RBW Logistics is a third-party logistics provider (3PL) based out of Augusta, Georgia. The family-owned business was founded in 1954, growing to 10 locations with over 2.5 million square-feet of warehouse space, serving manufacturers and retailers with a strong focus on food, e-commerce and manufacturing support. Over the past 70 years RBW experienced rapid growth and evolution, and as supply chains become more complex, RBW is committed to evolving with their clients and creating services that best support their needs.
To keep up with existing customer demand and prepare for scaling in the future, RBW needed a warehouse management system (WMS) that could evolve with them.
- Founded in 1954
- 10 locations
- Over 2.5 million square-feet of warehouse space
Company Information
- Industry: Third-party Logistics (3PL)
- Business size: Mid-market
- Solutions implemented: Synapse3PLExpert (3PL WMS)
- Results: Experienced double digit growth for the last three years
The Challenge: Cumbersome Processes Limited RBW Logistics’ Scalability
RBW’s existing customer base was already putting a strain on their previous WMS. Cumbersome design and user interface, lack of inventory and labor visibility, and poor reporting processes created friction that limited RBW’s ability to meet the needs of their customers. The limited visibility also made it difficult to see detailed order status, including location within the warehouse and who last interacted with it.
For the new WMS, RBW required expanded capabilities to support growth opportunities for existing customers and provide an effective solution for the needs of new clients. And with warehouse labor continuing to be a challenge and industry-wide turnover rates at 49% annually, they needed a system with the visibility to help make the most of available labor and ease of use to help their existing team and new hires get up to speed.
Lack of inventory and labor visibility, and poor reporting processes created friction that limited RBW’s ability to meet the needs of their customers.
RBW Logistics Scales Effectively With Made4net
After exploring the WMS landscape for 3PLs, Synapse 3PL Expert WMS stood out as the best option for RBW.
Synapse brought not only the robust, intuitive technology platform RBW required, but the 3PL experience and insight to put Synapse WMS to use as a best-fit solution.
“We knew we needed more than just a software product. Made4net is a strategic partner to support and promote our growth and their Synapse WMS solution is a critical tool for us to capitalize on that growth potential.”
‒Bob Willert, COO, RBW Logistics
With RBW’s growth taking off, easy integration with customer systems emerged as a capability of paramount performance, helping provide top tier service and a smoother process for clients. “To me one of the most important capabilities of Synapse WMS is the integration,” said Tony Calabrase, CTO, RBW Logistics. “Simple and straightforward customer integration via API, the EDI or just basic file transfers brings the customer closer to us and creates a better relationship.”
And with that growth in customers comes increasingly complex order demands. That meant keeping track of the entire product journey within the warehouse was a point of emphasis for the new system. “The most important capability of Synapse is real-time visibility,” said Randy Phillips, Senior Operations Manager, RBW Logistics. “Whether an operator is picking a product or it’s being staged on the dock, I can see where it is at any point in time through various tracking methods all within the WMS.”
But while the robust functionality to support more customers and more complex order fulfillment was important for RBW, the company also required a stable, easy-to-use system to get the right information to the right personnel in the right format. Built-in reporting enables team members to get customized reports emailed to them regularly at whatever cadence they choose.
The system’s visibility also helps optimize operations in real-time. Synapse WMS breaks labor activity down by operator, unit of measure and time stamp, so work is balanced across all team members.
“Whether an operator is picking a product or it’s being staged on the dock, I can see where it is at any point in time through various tracking methods all within the WMS.”
‒Randy Phillips, Senior Operations Manager, RBW Logistics
Benefits of Implementing Made4net’s 3PL Warehouse Management System (WMS)
Synapse customer support and constant drive to make improvements to match RBW’s unique business demands has fostered a sense of trust at all levels of the organization. And aside from continuous improvement, the system offers an intuitive, easy-to-use resource to manage all levels of warehouse operations.
“I find the logic behind Synapse easy to understand,” said Amanda Powick, IT Manager, RBW Logistics. “I’ve worked with other warehouse management systems and Synapse is far more intuitive.”
Ultimately, Synapse WMS has empowered RBW to grow in ways that were not possible with their previous WMS. Since implementing synapse we’ve experienced double digit growth for the last 3 years in a row,” said Frank Anderson, CEO, RBW Logistics. “The Synapse team at Made4net are reliable, trustworthy partners. They are always expanding the capabilities of their own system. They don’t see it as a system that is good enough as-is. Instead, they are always finding ways to make it better, creating improvements that can better support us as we evolve over time.”
Since adopting Synapse WMS, RBW has experienced a 150% growth in system usage, scaling from 35 to over 80 users. Not only has their user base grown, RBW is able to engage with much larger customers with more complex warehousing needs than they could previously, all enabled by the robust, easy-to-use functionality of Synapse WMS.
