Redesigning Warehouse Operations to Cut Cycle Time by 87% and Boost Throughput by 30%

Client Context

A major North American apparel and lifestyle retailer operating a complex omni-channel supply chain. The client manages:

• 8 large-scale warehouses across the U.S., serving both retail locations and direct-to-consumer (DTC) channels

• 7,400+ customer ship-to locations, including retail stores and e-commerce buyers

• A product portfolio with high seasonal variability and frequent promotional events

• A network experiencing rapid shifts in consumer buying behavior post-pandemic, increasing the need for fulfillment agility and labor cost control

The initiative was driven by the need to increase throughput capacity, enable better DTC responsiveness, and improve inventory flow while reducing processing costs in a labor-constrained market.

Key Challenges

• Accelerating processing costs per case​
• Limited direct to consumer ability​
• Locations “Slot Locked”​
• Elongated order to ship cycle times​
• 3 adjacent overflow inventory locations

Approach & Key Success Factors

• Redesign inbound order flow to level load seasonal builds​
• Split customer order drop from 1 to 4 times daily​
• Adjust labor shift schedules​
• Increase part-time labor force mix​
• Change outbound shipping patterns​
• Re-organize regional customer to warehouse location assignments​
• Implemented ware hose quarterly re-slotting

Results

87%

Reduction in cycle time, from 48 to 6 hours​​

30% 

Improvement in capacity / throughput​​

$12M

Projected annual savings​