Originally published on cybra.com
The Customer
Randa is the world’s largest men’s accessories company. From their headquarters in New York City, Randa’s footprint spans 11 countries. Randa boasts a portfolio of more than 50 of the most recognizable brands in the world including Hanes, Levi’s, Guess, Dockers, Nine West, and Timberland.
With over 100 years of experience in product development and innovation, Randa is a widely respected manufacturer and distributor of belts, wallets, neckwear, luggage, casual bags, backpacks, jewelry, briefcases, slippers, hats, gloves and other leather goods. From concept to creation, Randa produces exceptional products and services worldwide, delighting millions of loyal customers.
One major reason Randa has stayed at the top of the accessories industry is their constant drive to foster innovation, both in their product development and in their omni-channel capability. To support their supply chain innovation, Randa has developed a close relationship with VSS, a company that specializes in supply chain business and technology advisory and implementation services.
Since 1990, VSS has been helping clients drive innovation and the best solutions to transform, deploy, and improve supply chain processes.
The Challenge
Today, the retail market is changing at an incredibly rapid pace, driven by a constant desire to meet and exceed customer expectations. A quick, responsive supply chain is vital to succeed in the retail space.
To stay ahead of the curve, Randa worked with VSS to plan and deploy several technology and operational improvements that helped to speed up fulfillment and improve their packing and shipping capability.
Examples of the work that VSS has helped Randa include integrating acquisitions into existing operations and improving direct to consumer process.
Randa was looking for a partner that would provide both process and technology expertise and skills to assist Randa in improving their direct to consumer and wholesale operations, specifically in the pack-out function explains Tim Walters, Randa CIO.
To improve throughput, meet aggressive shipping times, add capabilities for flexibility & personalization and reduce cost, VSS worked alongside Randa to implement the Autobag packaging systems. Adding Autobag printers and bags to their fulfillment operations allowed Randa to effectively use the appropriate packaging / shipping material, reduce cost in the supply chain and better leverage its labor.
In order to quickly deploy the Autobag technology and set a platform for future innovation (e.g. allowing custom printing of logo and branding for more effective branding strategy), VSS leveraged MarkMagic® Barcode Labels, RFID Tags, Electronic Forms, and Report Writing Software.
The Solution
Prior to selecting CYBRA’s Mark Magic solution, Randa’s WMS did not have the required flexibility to quickly edit and update their compliance labels in order to easily stay up to date with their retail partners. That flexibility was precisely why CYBRA’s MarkMagic® Barcode Labels, RFID Tags, Electronic Forms, and Report Writing Software was chosen as a solution. MarkMagic allows end users to create and edit labels without writing a single line of code. But, to allow Randa to enjoy that capability, the MarkMagic team would first need to convert all of Randa’s more than 100 Zebra ZPL language labels into MarkMagic formats.
“Normally, a label conversion process of this magnitude would be a challenge,” says Chuck Roskow, VP of Operations at CYBRA. “But with the MarkMagic proprietary PSI (Print Stream Importer), the label conversion process itself was actually a breeze, taking under 30 seconds per format.” CYBRA’s PSI is capable of importing raw print streams from virtually all popular thermal printer types. It instantly recognizes commands and parameters transforming them into MarkMagic formats that can be converted into any of the more than 450 printer types supported by MarkMagic. For example, in Randa’s case, CYBRA’s PSI effortlessly enabled the conversion of difficult to maintain legacy Zebra code to the Datamax language required for the Autobagger.
Other exclusive CYBRA technology helps Randa change their formats on the fly depending on the data in the print job. MarkMagic’s PrintTransformer option dynamically changes the appearance of formats in real-time based on variable data, even redirecting output based on user defined criteria. For instance, Randa required reverse printing when shipping to certain customers. A simple user-defined PrintTransformer condition accomplished this with no programming whatsoever.
Once the MarkMagic team finished the label format conversion, VSS helped Randa go live in less than two months. Randa was then able to begin editing and printing shipping information directly on plastic shipping bags using the Autobag baggers.
The Benefits
Once MarkMagic was fully integrated into Randa’s system, their shipping team could start using Autobag printers. Randa now can edit and maintain their compliance labels with ease. The label data is fed by the WMS. Once the label is ready, the operator can print the shipping information onto the bag and pack the bag at the same time. This process both saves time, and reduces packing errors.
“It would have taken a lot longer to get Randa’s WMS lined up with Autobag printers without MarkMagic,” says Tim Walters, CIO Randa. “The MarkMagic team helped keep the roll-out of Autobag printers a smooth, painless process.”
Along with MarkMagic label printing capabilities, Randa also uses MarkMagic to design and print their packing slips. By converting all their shipping documents, Randa is enjoying the full capabilities of the MarkMagic package. What once took a programmer hours to change files and recompile programs now only take a few mouse clicks by anyone at any time.
“Once Randa saw how useful MarkMagic can be, they started using it for all the printing required to get their shipping done,” adds Chuck Roskow. It’s a testament to just how many ways MarkMagic can help an organization’s shipping needs.
CYBRA’s MarkMagic also allows Randa to generate output in PDF format for printing at Asian offshore facilities. The MarkMagic PDF/Email/Fax add-on option simplifies the creation and distribution via fax, and e-mail of PDF files that look just like the original MarkMagic forms or labels. It’s a simple tool that keeps Randa’s e-commerce initiatives humming along.
With the flexibility of CYBRA’s MarkMagic® Barcode Labels, RFID Tags, Electronic Forms, and Report Writing Software, Randa stays ahead of the e-commerce game, while keeping their retail partners and customers happy.
