Healthy is as healthy does. And that is just the case for Mannatech, Inc. It ships a line of supplements and vitamins using a robust parcel manifest shipping system (Kewill Systems, www.kewill.com, 508-229-4400) that delivers fit results to the company's bottom line at a 75,000 square foot distribution center in Coppell, Texas.

'We went from entering data by hand or scanning multiple bar codes with our old system,' says Jason Mallett, director of distribution, 'to scanning one bar code that accesses our database and processes an order in 2 or 3 seconds.'

By integrating the parcel manifest system with the center's order management system, Mannatech quickly produces shipping documentation and order and picking information that allows the company to track the 3,650 packages it ships a day. The system also monitors productivity in the warehouse by associate.

The result: Mannatech has more than doubled the efficiency of its shipping operations, reducing the center's picking staff from 45 full time employees to just 18 full-time and four part-time pickers, while increasing the average orders per man hour shipped from 15.46 to 30.54.

The shipping department also boasts an order accuracy fill rate of 99.76%.

Prior to implementing a new parcel manifest shipping system, Mannatech shipped all packages by UPS, using its proprietary shipping system. The system, however, had limitations that impacted productivity.

First, Mannatech's database of more than 200,000 sales associates changes often. New associates are added regularly, as are new customers. 'It's not uncommon for us to receive an order at 10 in the morning from a brand new associate with a brand new address that has to be shipped out that afternoon,' says Mallett. 'The UPS system couldn't keep up with those changes on a real-time basis, which meant we had to do a lot of manual entry.'

What's more, associate orders are complex, requiring more information than the UPS system could easily handle in an automated fashion.

For instance, a typical sales order might include five items sold by one associate, with each item going to a different shipping address.

'The database for our associates was too big to import into the UPS system, so we had to create a bar code for every field of an order, and then scan each bar code,' Mallett explains. 'If a worker in the warehouse scanned the information into the wrong field, an order could end up almost any place.'

Finally, as business grew, Mannatech wanted the flexibility to negotiate with multiple carriers without maintaining a different shipping system for each carrier.

The parcel manifest system does all that while providing comprehensive reports on warehouse activity by picker. That's important, since Mannatech uses an in-house order and warehouse management system.

'Every employee in the warehouse is assigned a number that's tracked by the parcel manifest system,' says Mallett. 'I can easily see how many orders have been processed and who processed them, which gives us a very accurate view of productivity and accuracy without a robust WMS system.'

Orders received by mail, phone, or fax are manually entered into Mannatech's order management system, while orders from the Web and associates set up for automatic replenishment are entered electronically.

Once an order has been entered and credit has been approved, the order is held in a buffer before it's sent to the printing queue for 1 hour. 'Quite often, someone places an order and then calls back 20 minutes later to make a change,' says Mallett. 'It's easier to make changes in the buffer, before the order is downloaded to the warehouse.'

When the buffer time has passed, orders are downloaded to a printing queue in the warehouse. The system sorts orders by box size and by the level of shipping service requested - over-night, second day, or regular ground.

Orders are also sorted by order type. A first time order to a new sales associate, for instance, is processed within 24 hours of receipt, and includes a special product kit and literature.

Following order sortation, the system prints out pick tickets. Those include an SKU number and description of the items to be picked. A peel-off bar code label on the bottom right hand corner of the ticket includes an order number. That number is associated with the complete order and shipping information in the order management system.

The warehouse includes eight pick stations. Each 15-foot pick area is equipped with a pick-to-light system stocked with all 33 SKU's managed by the warehouse.

The picker sticks the bar code label on the outside of a shipping box, then scans the bar code. Order information is passed to the pick station, which lights up the shelves to be picked. As items from the order are removed, the picker pushes a button under each item, updating the system.

After an order has been picked, the shipping carton travels by conveyor to a weighing and motion scale. There, a fixed scanner notifies the order management system that the box is on the scale. The actual weight of the order is compared to the estimated weight.

If the weight is out of tolerance, the package is diverted to an inspection station to be manually inspected. If the order is within a weight tolerance, it goes to a packing station, where the box is filled with dunnage and sealed. Then it passes by conveyor to the parcel manifest system.

As soon as the box reaches the shipping system, a manifest clerk removes the package and places it on another scale where the bar code is scanned again. The parcel manifest system extracts all of the order and routing information from the order management system.

Small orders with 2 to 3 day delivery are automatically routed through priority mail, while overnight orders are routed to Federal Express. Larger orders are rate shopped from all available parcel carriers.

Once a carrier has been selected, the system creates a carrier compliant shipping label. The package is palletized and waits to be picked up later by the carrier. The system was customized to create customs documents for shipments to Canada.

While the parcel manifest system is capable of real-time reporting, Mannatech purposely updates shipments just twice a day. 'If we updated the system in real time, the order management system would show the package as having already shipped,' says Mallett. 'But since we allow a customer to change an order almost up to the time it goes out on a truck, batching gives us more flexibility in terms of customer service.'

The systems reporting function has allowed Mallett to save big on his shipping costs. 'Now when I negotiate with a carrier, I can tell them I can definitely send them a group of 2,000 orders a day that will look a certain way,' he says. 'That has really added to the savings we're already seeing from productivity and accuracy.'

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