Shortening order fulfillment time by 31.4% for a furniture manufacturer
A company from Kępno struggled with delays at peak season. We rebuilt the process of transferring orders from the office to the hall. We eliminated paper document flows in favor of simple tablets.
Drew-Styl is a medium-sized plant in Kępno that produced furniture faster than it could invoice and ship it. We helped them clear the information flow between the office and production, which directly translated into faster deliveries to showrooms.
The challenge
In March 2024, the company recorded record delays. The average time from order signing to a truck leaving with goods was 19 business days. The main problem was the paper flow of orders – technical drawings were often lost on the floor or left on sales reps' desks.
Workers on assembly lost an average of 43 minutes a day asking for finishing details that weren't in the documentation. Additionally, hardware picking errors affected 14.7% of all shipments. This generated unnecessary transport and complaint costs, which in May alone amounted to 12,430 PLN.
Our approach
Our team, under the supervision of the operations director, spent 6 business days directly on the floor in Kępno. Instead of theoretical lectures, we put facts on the table. We tracked the path of one order sheet from the moment the deposit was paid to the loading of a finished cabinet.
It turned out that information about a change in front color reached the carpenter with a 4-hour delay, when the board was already cut. We focused on eliminating redundant intermediaries in data transfer. We count every zloty for the client, so we proposed solutions that didn't require machine park replacement, just a change in communication.
The solution
We introduced a simple system of digital job cards at 9 key stations. Instead of binders, we installed cheap industrial tablets in dustproof cases. Now the foreman sees every new order 2 minutes after its approval by the sales department.
We also launched automatic notifications about stock shortages. The system reserves boards and accessories immediately, which eliminated situations where production stopped because a specific type of hinge was missing. The whole thing is based on a simple interface that takes an employee less than 3 minutes per order to operate.
Results
By ditching paper and sealing communication, the company regained full liquidity. Foremen stopped running between floors with invoices, and production moved forward without unnecessary downtime caused by data errors.
Timeline
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May 2024Process audit and measurement of real time losses on the floor.
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June 2024Tablet installation and implementation of digital card system.
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July 2024Training for 22 production and logistics employees.
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August 2024Full launch and analysis of results after the first month.
"Papers were always getting lost under piles of particle boards. Now everyone knows what to do, and I don't have to go down from the office every hour to fix order errors."