS really listened to our needs as a company and built a solution that helped us to grow the business. We are now kept fully informed of the progress of our shipments and as a result I’m happy to report that it’s very rare for us to receive customer complaints about our distribution.”