AU
US
A leading Australian fashion e-commerce retailer had 1,300 employees at peak and couldn’t tell you what most of them were actually doing. They knew their receiving department had 80 workers processing 170 units per hour collectively, but that’s where visibility ended.
Which workers were productive? Which weren’t? Why did performance vary so wildly? Nobody knew.
James Gardiner, Principal at WIN Solutions, calls it what it was: “an out-of-control staffing issue.”
The retailer’s 28% return rate, comprised mainly of customers ordering multiple sizes and returning what didn’t fit, only compounded the problem. Without visibility into individual performance, management couldn’t identify which workers properly processed returns and which cut corners. Some items went back into circulation with needles still attached or other surprises customers definitely didn’t order.
Small inefficiencies multiplied across hundreds of workers. A 15-minute walk to fetch label rolls. VIP packaging stored across the warehouse instead of at workstations. Some workers pushing completed work forward for the next person, others leaving it for their colleagues to pull. Individually trivial. Collectively devastating.
The journey from this operational chaos to data-driven precision transformed more than metrics. It transformed how the retailer understood, managed, and optimised their workforce. Through a systematic partnership with WIN Solutions and their DC Metrics platform, they discovered the path to operational excellence, just in time for the biggest shopping period of the year.
The Challenge: Many People, Little Visibility
“They couldn’t work out where the money was going,” James explains. “They knew that Receiving were doing 170 units an hour, but they had 80 people in receiving, so there was no correlation to say, well, what’s what individuals doing? Are there outliers? Have we got people doing lots and we got people doing a little bit?”
Standard operating procedures existed, but without auditing or enforcement, employees developed their own methods. Small inefficiencies multiplied across the workforce: 10 to 15-minute walks to fetch label rolls, VIP packaging stored centrally instead of at workstations, inconsistent task execution.
“These only sound like small things, but when you’ve got a large workforce, those things have an effect that accumulates in a great way,” James emphasises.
The 28% return rate compounded the problem. Without visibility into individual performance, management couldn’t identify which workers properly processed returns and which cut corners. “What we found with the returns process is people weren’t doing proper returns,” James notes. “They weren’t checking. They were resending something out which would probably get returned and there was a needle inside, for example.”
The Solution: A Phased Approach to Transformation
WIN Solutions designed a three-phase implementation that allowed the retailer to adapt, learn, and prove value at each stage.
Phase One: Time and attendance tracking, payroll management, and reverse casual billing for agencies. The implementation took 4 to 6 weeks from data integration to actionable insights. “As soon as we link your data from either your ERP or warehouse system or your inventory system, as soon as we link that data to a person, to a function—we’re talking about 4 to 6 weeks—we could have meaningful information that you can act upon,” James notes.
Phase Two: Full productivity tracking introduced individual performance metrics and exception-based reporting. The impact was immediate. “Just turning on productivity gave them a saving of about $22,000 to $30,000 per week,” James reveals. Supervisors could finally pinpoint exactly why employees missed targets: late starts, extended breaks, missing materials, or process bottlenecks.
Phase Three: Engineered work measurement created fair, data-driven expectations based on task complexity. The system differentiated between permanent staff (230 units per hour), internal casuals, and agency casuals (150 units per hour)—crucial for workforce planning.
The Implementation: Beyond Software Installation
WIN Solutions’ approach distinguished itself through ground-level engagement. The team developed audit protocols that supervisors could use to identify issues invisible during normal operations.
“We developed audits that we did initially, and then we handed over to their supervision so that the exception-based information was available to them,” James explains. “When they did an audit, the supervisor would say something they wouldn’t normally see during their day because the supervisor is walking past these people all day, but what they’re not seeing is the person walking to get a role.”
The most remarkable outcome was transformed employee engagement. Workers who previously had no voice suddenly had data to support their concerns. “Before they even been spoken to about performance, they’re actually coming to supervision and going, ‘Hey, hang on a sec, you’re not being fair to me here. You’re asking me to deliver something but you’re not performing your role,'” James recounts.
This accountability cascaded upward. Supervisors challenged managers about ordering shortages and undocumented process changes. The data exposed operational problems that couldn’t hide.
Beyond measurement, WIN Solutions provided operational consulting on material placement, process consistency, and quality control—particularly for returns processing, given its impact on customer satisfaction.
Navigating the Challenges
The primary challenge wasn’t technical; it was operational continuity. “Business as usual is the biggest bottleneck that we have,” James admits. “There are times where we understand that you as a business need to keep trading, so there’s times where we have to walk away and leave you for a few weeks while you deal with whatever is going on, and then come back and work with you again.”
For a fashion retailer with pronounced seasonal peaks, the ability to pause implementation during critical trading periods proved essential. WIN Solutions’ flexibility prevented the transformation from disrupting the business it was meant to improve.
The Results: Transformation at Scale
The retailer reduced their peak workforce from 1,300 employees to 700 to 800, with nearly all agency casuals dropped. “Agency casuals are gone. Nearly everybody is either a casual employee, or a full-time employee,” James states.
This shift meant better workforce stability, reduced training overhead, and enhanced quality consistency. Employees who understood the business replaced transient agency workers.
With each employee costing approximately $60,000 annually, even conservative assumptions—a reduction of just 100 employees would have delivered $6 million in annual wage savings. Weekly productivity improvements added another $22,000 to $30,000 in recurring savings.
“Even if we look at even 100 people at 60,000, that’s 6 million dollars in wages a year these guys have saved,” James calculates. Against an annual DC Metrics investment of approximately $327,600 for a 700-person operation, the ROI exceeded 1,700%.
Beyond financial metrics, the retailer gained unprecedented planning precision. “One of the problems they also had was they’d bring in 900 people but they wouldn’t really know whether they’d get the work done or not,” James notes. “Now they’re able to work out what is the difference between my own staff who I know can do 230 units per hour versus new staff I’m bringing in who are only gonna do 150 an hour, and how do I plan around that.”
Returns processing became consistently rigorous. When targets were missed, management could identify exactly why. The transparency transformed organisational culture. Employees held management accountable, supervisors held managers accountable, and data replaced opinion in performance discussions.
Looking Forward: The Next Evolution
“The next step for us and what the future is going to bring for us is a planning module that will allow us to project workforce requirements,” James reveals. “We’ve worked out how many hours you’re spending on your people, we know what sort of money it’s costing you, we know what functions they’re doing and we know what work they’re doing down to the minute. We’re now going to tell you how many people you should bring in based on all of those factors, including what type of employee, whether they are a permanent, an internal casual, or an agency casual, because all three of those people will deliver different rates.”
This predictive planning capability will prove particularly valuable during peak trading periods like Black Friday and Christmas, where workforce planning precision directly impacts both customer experience and profitability.
A Partnership for Operational Excellence
The transformation achieved by this fashion retailer demonstrates several critical insights: scale amplifies everything. Small inefficiencies cost millions across hundreds of employees, but improvements deliver transformative returns. You can’t improve what you can’t measure; visibility enabled everything that followed. The phased approach reduced risk whilst proving value at each stage. Employee empowerment with data turned workers into advocates for continuous improvement.
For the fashion retailer, DC Metrics created a foundation for sustainable competitive advantage. From chaos to control. From guesswork to precision. From cost centre to competitive advantage.
Ready to Transform Your Warehouse Operations?
If your organisation is struggling with workforce visibility, productivity measurement, or operational control, WIN Solutions can guide your transformation. With over 50 years of combined experience and as an Infor Gold Partner, we understand both the technology and operational realities of warehouse management.
Contact us today to discuss how we can help you achieve unprecedented visibility, data-driven decision-making, and operation
