When business is booming, the warehouse often expands too. And this expansion is often accompanied by considerations about professionalizing their own warehouse processes. So it’s no wonder that some customers ask themselves and us when and how it makes sense to switch to our JTL-WMS warehouse solution. To shed some light on this, we sat down with Maik Karlin (MK), operator of the online store hairlin, and asked him about this.
Interview with Maik Karlin from hairlin
JTL: Hello Maik, perhaps you would like to start by giving us a few key facts about your business. How long have you been an online retailer, what do you sell and what is your order volume?
MK: I’ve been in eCommerce for almost 20 years. I started with my online store masterhair, but nowadays it runs under the name hairlin. It is now one of the largest online stores for hairdressing and hair care products. We sell hairdressing-exclusive hair care, styling products and general hairdressing supplies directly to the end customer. We process an order volume of around 1,000 orders a day – so we have a lot to do.
JTL: You made your new sellers in eCommerce with the competition. When did you switch to us and why?
MK: We were with another provider for many years, yes. However, it turned out that as our online business developed, this ERP became less and less suitable for us. Good 4 years ago, we then switched to JTL.
The reason for this was quite simple: the overall system from a single source bidder offered us many advantages. However, we were particularly impressed by your warehouse management. The ease of use, the pleasant user interface, which can be ideally operated via a touch monitor, and the functions for mobile devices were the deciding factors for us: Not only do we get a powerful ERP system, but also a store and warehouse management system that harmonize with each other. We have all three in use today.
JTL: You haven’t used a proper WMS in the past. Why not?
MK: That is correct. Not a WMS, but a very slimmed-down version from our previous ERP provider. However, there was a problem with the import of shipment numbers and inventory in particular.
However, I am of the opinion that at a certain point, when someone has firmly decided on a career in online business, a reasonable WMS for managing a warehouse is a must. At the latest when the time comes to leave your own basement, certain aspects should be considered: storage space management, route optimization, MDE-supported packaging and easy inventory, for example. If many of these processes can also be mapped quickly and transparently, as is the case with JTL-WMS, you will be well positioned in terms of software technology in the future.
JTL: Thank you for the praise. How did the start go for you? Some interested parties are concerned about this phase in particular.
MK: The introduction itself was relatively simple. It is important to think about the layout of the warehouse in advance. Important factors here are walkways, packing tables, structure and the like. The actual set-up is then relatively simple , because JTL-WMS is almost self-explanatory is. Of course, the inventory is unavoidable in order to marry the products in the new WMS warehouse with the new storage location. Basically, it does most of the work, but is a calculable expense for every retailer. If the products can be scanned using a bar code or EAN code, for example, working with JTL-WMS is child’s play. The training time for new employees is just a few minutes these days.
JTL: What exactly do you use in the warehouse now? Do you use additional systems?
MK: We do not use any additional systems, no. But we run our company paperless. This means that all processes in the warehouse are completely paperless. My employees pick with MDEs, we send invoices and delivery bills automatically via workflows, etc. Picking is done with MDEs, invoices and delivery bills are sent via workflow. So we are already well supplied. Of course, there is still room for improvement to get even more efficiency out of a warehouse.
JTL: What are the three biggest advantages of a professional WMS for you, especially JTL-WMS?
MK: Speed comes first. If I want to process a high height of orders per day, there must not be any major delays. Secondly, the software should minimize errors as much as possible, acting as a kind of digital four-eyes principle. After all, every error costs money. The scan during picking and the rescan at the packing table, for example, help enormously with JTL-WMS. In third place for me are actually simple but important functions such as inventory, MDH and batch management. If something like this is not included in the range of functions, I immediately miss the basics.
JTL: Basically, the requirements are obvious. But can you give an example to illustrate the advantages of using JTL-WMS?
MK: The example is the overall concept. Thanks to JTL-WMS, we can handle a very large shipping volume with a very small team (I only employ 2 permanent employees in the warehouse and occasionally a temporary employee). This includes additional tasks such as goods receipt or inventory. When goods are received, for example, the MDE device shows where the corresponding item may already be and in what quantity. The employee can carry out a kind of mini inventory “on the fly” when goods are received.
By displaying the product images during the picking process, we can also make optimum use of storage locations with several items. The training period for an employee who is not yet familiar with the range is extremely short. The voice output alone is helpful.
We have paid a lot of attention to “process optimization” in our company. In order to move such a large number of consignments with so few staff, everything has to fit one hundred percent. There is hardly any room for error tolerances. This also includes the amount of adhesive tape and the choice of the right carton. To further avoid such possible bottlenecks, we only use automatic cartons where the adhesive tape is already in the carton. Our printers only work with peelers. Every second counts for us. And JTL-WMS helps us immensely with this precise work.
JTL: It sounds exciting what’s going on in your warehouse. Thank you for your time and the detailed information.
Maik has also kindly created his own video for this interview. Here he provides more detailed insights into the warehouse and elaborates on some aspects:
