Sporting Goods: 30% Less Labor & 70% Faster Shipping with RF-SMART

INDUSTRY: eCommerce

ERP: NetSuite

CHALLENGE

On a legacy WMS that was clunky, hard to train new team members on, lacked cloud-based scanning capabilities, and fell short of delivering the all-in-one functionality they needed.

RESULTS

With RF-SMART WMS and RF-SMART Shipping, Strikeforce cut labor costs by 30%, significantly accelerated shipping, and reduced training time from hours to just minutes.

RF-SMART PRODUCTS USED

RF-SMART Shipping
RF-SMART WMS

As KR Strikeforce worked to meet growing global demand, both their warehouse operations and shipping process became significant sources of friction and cost.

Key issues:

• Clunky, difficult-to-use WMS: Their first scanning solution made their transition to NetSuite harder than necessary. It was antiquated, hard to train on, and failed to support the flexibility needed for exception-based orders.
• No inventory counting routine: Without regular stock counts, Strikeforce had blind spots in their inventory accuracy, unknowingly incurring avoidable labor and resource costs.
• Shipping bottlenecks during peak season: Their previous shipping software caused significant delays, wasting minutes per transaction and required employees to work through the Thanksgiving holiday weekend each year to catch up on hundreds of orders.
• Manual carrier decision-making: Staff were required to manually choose a shipping carrier between every scan, slowing down fulfillment and adding unnecessary complexity to the packing process.
• Heavy onboarding burden: Training new employees required days of hands-on instruction with three supervisors, along with constantly updated documentation for multiple systems and manual processes.

The Solution

Strikeforce chose RF-SMART WMS and Shipping for NetSuite, building a unified warehouse and fulfillment solution on the platform they were already running. This eliminated the need to jump between systems or re-key data across disconnected tools.

With RF-SMART, Strikeforce:

• Implemented a weekly blind stock count using RF-SMART's Stock Counting function, achieving real-time visibility and accuracy across their warehouse inventory.
• Deployed RF-SMART Shipping with a Rules Engine to fully automate carrier selection, choosing the lowest-cost compliant provider with a single scan, no extra clicks required.
• Embedded smart shipping rules for made-to-order shipments, removing manual decisions at the packing station entirely and eliminating guesswork for shipping clerks.
• Leveraged an on-site implementation at their Chicago facility, giving the RF-SMART team direct visibility into warehouse operations and allowing for tailored configuration guidance.
• Simplified workflows so thoroughly that seasonal employees and new hires could learn to process orders within minutes.

The Transformation

Strikeforce dramatically improved both warehouse accuracy and shipping efficiency by:

• Reducing labor costs by 30% through weekly stock counting and real-time inventory visibility
• Cutting shipping time by nearly 70% by eliminating software delays and automating carrier selection

• Save a full day of labor as all orders placed over the long weekend are now processed the following Monday
• Reduce onboarding time from multiple days with three supervisors down to minutes, even for seasonal staff
• Expand their RF-SMART usage over time, adding features and functionality as their partnership with RF-SMART deepened

RF-SMART's ease of use and hands-on implementation approach freed up time and resources across the business, relieved management of longstanding training pain points, and created a better working environment on the warehouse floor.