Case Study

3PL Logistics Client

Date
May 2020

Bespoke training and warehousing application built for an international 3PL.

Back

This is an exciting and innovative project we have been working on with an international 3PL company since 2015. The 3PL are a multinational transportation and contract logistics company that manages supply chains for 50,000 customers including some of the biggest brands around the world.

In early 2015 we submitted a proposal for a development project based at the state-of-the-art logistics centre in Bradford. This award-winning distribution facility boasts 1.1 million square foot of space. Also offering some of the worlds most high-tech automated warehousing technology which optimises its vast logistical network. Needless to say we were very impressed with their operation!

The brief

Before implementing anything it was important for the team to fully understand the requirements and complexity of the project. The brief was to create an application to record and authorise training across the 3PL network starting with this particular customer in Bradford. This included employees and agency staff with future-proofing in mind to enable scalability across other distribution centres in the UK within the 3PL’s customer network. Working closely within the corporate brand guidelines, the platform quickly developed an identity. We started first on the UX wireframes and started mapping out all of the features of the application, the user types and the actions between modules until we had a solid prototype.

Key challenges

Consequently we ensured the UI was optimised for performance. The content and functionality areas optimised for devices with low signal or jumping between network points in a 1.1 million square foot working environment! Once we had all of the UI and structure created, we developed custom signature sections for signed documents, automated archive lists, documents and media uploads for training sessions, a complex training matrix, a calendar with automated notifications and trainer assignments, translator signatures, complex reporting and more!

2020 Update

At the start of 2020 we deployed a revised version of this training application over at the East Midlands Gateway for another customer of the 3PL – with a few changes. As part of this we had updated the UI, so now it was time to upgrade the original version too.

We re-built the original version in the background and made it externally accessible to their team until we had all of the functionality and new UI changes complete. The Bradford based team then tested this with great detail and highlighted any points and issues they came across until this was signed off. We then had the huge task of migrating the 4 years of data on here to the new framework. During this process, we began looking at what KPIs the application had achieved since its launch in 2017, and the results blew everyone away.

3PL Logistics KPIs

We were able to analyse the usage stats too for the last few years. You can see how busy the L&D team have been inputting the training schedules, safe systems of work and more!

We have a new list of developments taking us through to 2021 and beyond. We are extremely excited to continue working on this project and further increase these KPIs with our application.

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