Case Studies

Pick and Pack work, Marketing Agency

About the Client

A Birmingham based Digital design and Creative Agency were seeking a supplier to work with them to distribute a variety of recipe cards, posters and leaflets to a number of different market sectors. The brief required a set number of each different print version to be picked and packed to then be mailed out to individual addresses. There were over 130 variations of printed matter, with a number of different themes.  The printed materials had to be carefully collated and packed by hand and then sent out within a challenging timeframe.

Details of the Work

The Agency’s client was promoting a series of food recipes for various commonly known calendar events that would seek to inspire people to try new ideas and ingredients at traditional times of the year. These themed recipe suggestions were delivered using a combination of A3 and A4 printed posters and A5 cards and each pack needed to contain various quantities and variations of the print, ready for the end recipient to display and hand out.

The print was delivered on pallets containing mixed boxes meaning that before any pick and pack work could take place the printed matter had to be sorted by hand and separated.

The Solution from CMS

Central Mailing Services have been providing Pick and Pack services for over 25 years as not all work can be enclosed by machine.  When producing work such as this we first look to break the work into a number of stages, with receipt of stock being the first process. Once the stock is delivered, it is carefully checked against the client’s brief before being logged onto our live warehouse stock system.

We often have clients that require a full stock breakdown therefore we must breakdown the pallets and separate out each individual item to ensure we aren’t missing any components of the client’s brief. With this type of pick and pack work we insist on a full inventory from the client to allow us to check off each item prior to starting the work. Once the print was correctly identified, it was logged and put away within our large storage area which has 2500 pallet bays.

Following completion of the picking data being processed, the pick and pack team were thoroughly briefed and provided with detailed pick sheets. The picking process is subject to quality checks and a full audit trail of work carried out is created and retained within the job pack. We were able to create unique ID numbers for all print variations to ensure complete picking accuracy and once the stock was picked sample packs for proofing were created, and photographs of the pack contents were sent to the client as a further method of proofing.

All components were then carefully boxed in line with the brief we received, in this case it was into custom size double walled boxes that were then sealed and labelled. Central Mailing Services goods out team then carried out further Quality Checks prior to the work being released to the appropriate courier. The client was sent a confirmation of dispatch and a data file containing all tracking numbers for each individual shipment.

The Result

The end client found the job a huge success and fed back positively on the results. The pick and pack work that Central Mailing Services carried out ensured that the print was sent out quickly and cost effectively whilst also being accurate and well presented, it was also a far more cost effective and efficient solution to the end client’s original plan to do the work themselves.