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Case Study:

WRS Group

Overview

WRS Group, headquartered in Waco, Texas, manufactures 3D models, print products,
and promotional materials for health education and health professionals under three
divisions; Health Edco, Childbirth Graphics, and Health Impressions. In addition, it
recently acquired a fourth division that specializes in vinyl. Along with its manufacturing
and distribution hub in Waco, it also has a distribution center in the UK that ships its
products throughout Europe.

Benefits and Key Outcomes

75% improvement in
shipping accuracy

Automated, accurate freight rates

Reduced the need to hire additional employees to keep up with order demand

Excellent service from ShipHawk Customer Support

Industry

Health Education
Manufacturing

ERP

NetSuite

Website

wrsgroup.com

Challenge

Shipping rating accuracy and timely quotes are essential in manufacturing, and unfortunately WRS Group was experiencing
challenges on both fronts due to a lack of automation in its fulfillment process. “Freight had always been a loss, and we needed to
at least try to break even,” said Michael Bankhead, Chief Financial Officer at WRS.

Almost all of WRS’ products are made to order and building the cost of freight into shipping quotes at the time of an order just
wasn’t an option. Instead, it relied on a rate table that was several decades old to determine freight rates based on the dollar value
of each order for its customers. The quoting process was completed manually, order by order, sometimes taking up to two days.
Not only was this a bad customer experience, but it also resulted in losing business. WRS achieved a slight improvement by using
NetSuite’s native real-time dimensional weights feature, but as freight was still negatively impacting profits, it began looking for a
complete solution.

A new solution was also important because WRS’ workforce was also in transition. Workers who had been with the company for
decades were retiring and the talent pool was tight. The company needed a shipping solution that would help it fulfill a higher
volume of orders accurately without requiring more workers.

Solution

With ShipHawk, freight is no longer a loss for WRS and it has achieved a more than 75% improvement in shipping accuracy.
“ShipHawk allows our customer service and sales staff to instantly do freight quotes on large orders, which previously could take
up to two days, because of Smart PackingTM and the custom rules functionality,” said Bankhead. Utilizing custom rules such as
preventing a carrier from being selected, handling markups, and adding insurance for certain orders significantly helped WRS
reduce manual steps. With Smart Packing, the team isn’t wasting time figuring out which box will fit each custom order. Instead, the
Smart Packing cartonization algorithm automatically determines the correct box based on product dimensions and weights.

It may seem intuitive to have the kits ready to go, but all products are built to order at WRS Group. They aren’t your standard
business – WRS has a sewing department and a paint department where every piece of a product is hand-painted and sewn
together once an order is placed. The custom nature of WRS’ manufacturing process is part of what makes its products unique, but
it can also be a barrier to efficient packing and shipping. “One of our biggest issues was that we partially shipped everything – one
part of an order would be ready to go in the morning and we’d ship it out and then that afternoon, we’d have another component
complete and ready to ship out,” said Bankhead. “Thanks to the visibility we have with ShipHawk, we can now combine orders and
cut down on unnecessary shipping costs.”

ShipHawk allows our customer service and sales staff to instantly do freight quotes on large orders, which
previously could take up to two days, because of Smart Packing™ and the custom rules functionality.

Michael Bankhead | Chief Financial Officer at WRS

WRS’ customers benefit from instant, accurate rates and reliable delivery due to address validation and the experience has been
great for WRS’ frontline team, as well. “ShipHawk was very helpful in getting us the right details to include on our rate requests,”
said Bankhead. “Without them, we wouldn’t have been able to finally get accurate freight quotes in place.” Despite hiring remaining
a challenge due to labor shortages, the team is able to process orders faster and more efficiently using fewer people.

Bankhead’s favorite thing about ShipHawk? Its people. “They’re extremely patient, all are very knowledgeable and helpful, and
don’t generally make assumptions when solving problems. They make sure that they do exactly what we’re asking and there is
never any miscommunication,” said Bankhead. “I’ve never met a person at ShipHawk that wasn’t very nice and helpful to work with.”